rosen@ucbvax.ARPA (Rob Rosen) (10/15/85)
I'm sure that some of you enlightened musical gurus out there have heard of these guys. Any comments on their music? Are they compatable with, for example, Simple Minds? The reason I ask is that they seem to be opening for Simple Minds' November 23rd show in Oakland, and if they're any good, I'd like to be familiar with their music before I attend the show. Any feedback, both positive and negative, would be appreciated. thanks, -- --Rob Rosen ...ucbvax!rosen rosen@ucb-vax.berkeley.edu
hall@beta.DEC (Dan Hall) (10/16/85)
>Rob Rosen > Subject: SHRIEKBACK > I'm sure that some of you enlightened musical gurus out there have > heard of these guys. Any comments on their music? Are they compatable > with, for example, Simple Minds? By all means, see SHREIKBACK live! I saw them two weeks ago as the main act at The Channel in Boston (cap. about 600 people) - WOW! They are the most energetic bunch of musicians that I've seen live for a long time. I've enjoyed listening to them since their first album _CARE_ came out. At first I thought it was very wierd with the exception of maybe two tunes. After a few more listens (this always happens to me) I loved it. It contains some of their more "avant-garde" material, whatever that means, plus two dance club hits; "Lined Up" and "My Spine is the Bassline" (the latter only on the domestic release and a couple of 12" singles). I recommend the import if it can still be found, because it contains a tune called "IN: AMONGST". This little ditty, which fits comfortably under the "avant-garde" category, sounds like they held a couple of microphones by the cord whilst spinning them around REAL fast. Great with headphones! After _CARE_ came _JAM SCIENCE_ and a funkier style, which is continued on the new release _OIL AND GOLD_. The show I saw was almost exclusively tunes from _OIL AND GOLD_ so maybe you should start with that in order to be familiar with what you'll hear, but once you're hooked you'll want it all. They were on an independent label, "Y" records at first, and are now on Arista, so look for _CARE_ on "Y" before it's gone forever. Also, a 12" single on "Y" called "Sexthinkone" is very tasty. As far as being compatible with SIMPLE MINDS - if you haven't seen SM live then go, but in my opinion their sound and show have seen better days. I saw them also at The Channel around '83 and they were great. I saw them a year later at a bigger venue, The Orpheum (cap. around 2500) and they were awful, mostly because of lead singer Kerr's stage antics. Oh well. "We shake it up, and we break it down" --SHRIEKBACK, "Fish Below the Ice" from _OIL AND GOLD_ Dan Hall decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-beta!hall
barth@tellab1.UUCP (Barth Richards) (10/17/85)
In article <10658@ucbvax.ARPA> rosen@ucbvax.ARPA (Rob Rosen) writes: > I'm sure that some of you enlightened musical gurus out there have >heard of these guys. Any comments on their music? Are they compatable >with, for example, Simple Minds? The reason I ask is that they seem to >be opening for Simple Minds' November 23rd show in Oakland, and if they're >any good, I'd like to be familiar with their music before I attend the >show. Any feedback, both positive and negative, would be appreciated. Indeed we have. (Well, I have anyway.) They started as a trio made up of Barry Andrews (formerly of XTC), David Allen (formerly of Gang of Four), and Carl Marsh (formerly the drummer of Out On Blue Six.) (Has anyone out there heard any Out On Blue Six? Or, in fact, even heard OF them?) Anyway, they have recently added another member. (I don't remember his name at the moment). Shriekback mostly does a new wave/funk fusion type of music (for lack of a better description). Their first album, CARE, had an FM hit off it called "Lined Up." The CARE album is generally good, with most of side one being mostly great funkish dance music. The second side seemed to me to drag a bit, being mostly slow songs that, though good, weren't great. Their second album, JAM SCIENCE, is available as an import only. It's not bad, but not quite as good as CARE. JAM SCIENCE is almost entirely discoish dance tunes that make heavy use of drum machines (almost every song). Good beat, but not terribly inventive. Still, a good album. Shriekback's third album, OIL AND GOLD, is their best. They go back to using the talents of a real drummer, for one thing, and make use of a more complex base of rythmic intensity. The funk tunes have truely inspired energy, and the slower tracks are addictively eerie ("The Only Thing That Shines" especially). Definately a great album. Barth Richards Tellabs, Inc. Lisle, IL "Our time has come, age of the hammerheads This is our mission, to be the DALEKS of God" -Shriekback, "Hammerheads" from the album OIL AND GOLD
elf@utcsri.UUCP (Eugene Fiume) (10/19/85)
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I agree with everything Barth Richards said about Shriekback. Their
last album, _Oil and Gold_, which is now getting a little recognition,
I find especially appealing because of the real variety of hard chanting
funk and eerie atmospherics.
Shriekback + Simple Minds sounds like a great show, if Kerr tones down
his Jim Morrison impressions. Shriekback was in Toronto recently, but
they sold out the small club they played in in about 3 hours, so I was
out of luck.
One group that hasn't been mentioned much on the net is Blancmange,
another British group whose music spans a few forms, one of which is a more
straight-ahead funk. They also dabble in _Happy Families_ with a nice
array of eastern sounds. In _Mange Tout_, my favourite of the two LPs
released thus far, they do a so-straight-it's-bizarre version of
an ABBA tune called "The Day before you Came". Didn't Jacques Brel pen
a tune called that? The EP of TDBYC is really neat. In comparison to
Shriekback, I would say that Blancmange is a little more accessible, but
no less intelligent and involving. In comparing the two to the incomparable
Brel, well, there's obviously no comparison :-).
--
Eugene Fiume
{decvax|allegra}!utcsri!elf