70s Cup Final Round Match 16 *Algroth 9- C 15*

[never/ever]

A

Neil Ardley - Three Poems





B

Joy Division – Transmission

[sloopjohnc]

B

[Dayodead]

Not a big surprise...Vote B

[The Modernist]

Discovering Neil Ardley over the last few years has been a real pleasure. I've been fortunate enough to pick up a few of his original vinyl albums, but I don't have this particular one. I thought it was a gorgeous tonal poem which seemed just right for the wet, blustery weather outside.
B is wonderful of course, but I'm going to give my vote to the more surprising selection...

A

[naughty boy]

I always thought of Norma Winstone as a folkie - this sounds like Elaine Paige! not really for me

B is one of the most obvious choices we've had this Cup, but it's one of my fave JD songs and I'm still not burnt out on it. And I know we're rating the song not the video, but really that's a very special piece of footage, great it was captured, something pretty fucking magical despite all the mythologising and bullshit we've had in the intervening 40 years

[Purgatory Brite]

I always thought of Norma Winstone as a folkie

Are you thinking of Norma Waterstone perhaps?

[Purgatory Brite]

Could not make it through the 11 minutes of A, though its perfectly pleasant and tuneful. The sort of thing you'd expect a West End or Broadway star to perform at a one night only gig at Ronnie Scott's.

As it's the last match of the last round, and although I feel very ambivalent to the music of Joy Division these days, I'll have a B please Bob!

[naughty boy]

I always thought of Norma Winstone as a folkie

Are you thinking of Norma Waterstone perhaps?

erm, yes, I was

[Polishgirl]

A wouldn't have been for me, regardless of the opposition.

B still sounds nervy and urgent and dark even after all this time.

B

[Darkness_Fish]

Ohh, a bit of earthy brass. Cobbled streets, terraced houses ... and the vocal has just lifted this away from the dimlit backstreets of Wigan's old town centre into smokey jazz clubs of the metropolitan elite. Actually, I just googled Neil Ardley, and was surprised to see he's the current manager of AFC Wimbledon, so it's good to know he's got something to fall back on if the football dream fades. It's quite pleasant, not as sugary as some of the American concoctions, that bit of definitively British brass does keep it earthed and slightly grittier than many tracks which have ploughed similar furrows. I actually quite like this. Good choice. Eleven minutes though, and against Joy Division? I'll have to see how much my goodwillometer comes into play when judging interesting pick against obvious behemoth I love. To be very fair, it's properly inhabiting it's timespan, that vocal occasionally gets on the wrong side of twee, or cheesy, or something. Just sounds a bit pleased with itself. But I can strangely imagine that I might track down more of this kind of thing.

Look at Ste Morris go, he's a fucking drum machine. Makes you wonder if Ian Curtis did all the windmilling around because he felt guilty that the others just stood around, while Morris hammers away at 200 mph. Watching this performance though, I know music's a subjective thing and all that, but Jesus Christ, when people say they don't get JD, or never fell for their schtick, or things like that, they must just be an alien species. I just don't understand how this can't be what you want from a 3 minute pop song, drums that are doing fucking everything, big chunky resonant bass, nice distinctive tone on the guitar line, and a vocal performance which whilst not meeting any technical measure of quality, is absolutely as powerful, insistent, and driven as you could possibly need. It's a masterpiece.

On the other hand, A was a much more interesting song choice, and really does have me intrigued. Never going to replace Joy Division, or Transmission, or even one of their lesser poor quality live recordings in my heart. But for cup purposes, well played.

[C]

Neil Ardley better known for his more experimental 'space rock' albums Harmony of the Spheres and Kaleidoscope Of Rainbows. The track from which this track came is somewhat different and an album, despite great performances, never resonated with me.

On the other hand the Joy Division is a corker

-+B+-






.

[kath]

i wanna reward A for being a different, bold kind of pick. the truth is, it really didn't work for me. there was no point in there that grabbed hold and drew me in. i don't know what alienated me exactly, or what combinations, but i couldn't connect. ah well.

i'll take joy division.

[Belle Lettre]

B x

[Osgood]

Count me in the alien side. I would vote for that Michael Chion track over anything from Joy Division. WTF, I would vote for Hold The Line over anything from Joy Division.

And that Neil Ardley thing was quite brilliant and something worth planning to revisit

A

[toomanyhatz]

B is definitely one of the great Joy Division tracks - though I admit I might actually prefer "Love Will Tear Us Apart" - but it's also well on the wrong side of the "obvious" line. I'd let it go if A were a lesser pick, but I like it quite a bit. One of my favorites so far. I will be looking into Mr. Ardley further. (Though it sounds very 60s to me - I mean like it was recorded no later than '68.)

[fange]

B is fine naturally, but i'm much more interested in listening to stuff like A these days.


A

[Loki]

Oh man, I want to vote for A, but B is undeniable.

[never/ever]

I gave A a good listen but I am not crazy about it. Just watching B and feeling the chills again like the first time I heard and saw this clip. Damn!

B

[Jumper K]

A.

[Hightea]

B