70s Cup Round 2 Match 5 *Diamond Dog 23- Hightea 14*

[never/ever]

A

Human League - Almost Medieval





B

Henry Cow - Bittern Storm Over Ulm

[Osgood]

Fantastic match, loved both tracks and both from acts that I had in the (very looooong) 'to check' list. I'll go for the weirdness of

B

[Diamond Dog]

The Henry Cow is interesting, but not one to fall in love with, is it? A bit like Zappa - much to be admired or impressed by, but very little to go "Fuck me yeah!".

The Human League is an amazing tune - when they were a really inventive band, trying to sound different and asking questions. It's from a great album too. There are probably still many 'fans' who think they started with "Dare" and never did this kind of stuff.....


A.

[naughty boy]

B sounds a bit too much like one of the cunt Fripp's 'experiments'

A wins by default. They were an odd band back then, weren't they?

[C]

Another great round - two superb bands

The complexity and sheer delightfulness of the mighty Cow against the joviality, cockiness and sharpness of The Human League

Both tracks are a pleasure to hear but The Cow has the edge

-+B+-




.

[sloopjohnc]

A

[GoogaMooga]

ABSTAIN (time for a tea break now)

[Polishgirl]

I am a Human League fan and I am aware of their early stuff; I'm just not keen on it. But B is incomprehensible to me.

A

[The Modernist]

It's the battle of the art school weirdos so prepare those goatees for stroking!

Early League were an odd proposition reaching for ideas out of their grasp. Like a lot of their early stuff, this is ponderous and dirge-like and not exactly enjoyable, but there is an eccentricity and humour lurking there which makes me quite like it.

I tend to think of listening to Henry Cow as one of the most difficult things one could ever willingly undertake. More difficult than trying to pass the Oxford entrant exam in Latin say. But then as I started listening I thought it's not so difficult, it's just a bit of free jazz with a spacey, almost dubby, production. But then that guitar solo started, and went on, and on...please Mummy make it go away.

A

[joels344]

Interesting matchup here, but I'm going with B. Henry Cow were one of the first experimental acts I got into.

[Goat Boy]

Fuck me.

B must have be one of the choices for the Awkward fucking Gets Brigade. Don't waste my time.

I only really like the League when they had the common sense to go pop but by default....

a

[Penk!]

Early Human League was more interesting than successful for the most part. The sound is just a bit too harsh and industrial for the childish tune. All a tad amateurish although I appreciate the intent. The Devoesque bits are the best parts.

Why does "Devoesque" not trigger my computer's spellchecker?

And who put the video together? Is it official or has someone randomly spliced bits from medievaly films together? I clicked onto it halfway through to see some bloke looking like a porno Jaime Lannister sniffing some woman's bloodstained drawers.

I don't really get the point of B. There isn't any hook, there isn't any kind of atmosphere, there is nothing that pushes music into exciting new places, and it doesn't have anything to say.

A

[Sneelock]

wow, musicians!
B

[Dayodead]

Human League getting their Numan on or an experimental noodle fest...Noodles it is.... Vote for B

[Darkness_Fish]

Ooh, early Human League, and it's not "Being Boiled". I'm intrigued. I've still not found a copy of that album with the stuff when they were still called The Future. It is quite austere and clunky, those farty bass synth notes aren't really doing it for me. It's a bit disappointing when you love synth-pop and experimental late 70s music as much as I do, and you come across something you expect to really leap out and grab you by the oversized lapels, and you get a weirdly pop-focused-yet-without-tune track that's a bit rubbish.

I see the U2-are-a-bit-fucking-out-there brigade are getting tetchy about Henry Cow, which gave me a bit of promise. But this is also a bit rubbish. If The Lemon Kittens collaborated with Jethro Tull, I think it would sound like this. It's someone practicing their scales with a wanker widdling away. Disappointing, given the build up.

A

[Purgatory Brite]

A the Human League in their most innovative and creative phase.

Despite being nominally "Prog" I've never cared for Henry Cow.

[Belle Lettre]

Good Human League pick, but I'm giving it to the Henry Cow as it has unsettled me.

B

[The Modernist]

but I'm giving it to the Henry Cow as it has unsettled me.

They do that The Cow.

[Count Machuki]

A

Henry Cow is firmly not for me.

[fange]

I'm surprising myself by .... nah, who am i kidding. B is ok but A is much more my thing.


A