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Mystery Date
04/18/08 | by sammymaudlin
If you know, don't say. If your fragile ego is such that you must let us know how smart you are, you may post the last two letters of the band/artist's name. The challenge is to brave the waters and give us your thoughts. You know, on the tunes maaaaan.
19 comments
Comment from: hrrundivbakshi [Member] 
Hey, Backoffice -- the awesome "Mystery Date" vuh-deo has been taken down or something. It ain't linking.
04/18/08 @ 10:29
Comment from: sammymaudlin [Member]
The Back Office has had a team working on this issue for a few hours now. All should be good.
What's with all the cockless wonders out there this morning? No one can form even the slightest of opinions on these tracks? Or does everyone already know who it is?
What's with all the cockless wonders out there this morning? No one can form even the slightest of opinions on these tracks? Or does everyone already know who it is?
04/18/08 @ 11:24
I was just thinking it was time for a Mystery Date. But then I got all thinking about Hear Factor and stuff and totally spaced.
I like the songs, and they really sound like I should know who it is, but my ego isn't all that fragile and I'm really not very cool, so I won't mind if I find out it's someone I keep saying I don't like. I didn't like mustard once, either.
But I have to listen to the songs someplace else. This little laptop leaves a lot to be desired sonically.
I like the songs, and they really sound like I should know who it is, but my ego isn't all that fragile and I'm really not very cool, so I won't mind if I find out it's someone I keep saying I don't like. I didn't like mustard once, either.
But I have to listen to the songs someplace else. This little laptop leaves a lot to be desired sonically.
04/18/08 @ 12:39
Comment from: mwall [Member]
I feel like I've heard this singer before, or else it's that he sounds like a combination of several late 70s/early 80s other overly affected new wave, ska and goth rock singers. Too much of that voice gets wearing, especially on the second track.
Good intro and outro on the first song. The middle of that song slows down and wanders a bit.
I'm not quite convinced by the Pere Ubu like keyboard moments, though they do make the case that some bands picked up some Ubu just a bit.
There was a band I saw mid-80s, I think with Ken and some of the rest of you, and picked up a first album of that was finally disappointing. Can't remember the name: singer had a bald head, I believe. These cuts sound like that band a little, but with somewhat more campy posturing in the singer.
Grade: first song B, second B-. I could hear them at a party and go with it but wouldn't play them much otherwise.
Good intro and outro on the first song. The middle of that song slows down and wanders a bit.
I'm not quite convinced by the Pere Ubu like keyboard moments, though they do make the case that some bands picked up some Ubu just a bit.
There was a band I saw mid-80s, I think with Ken and some of the rest of you, and picked up a first album of that was finally disappointing. Can't remember the name: singer had a bald head, I believe. These cuts sound like that band a little, but with somewhat more campy posturing in the singer.
Grade: first song B, second B-. I could hear them at a party and go with it but wouldn't play them much otherwise.
04/18/08 @ 12:59
Comment from: sammymaudlin [Member]
Townsman 2K is the bravest and boldest of the day. Even though he left some wiggle room with:
He was the first to lay it on the line and with a positive review nonetheless. That takes guts.
Townsman mwall comes in exactly 20 minutes later with a very thorough analysis. A- on timing. Solid A for effort.
This little laptop leaves a lot to be desired sonically.
He was the first to lay it on the line and with a positive review nonetheless. That takes guts.
Townsman mwall comes in exactly 20 minutes later with a very thorough analysis. A- on timing. Solid A for effort.
04/18/08 @ 13:06
Comment from: dr john [Member]
Well, the links were down most of the morning.
On both songs, the real problem for me is not the singer, but the unoriginal guitar
playing: on the first song, there's the whiny run your finger down one string riff; on the second, it's a predictable formula of strum real hard, pause, etc.
The guitar has too much reverb on it, and sounds thin.
Overall, both songs go on for a minute too long. There are some good ideas here (I like the speeded up pace and there's some unexpected changes, but the songs both turn out average. Grade: C
On both songs, the real problem for me is not the singer, but the unoriginal guitar
playing: on the first song, there's the whiny run your finger down one string riff; on the second, it's a predictable formula of strum real hard, pause, etc.
The guitar has too much reverb on it, and sounds thin.
Overall, both songs go on for a minute too long. There are some good ideas here (I like the speeded up pace and there's some unexpected changes, but the songs both turn out average. Grade: C
04/18/08 @ 13:30
Comment from: BigSteve [Member]
I can only listen very quietly in my office. I was going to listen again when I got home too. Like mwall, I feel a distant bell ringing, but I can't identify the band. Typical bad English bellowing vocals, which reminded me of Ian McCulloch, and I think I detect some Talking Heads influence. I liked the weird sonics, but I'm going to have listen at more than a whisper.
04/18/08 @ 13:39
Comment from: sammymaudlin [Member]
We'll give dr john a medical excuse and trust that he did indeed have technical difficulties. The only question I have for dr j is what year would this "unoriginal guitar" have been "orginal"? Just asking. This isn't a necessarily a clue.
All I can say about Biggie S is- he's got a damn good ear!!!
All I can say about Biggie S is- he's got a damn good ear!!!
04/18/08 @ 14:00
Comment from: mwall [Member]
I had a feeling the singer's name was going to something like Ian.
04/18/08 @ 14:40
Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
It's not that Peter Murphy guy, is it? Or some Jeffrey Lee Pierce record? It's almost good, like some band we might have opened for at Revival circa 1987.
Mwall, is Screaming Blue Messiahs the name of the band you saw in DC?
Mwall, is Screaming Blue Messiahs the name of the band you saw in DC?
04/18/08 @ 14:50
Comment from: dr john [Member]
That guitar style was okay circa the 13th Floor elevators, Texas psych era.
04/18/08 @ 14:53
Comment from: sammymaudlin [Member]
I hear you Dr J and can't say that I totally disagree. I do cut some slack for these guys using it in a different context though.
Mod's cold and "almost good" is awfully wishy-washy. Share your feelings.
Mod's cold and "almost good" is awfully wishy-washy. Share your feelings.
04/18/08 @ 15:08
Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
My feelings are that, if I was in a club circa 1987 and this was cranked up or this band was actually playing to a crowd of typical Bauhaus/Siouxie and the Banshees/proto-goth fans, with spiked, dyed black hair and a trace of eyeliner I'd think, "This offers hope, this offers a bridge between 'them' and 'me.'" Then maybe I'd try to spot the softest of the women in that crowd and see where I might get.
04/18/08 @ 15:58
Comment from: mwall [Member]
It was indeed the Screaming Blue Messiahs, Mr. Mod. In thinking on it further they had much more of an America-billy new wave sound, didn't they?
04/18/08 @ 16:06
Comment from: sammymaudlin [Member]
Mod- OK. What if (note the emphasis on "if") you saw them in say...1978? How would you feel then?
In a way this gets back to my points on loving a band out of time.
In a way this gets back to my points on loving a band out of time.
Very vague, almost subliminal hint in the previous sentence.
04/18/08 @ 16:16
Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
Well, now that I'm back from a frustrating Phils loss and the mystery has been revealed, I'd feel the same way, minus the proto-goth scoping aspects. It still sounds like it's reaching for something the band members can't deliver. That said, if those recordings are from '78, they are ahead of their time in terms of circa 1987 MTV's new wave show hosted by Peter Zaremba mediocrity. Was the show called 120 Minutes?
04/18/08 @ 22:57
Comment from: BigSteve [Member]
Hmm, and I was sure they were British. I think it's because the other vocal influence I'm hearing is Wire's Colin Newman. The bad part is I think I had this album back in the day.
After the fact this kind of not quite congealed pudding is more interesting than perhaps it was at the time.
After the fact this kind of not quite congealed pudding is more interesting than perhaps it was at the time.
04/19/08 @ 00:56
Comment from: sammymaudlin [Member]
I would love to have heard an entire Eno produced album.
04/19/08 @ 01:08
I listened upstairs and I know we've already identified the band, and I didn't know them back then. I really like the first song. It's catchy as hell. The second isn't as good, but it's good enough that I'd buy it if I saw it. And my little laptop speakers really are bad. It's a work laptop and the only noise I need to hear technically is a modem or an obnoxious ding a program I have to use makes when I do something right, and also the same ding when I do something wrong.
04/19/08 @ 10:32
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