pretty things

[axel]

Anyone heard the Phillipe Debarge album? What's it like?

 

[Laurent Bigot]

if you dig SF Sorrow and Electric Banana, go for it.

 

[axel]

Thanks.
I ordered it two days ago. :) (I also dig Parachute muchly.)
But the financial crisis should be prevented...

OCTOBER 26

 

[beccabear67]

It's one of my favorite CDs of the last few years. I'm not sure if it's always Phillipe singing, sometimes it sounds like Wally Waller, but there's nothing second rate about any aspect of the music. You might like UT's Sunstoke collection if you like the (not so overdubbed version of) Emotions.

 

[depravedskippy66]

Given that Phil and Wally worked very closely with Phillipe throughout the making of the LP, their vocals can indeed be heard throughout. Definitely a worthy addition to the Pretty Things' discography.

 

[axel]

You might like UT's Sunstoke collection if you like the (not so overdubbed version of) Emotions.

Sorry, but what's UT's Sunstoke collection?

 

[Laurent Bigot]

Sorry, but what's UT's Sunstoke collection?

 

[beccabear67]

Sorry, but what's UT's Sunstoke collection?

Here's my review: http://www.garagehangover.com/?q=FenmenSunstroke

By the way, I didn't care at all for the Newcastle Five as it turns out, sounded like they were transferred at the wrong speed and warped kind of like that Buckingham/Nicks/Fritz track! Oh well, it's a nice looking EP and 'interesting' as Artie Johnson would say.

 

[axel]

I didn't care at all for the Newcastle Five as it turns out

Sorry then. I love it and I listen to it quite often. I don't know why it sounds like it does, but I think it's because it hasn't been produced/mastered or otherwise worked on with reverb or so. It' a demo. It sounds very dry and intimate (and a bit muffled, because of lack of EQing) and I like that.
The songs are definitely my cup of tea. "I'm Losing You" especially. I'd wish there were more groups in that particular style.
By the way, I included a clip with live footage of a surf band called The Impressions in the media section. At the end of the clip there's a photo with the name of the Impressions on the band bus crossed out and replaced by "The New Castle Five". The EP doesn't say anything about the surf combo, but about a Mersey-style group "The New Impressions" and both bands are from San Mateo, Ca. So it's very likely they're the same.
Maybe it isn't what you expected, but I wouldn't be surprised if you'd like it some other time, if you'd give it another try. It's just too good to be dismissed so easily...

 

[MopTopMike]

Wow, a non fan of the Newcastle Five demos!

The Newcastle Five demos are certainly a highlight with me. Hard to fathom the same singer would later be doing gut-wrenching blues-rock vocals, something she vastly preferred.
The songs are all top-notch quality, the 'dry' production enhances the crisp musical backing and melody of the songs. If they had a single come out in the '60s, I'd be ready to do financial battle to own a copy!

 

[depravedskippy66]

Not to mention the backing from the guys who would go on to form Powder. Give me these tracks over Cold Blood anyday.

 

[beccabear67]

I guess it's just a matter of taste but maybe the helium-voice aspect put me off, like the Cyrkle at the wrong speed (but she doesn't sound at all like that on Cold Blood, not that they're a favorite either). The only other things that I can compare it to are Lindsay Buckingham's uber-quirky productions which are usually rather over-produced. Undeniably there are good songs under there, but in the same kind of way as those latter day Beatle frankenstein cuts Jeff Lynne sewed together with electic light thread...

I will give it another spin on a different turntable and speaker system and see if the harmony sounds on-key there.