Julian Cope Album by Album by Single by EP by Pseudonym Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Summer of Malcontent, May 29, 2017.

  1. citizensmurf

    citizensmurf Ambient postpunk will never die

    Location:
    Calgary
    My sentiments exactly. Maybe in 20 years it will have a resurgence, but too bad for those missing out now. I've turned many others onto it's greatness, and they weren't even Cope fans to begin with. Also the Dogntank album (which probably won't get covered here) is a ****ing classic.
     
    oldturkey likes this.
  2. oldturkey

    oldturkey Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gone away.
    Yeah - I'll have to give that a spin. Seems like Doggen's doing a gig in Nottingham in March.
    Roy Stone Foundation
     
  3. Dave Gilmour's Cat

    Dave Gilmour's Cat Forum Resident

    Really?! I regard this as a masterpiece. So many great tunes and lyrics. So inventive. Funny, too.
     
    oldturkey likes this.
  4. Bowland

    Bowland Forum Resident

    Location:
    England
    I just had a listen to "Love, Peace and F***" following adverse comments on here. Really enjoyed it - great heavy groove!
     
    oldturkey likes this.
  5. oldturkey

    oldturkey Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gone away.
    I've been playing my beautiful 'mock blue vinyl' picture disc of Drain'd Boner today. I really like this album. The first two get most of the attention but this one (although only a single record) is bloody good - I really love it. Nagasaki Mushroom (intense!) and Metsamor (heavy and beautiful) are my favourites. The drums are more up front as Citizensmurf said above, it's a bit like when you are walking towards an outdoor festival, the first thing you hear is the drums and guitar, then you get the detail as you get nearer. It's very heavy on the weather effects and nuclear explosions. It's criticised on Discogs for 'loudness war' mastering...but it's Brain Donor. Great fun.
    £2.80 for the cd, a fiver for the gatefold picture disc. It makes me want to cry.

    [​IMG]

    At times I don't think Wasted Fuzz Excessive is really like a Brain Donor album. It has some great ear-splitting guitar solos and feedback, but I don't know if it always fits as Brain Donor - it even has what sounds like saxophone and mellotron. Sometimes it feels a bit like Citizen Cain'd/Dark Orgasm, sometimes Discover Odin and sometimes I get a bit of a 131 feel from it. It's more like a collection of studio jams, but it does have a good cover of NYD's Frankenstein (although I think Julian might have tweaked the lyrics quite heavily - I don't recall David Johanson singing about sucking a p***s), and the thunderstorms are getting very frequent by the second half of Fokkinger Slag.

    God I love it! I miss Brain Donor.
     
    citizensmurf likes this.
  6. Summer of Malcontent

    Summer of Malcontent Forum Resident Thread Starter

    [​IMG]
    RITE NOW (2002)

    Twilight of the Mother****ers / Give the Poet Some / Supernatural Agencies / Ephaedra

    Another fine installment in the ongoing series.
     
    Scope J likes this.
  7. oldturkey

    oldturkey Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gone away.
  8. moonweed

    moonweed Member

    Location:
    17356
    I thought this was an especially fine installment in the Rite series, but i love them all
     
  9. Summer of Malcontent

    Summer of Malcontent Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Neolithic football never really took off until they increased the size of the goal and reduced the size of the goalie.
     
    oldturkey, Max Florian and Dok like this.
  10. oldturkey

    oldturkey Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gone away.
    Hmm - not much enthusiasm for Rite Now then?
    I can see why to be honest, after the first track the 21.23 minute "Twilight of the Mother**ckers" most of us have fallen asleep and haven't heard the rest of the album.
    I really only like track 3 "Supernatural Agencies" which is not just a funk bore-a-thon, but has what sounds like Doggen attempting to liven thngs up a bit à la Brain Donor.
    BTW, Citizensmurf, thanks for the Dope On Drugs heads-up on HH. I wasn't expecting that. Great sleeve by Avalon!

    [​IMG]
     
  11. citizensmurf

    citizensmurf Ambient postpunk will never die

    Location:
    Calgary
    No worries, I find the activity on HH fairly low since the end of the Drudions, so I appreciate any heads up to new music. Check out the new Slomo and Urthona if that's up yr alley too.

    I didn't play Rite Now recently (mostly been working my way through the last couple Zappa boxes), but it's one of the most often played discs from Cope's catalogue. The opener is a belter, but it's Give the Poet Some that has me climbing the walls and howling at the moon. Like "On The Corner" and its opening funk-clank-groove-athon, Poet has that same feeling once it fades in and the -thon begins. I recall Cope writing how he felt like the Sly Stone songs weren't long enough to really flesh out the funk within, so these Rite albums seem like his attempt to remedy that. Poet for me is the best example of this meditational funk.

    Edit: Oh what the hell, I'm gonna throw this on rite now.
     
    Last edited: Feb 10, 2018
  12. oldturkey

    oldturkey Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gone away.
    Agree to disagree ;), it's one of my least played JC discs, but thanks for the tips about Slomo/Urthona. I have got Atlantis?, I Refute It Thus and The Bog (which I like a lot). Maybe I'll do a bit of exploring. An album of remixes of a one note track is an amusing thought.
    So many albums...so little money.
     
  13. Summer of Malcontent

    Summer of Malcontent Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I got the new Dope album in the mail today and it reminded me I hadn't bumped this for a while, so -

    [​IMG]
    ROME WASN’T BURNED IN A DAY (2003)

    Shrine of the Black Youth / Zennor Quiot / The-Way-Luv-Is / King Minos / Dance by the Light of the Bridges You Burn / Michelle of My Former Self – Far Out / Eccentrifugal Force

    Some copies came with a various artists promo CD.


    [​IMG]
    A GIANT – THE SONS OF T.C.-LETHBRIDGE (2003)

    T.C.-L.E.T.H.B.R.I.D.G.E.

    Album produced by Julian Cope, but he only wrote and performed (singing lead) on one track.
     
    citizensmurf and oldturkey like this.
  14. oldturkey

    oldturkey Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gone away.
    This is probably my favourite ever Julian Cope track (although it's really two tracks). Requires a YT link.

     
    citizensmurf likes this.
  15. Summer of Malcontent

    Summer of Malcontent Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I actually haven't listened to that album recently, but I remember liking it a lot at the time for the way it smuggled some of those characteristic pop hooks into the freak-outs. Must dig it out!
     
  16. Summer of Malcontent

    Summer of Malcontent Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I figured that if I was including that T.C. Lethbridge track I should probably also include 'My Wall':

    [​IMG]
    WHITE1 – SUNN O))) (2003)

    My Wall

    Julian Cope co-writes and contributes vocals to one (very long) track.
     
    vertigone and oldturkey like this.
  17. zakyfarms

    zakyfarms White cane lying in a gutter in the lane.

    Location:
    San Francisco
  18. citizensmurf

    citizensmurf Ambient postpunk will never die

    Location:
    Calgary
    I burned (heh heh) through Rome a couple times over the weekend, and though I don't play it as much as some of the others, it is a fantastic album. I was very active at the HH forums when this came out (and since), and regret not being able to afford the trip to fly over for the 3 day festival. However, this was a huge turning point for me in both Cope's music and the Unsung music he was championing. Black Youth is an epic opener, and he played it during the festival as well. The Way Luv Is is a beautiful little song, from what I would call his campfire repertoire. Michelle/Far Out (listen to the clip above) is lovely and Eccentrifugal Force is just a total trip with Doggen leading the charge.

    The promo disc tracking is:
    1. Sunburned Hand of the Man - Jaybird
    2. Vibracathedral Orchestra - Baptism Bar Blues
    3. Sunn 0))) - (Excerpt from) My Wall
    4. Les Rallizes Denudes - Enter The Mirror
    5. The Sons of TC Lethbridge - Through A Pilot's Eyes
    6. Holy McGrail - (Excerpt from) 'Quake Appeal
    I would highly recommend tracking down any of these bands, and Jaybird by SHOTM is just ****ing unbelievably awesome. Though I've been trying to sift through my Rallizes collection to find a better version of Enter the Mirror that I had on a mix years ago which totally slays this one. No such luck yet, as it's played at pretty much every show of their career.

    Also the track "TC LETHBRIDGE" from A Giant is the same as "Bridges You Burn" from Rome (unless there is some difference in mix).
     
    oldturkey likes this.
  19. citizensmurf

    citizensmurf Ambient postpunk will never die

    Location:
    Calgary
    I can't stop spinning Rome, and I must say "Shrine of the Black Youth" is right up there with the best of his songs. Just fantastic. Let's find a video for those who haven't heard it.
     
    oldturkey likes this.
  20. oldturkey

    oldturkey Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gone away.
    I really love this album, but I still haven't got round to giving it a spin, so I'll put up a post about it probably tomorrow.
    Incidentally, my Mrs is reading a Shaun Ryder autobiography at the moment. Here is an amusing extract:

    In August 1986 we supported Julian Cope at the Boardwalk. What an ar*ehole. He behaved like such a prick that we promised ourselves that when we became a headline act we would always make sure our support bands got a decent soundcheck and we would never treat them like Julian Cope treated us that night. He said, "Who do they think they are, the f**cking Undertones?" because we all had anoraks and cagoules on. The cheeky bastard. He fannied about with this stupid microphone stand he had that he could climb on and spin round like a performing monkey for about five hours, which meant we got less than five minutes to soundcheck. We were stood there glaring at him, thinking, "Come on, you prick, f**king move, or we'll move you!" He was really lucky we didn't batter him.

    Priceless from Cope!
     
  21. Summer of Malcontent

    Summer of Malcontent Forum Resident Thread Starter

    The Happy Mondays would eventually get a lot better than they were in 1986, but they were never in the Undertones' class!
     
  22. oldturkey

    oldturkey Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gone away.
    I never liked the Mondays (I think it's the Manc baggy funk thing - I'm not a Stone Roses fan either) but I really liked Black Grape and Ian Brown solo. Cagoule chic is just inverted dandyism. They're making a supposed working class statement against style by all wearing shower-proof cagoules on Top Of The Pops, and since they're all doing it, it comes across as a lack of imagination or capacity for independant thought. Liam Gallagher's still stuck there
    Inverted Poseurs!
    Some of the Undertones stuff was fantastic, but Feargal lost his spunk in the end.
     
  23. Summer of Malcontent

    Summer of Malcontent Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Feargal Sharkey was never key to the greatness of the Undertones. He had a distinctive voice, but not an especially good one. That band was all about the blindingly good songs (and their refusal to stay stylistically still from album to album). And That Petrol Emotion were always a much better bet than Happy Mondays (to get this post vaguely back on topic!)
     
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2018
    oldturkey and factory44 like this.
  24. oldturkey

    oldturkey Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gone away.
    I've got to give this album a solid 10 out of 10. What more do you really want? Each song really deserves 10 out of 10 imo, but this album just faded away into nothing.

    Shrine Of The Black Youth - It starts off faded up as if we are interrupting a great warm-up jam session with Julian, Holy McGrail and Donald Ross Skinner (he's back), then it turns into a wonderful track with Julian's vocal sounding clear and warm after three years since An Audience With The Cope, and seven years since the previous "conventional" album Interpreter. He had visited Armenia while researching The Megalithic European, and he uses that experience to surprise us with this political folk song about traditional sacrifice and helplessness in the face of the attempted genocide of non-muslim Armenians. It's a great lyric.

    "On the outskirts of each village, I keep noticing stone shrines covered in blood, headless birds, indefinable entrails, beside which stand pretty rag-tied clouty trees. What the f***..? This is the Black Youth, explains Zareh. Because Armenia took Christianity on in 301, way before Rome, there are lots of pagan elements reconciled into their religion. Got a good job prospect or a chance of a date, do a matagh sacrifice of a bird or animal to Tukh Manukh the Black Youth. Tukh Manukh’s an adolescent God figure somewhere between Mithra and the young Jesus Christ. But his appetite is hearty and he constantly needs those blood sacrifices."
    Address Drudion – August 2003

    Zennor Quoit - a beautiful acoustic love song. Come on - it's gorgeous. When the Mellotron/whistle combination comes in at 1.30mins it's just the most beautiful thing ever. Ends with the sound or a stream bubbling over rocks. Ahhh...

    The-Way-Luv-Is - This album is packed with melody. Again - you can't ask for more from him. It's classic Cope. Lovely phlanged guitar which morphs into a feedback overload similar to what he does live these days.

    All analogue and hiss,
    Cause that's the way luv is.
    I play a solo jam,
    Cause that's the way luv am.

    Haha!

    King Minos - A preview of Black Sheep. A loud, recorded in a warehouse, shouty thing. Good fun.

    Dance By The Light Of The Bridges You Burn - It's The Sons Of TC Lethbridge (TC Lethbridge without Flinton Chalk) same track on A Giant called T.C.-L.E.T.H.B.R.I.D.G.E.. Doggen is on guitar. That is all the information you really need. Full on freak out!

    Michelle Of My Former Self/Far Out. See above post/clip. It's got to be my favourite ever track by JC. How does he come up with such beauty?
    So good it leaves me speechless and dribbling. I once played this about 20 times in a row in my car at full volume, which takes about an hour.
    Criminally ignored by the rest of the world.

    Eccentrifugal Force - A 20 minute Doggen/Cope transcendental journey. Wonderful if you like Doggen Foster's guitar, and if you don't you're just wrong.

    I have the 2cd edition with various artists from the festival. I don't really play it often, but I should because it's really worth it. I didn't go to the festival.
    As Citizensmurf says above, the Sunburned's Jaybird track is really good. I don't know anything about them. It's 15 mins of psychedelic groove.
    I love when Cope records tracks like My Wall. It's in a similar fashion to Discover Odin, though outside of JC you don't find this sort of thing. The Rome cd has a 12 minute edit featuring all of Cope's contribution. I like Sunn O))) and I have the White1 cd which has the full 25 min version. That is one album that should be reissued on RSD double white vinyl with a laser etching. The vinyl prices are insane.
    Les Rallizes' Enter The Mirror is also on Yodo-Go-A-Go-Go in another version to that on Heavier Than A Death In The Family/Live 77
    TC Lethbridge's Through A Pilot's Eyes is a lot longer than the intro on "A Giant".
    It finishes off with an extract from Holy McGrails' Collecting Earthquakes, which I have on cd somewhere. Lots of deep synth vibration.

    All in all, a must buy essential CD. An inexplicably forgotten (even by Cope fans) gem. One of his best.

    The Sons Of TC Lethbridge's A Giant is not for everyone. Even if you like Doggen's guitar I can see people being put off by Terry Welbourn's vocal style, but I really enjoy it. Again, it's something like nothing else. I'm a big fan of Colin Wilson too (RIP). I haven't read Welbourn's book yet, but I've got it on my kindle.
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lethbridge.../ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
     
    citizensmurf likes this.
  25. moonweed

    moonweed Member

    Location:
    17356
    alright, i'm listening to this today.
     
    oldturkey likes this.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine