70s KnockOut Cup Match 6 *Harvey K-Tel advances*

[never/ever]

A

Tuxedomoon - No Tears





B

Jimmy Spheeris - I Am The Mercury

[Dayodead]

The edge goes the the Moon....Vote A

[Darkness_Fish]

Ha! I picked A in a BCB official cup not too long ago, and it was roundly abused, despite it being a moment of absolute genius. I'd say this is in similar territory to Devo and Pere Ubu, there was definitely something in the American water in 1978, but this is greater than anything either of those bands did, imo. And I love some of their output. It's got much more energy, it's got that dirty lo-fi fuzz and reverb about it, and the vocals sound properly unhinged. This is what I want from my synth-driven punk music, a proper blast of scuzzy, untamed off-kilter quirk. Absolute Godhead.

Dear God, why call an album "Isle of View". Puns in album titles are not good. Take note, Public Enemy. I don't think I've ever heard of Jimmie Spheeris, but this seems surprisingly acceptable for someone with such lack of good taste. It's edging towards the cheesy, but you could imagine it being crammed onto the Gather the Mushrooms 70s folk collection, or even a lesser moment of The Wicker Man sound track. Oh, it's gone and soiled itself all of a sudden, as it gets to the chorus. Oh dear, you've gone and added an infusion of pompousness to a folky track. That way leads to Mumford and Sons.

A

[Jumper K]

A is unlistenable trash. Any wanker with a Bontempi and a dearth of ideas should be slaughtered at birth.
B is even worse.
A, for fecks sake.

[The Modernist]

A was a bit of an ugly mess, with a really off putting "Oooo I'm so wacky" vocal. Even in the post-punk era, no one really bothered with Tuxedomoon - they were just there on the margins, being ignored.

Jimmy Spheeris is new to me and I liked it a lot. I'm a sucker for that melancholy finger picking folk anyway, it had a bit of a Linda Perhacs feel. Interesting choice and an artist I'd be interested in exploring further.

B

[C]

I have never heard of Tuxedomoon but I really enjoyed it.

Robust. Seminal. Mediocre tubs.

ooooof.

The Spheeris track was just too laid back... Did little for me and a bit boring. Sorry

-+A+-





.

[Purgatory Brite]

B because it's really beautiful, man!

[harvey k-tel]

I started to gag involuntarily toward the end of B, especially when he went for that high note. Ugh. Shit like that leaves a real bad taste in my mouth.

I only heard A for the first time earlier this year, and it is a ton of fun. Good choice!

A

[naughty boy]

I'm giving my vote to

A

partly because that kind of wilfully odd, scratchy post-punk hasn't been represented in this Cup that much - but more importantly (and sadly, for me at least) there's been an awful lot of sneering shown by several regulars over the last few years towards this kind of thing - like, if it doesn't sound like fucking Fleetwood Mac or have fucking Moogs and strings all over the bastard or was produced by Charles Weetabix it's a waste of time. We've really turned away from it all and it's a shame

[harvey k-tel]

How dare you disparage Charles Weetabix!

[naughty boy]

[echolalia]

A is trying-too-hard histrionics. Terrible name for a group, too.
I wanted to like B more than I did. Rightly forgotten? Still,
B

[fange]

How dare you disparage Charles Weetabix!

Indeed. The man was a genius; his production and arranging on those early 70s records by groups like The New Pserenaders or The Ebony Merkins was unmatched.


Anyway, A takes this one. B was pretty but a little somniferous.


A

[The Modernist]

partly because that kind of wilfully odd, scratchy post-punk hasn't been represented in this Cup that much - but more importantly (and sadly, for me at least) there's been an awful lot of sneering shown by several regulars over the last few years towards this kind of thing - like, if it doesn't sound like fucking Fleetwood Mac or have fucking Moogs and strings all over the bastard or was produced by Charles Weetabix it's a waste of time. We've really turned away from it all and it's a shame

On the contrary, BCB is too indulgent of this kind of thing, it's BCB's achilles heel: "Ooo it's so edgy, arty and different! We'll ignore that it's tuneless and contrived".

[naughty boy]

Ten years ago, maybe you'd have had a point. But today as soon as anyone dare champion anything vaguely 'indie', you, Dougie and a handful of others smack it all down with a snotty comment. It's 'limited' or 'grey' or 'something I grew out of years ago'.

Note that this change coincides with a rightward move politically...

[The Modernist]

I'm not rising to that one...nice try though!

[naughty boy]

damn

[T. Willy Rye]

A

[Osgood]

A wanted to be annoying and succeeded. B wanted to be pleasant and succeeded. Now, should I vote for the one that wanted to annoy me or the one that wanted to please me?

B

[trans-chigley express]

A was all kind of annoying, from the painful vocals to the weedy sci-fi keyboards, went on for way longer than it had any justification to and put me in an irritable mood

B was blissful in comparison and quickly put me back into a better frame of mind.

B