Indian Rain, on the face of things, seems instinctively a bit of a step down from Ignorance, but I'm not sure it is, really. It's more of the same, perhaps, but it seems a bit more vocally assured, especially in the verses. Verse 2, with its bass-heavy no-guitar section, adds a little sonic variety. The chorus, maybe, is a bit directionless, so it's a probably a little less satisfying than the previous track. Going to say 2/5 after 2/5 for Ignorance Is Bliss (which I forgot to score yesterday). But, I'm using the 1-5 score system in a relative sense - 1 being the very worst TDC tracks which I'd still rate higher compared to lots of other bands. Otherwise pretty much everything is going to come out as a 4 or a 5, and that seems a bit pointless.
You're welcome. The blog now states if you register with Wordpress you can request an invite. I have done so but have heard nothing back (yet). It would be great to follow future entries. Luckily, I saved all the essays so far (up to Fin De Siècle) and could provide lots more. Then again, I'm not sure if the author is okay with these being quoted in this forum.
Yeah, who knows, especially if they’ve taken it offline for some reason! Maybe you could just post a few choice quotes, as long as they’re attributed.
I listened to Fanfare twice yesterday and am listening again as these tracks come up for individual discussion. Must say that whilst this album is on outlier in terms of sound, it is not to be totally dismissed. Neil’s vocals are buried in a wall of sound and there is little of the vocal confidence that came later. In the context of the times they lack any real distinctiveness but it’s far from being a bad record. 2.5/5
Indian Rain I think this is a little step-up from the opener, but that may only because of the change of texture when the guitars drop out to leave bass and vocals... it certainly a welcome touch of variety to the sound. The weaving of the vocal parts is also quite interesting and perhaps gives a hint of things to come on future albums. 2.5/5
Ok then, “Indian Rain”. A much less cheerful number than the opener, it drives along on a bed of dark, rolling bass and the 6/8 time signature makes it a bit more interesting than it might otherwise be. The vocals once again are a bit buried and mumbly, but there’s some good guitar shredding towards the end to make up for that. The playing is a bit amateurish in places (especially the drumming), and the vocal harmonies aren’t quite as on point as they might be, but then they were all still at school so we can probably forgive them that... I agree with whoever said that it has a less good chorus than the opener; but it’s still about as enjoyable to me, so it gets the same score, 2.5/5. (Again, this is based on the fact that there are many, MANY songs coming up that I like infinitely more; so I’m starting low to make sure I have somewhere to go!)
I was confused at first, too. It's a bit weird that Neil goes into more detail about a TDC demo tape that is not included on Juveneilia while not even mentioning any of the previously unreleased October recordings that are included. Also, none of the songs on disc 2 are covered in the liner notes. He must have run out of space.
Indeed, the songs we got are my personal highlights on disc 1, so it would have been nice to hear more.
I think this is a little step down from the opener. While I like the change of texture you mention, I'm not keen on the harsh guitar parts at all: they turn this into a bit of a dirge that's almost a chore to listen to. I would say that the chorus is less good than the verse melody, but the same can be said of the opener, which also had a stronger verse. Since I gave "Ignorance Is Bliss" 3/5, I have to go for 2/5 here.
I think I’ve now made sense of the various demos, who played on them, and which tracks from each we can and can’t listen to! I’ll do a post about it later this week before we move on to the EPs.
"Indian Rain" is a nice follow up after "Ignorance..." I do like the dark mood of the song and it's fun to listen to Neil "shred" near the end - plus also you get to hear Neil singing a little more like Neil at the end of the song. I enjoy the bass playing on this which fits with the song - but very un-TDC. The song does perk up a touch at the end. Giving it the same as "Ignorance..." 2.5/5.0. (this is actually harder than I thought as I think I'm being more forgiving with the first album. In the end I feel like I should subtract 0.5 on all my numbers... but I'm not!)
“Indian Rain” is...fine, I guess. I wasn’t blown away, I wasn’t appalled. I feel like I graded “Ignorance is Bliss” a trifle too high, given the heights to come, but I don’t want to be overly harsh either...let’s say 2.25/5. I feel like this is a job that’s really going to require the fractioning of scores.
"Indian Rain" is definitely the worst song (out of two!) so far on the EP. It doesn't seem to go anywhere and the music isn't very interesting. As others have pointed out, it has the benefit of being a bit different with a section that is made up of just vocals, bass and drums but that's small mercies, to be honest. The guitar sound is kind of grating. Oh, and there's a tambourine. Which is a nice change. Sort of. I actually prefer the chorus to the verses as it has a few neat guitar chords but that doesn't save the song from being more than a 2/5.
“Indian Rain” scores 24.25 across 10 votes, making an average of 2.43 Thanks for voting ... next song on its way.
Today’s song is “Bleak Landscape”. This is the first version of the song to be released - it was evidently also considered for inclusion on “Liberation”, because there’s a 1993 home demo of the song done in a more familiar style. This demo was released on the “Secret History - Rarities” CD in 1999 and I’ll post that a bit later.
A little postscript on "Indian Rain"- given we're all agreed of the influence of REM on this album, I would suggest the grimy guitar bits in the verses are inspired by "Moral Kiosk" from Murmur and possibly other early REM songs of that ilk that I'm forgetting. "Bleak Landscape" the most recognisably Hannon-esque so far, and is another fine song. 4/5.
As mentioned previously, here’s a demo of “Bleak Landscape” from 1993, where it was evidently being intended for inclusion on “Liberation”. It’s interesting, as it’s the same song, but immediately sounds more “TDC-ish”, which I would mostly put down to the increased subtlety and variety in the arrangement, as well as Neil’s more nuanced vocal performance. Also - keyboards! It’s notable when you listen to the whole of “Juveneilia” how Neil has always used keyboards and organs for his demos, and especially how the “October” demo tracks are heavily synth-focussed. This to me is what makes “Fanfare” sound so un-TDC ish, it’s a complete outlier in its sparse basic production of guitar, bass and drums. Neil obviously always had grand ambitions for how his music should sound, hence how elaborate the arrangements on most of his demos are - so I don’t really know why, when he finally got into a real studio to make a real album for the first time, he ended up with this super-bare production.
"Bleak Landscape" is a really good one, although I'm not sure I'd ever put it on a TDC mix tape (or anything else from "Fanfare" for that matter). Perhaps the best songs on the EP*? I actually prefer the murkier lo-fi demo version, which seems to be two completely different attempts stitched together. It's a 4/5 from me. By the way... All this talk of the enormous R.E.M. influence on early TDC: am I deaf? I simply can't hear anything on "Fanfare" sounding anything remotely like R.E.M. Can someone give me any pointers to exactly WHAT it is that sounds a lot like R.E.M.? I'm definitely no mega fan but have listened quite a bit to "Murmur", "Reckoning" and others throughout the years. (* or album or whatever you call it)
I’m with you, I also prefer the later demo version, it does more justice to the subtleties of the song. I had never thought about it, but there’s an obvious splice in the middle, so perhaps it really is two different demos!
Honestly; I’ve never listened to any of their full albums pre-“Green” , but I do immediately recognise “It’s the End of the World as we Know It, and I’m in a Tailspin” when we get to it tomorrow...
Bleak Landscape Hmmm... this one isn't doing it for me. The arrangement doesn't help matters, with the drums in particular proving a distraction. I agree that the Liberation era demo sounds a little more like what we will become used to, but it doesn't elevate the song in my opinion. One to forget I'm sorry to say. 1.5/5
Bleak Landscape and bleak music. Three tracks in and the pace slows but I can’t hear past the drums. Not an inspirational tune that needed a more sympathetic production. Neil certainly learned how to do this later but this one doesn’t work for me. I can’t see much improvement in the demo. No big drums but it’s a pretty raw recording and one I missed of my Secret History bonus disk playlist. 1.5/5
