Charlie O. wrote:I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the idea of "too much melody" - but it is possible for a melody to "try too hard."
Too much melody:
Arnel Jackson wrote:snarfyguy wrote:Too much melody:
True, that is one of their weakest efforts. But please don't give up on the Lilys by what you have heard. I beg of you.
GoogaMooga wrote: The further away from home you go, the greater the risk of getting stuck there.
snarfyguy wrote:I have 'Better Won't Make Your Life Better.' What else is good?
snarfyguy wrote:Arnel Jackson wrote:snarfyguy wrote:Too much melody:
True, that is one of their weakest efforts. But please don't give up on the Lilys by what you have heard. I beg of you.
I have 'Better Won't Make Your Life Better.' What else is good?
take5_d_shorterer wrote:If John Bonham simply didn't listen to enough Tommy Johnson or Blind Willie Mctell, that's his doing.
Arnel Jackson wrote:snarfyguy wrote:I have 'Better Won't Make Your Life Better.' What else is good?
Well unfortunately not much is left in print. Precollection from last year is worthy. But I thought their high points were In The Presence Of Nothing, Eccsame the Photon Band and A Brief History Of Amazing Letdowns. Less power pop and more shoegaze though.
GoogaMooga wrote: The further away from home you go, the greater the risk of getting stuck there.
Arnel Jackson wrote:Le Narob wrote:Some could deride it as a step backwards for the Lilys - it is - but I love it.
Yeah, I have a love/hate relationship with that record. A very very worthy release though. Might have to put it on later.
take5_d_shorterer wrote:If John Bonham simply didn't listen to enough Tommy Johnson or Blind Willie Mctell, that's his doing.
Le Narob wrote:I am a huge fan of the "Selected" ep which combines a less manic pop sense (less manic than "Better Won't ...") with the classic MBV draggy/druggy guitars. This fulfills (to me) the promise of Ride's early eps which suggested a sort of early Pink Floyd mixed with MBV - an idea they quickly jettisoned. Anyway, I think it's a fab little ep and one of my favorite things. Some could deride it as a step backwards for the Lilys - it is - but I love it.
EDIT - Now I see Nathan's post (directly above) and would say this ep strikes a nice balance between pop (I wouldn't say power pop as I no longer know what that is) and shoegaze. A balance heretofore unstruck by anyone else to my satisfaction. Too bad it's only an ep.
GoogaMooga wrote: The further away from home you go, the greater the risk of getting stuck there.
goldwaxxx wrote:Roygbiv wrote:Aloysius wrote:BTW, has anyone heard this or another in the series?
1. Remedies performed by Dwight Twilley
2. I Miss You performed by Shoes
3. Speed Kills performed by Adam Schmitt
4. Is It Any Wonder performed by Cowsills
5. Song of the Universe performed by Twenty Twenty
6. Fingers On It performed by Enuff Z'nuff
7. Stars performed by Devin Hill
8. You Can't Lie performed by Critics
9. Rest Up performed by Jim Basnight
10. Open Wide performed by Chris VonSneidern
11. Skinny performed by Spongetones
12. The Girl performed by Rubinoos
13. Disarray performed by Tommy Keene
14. Break Down The Walls performed by Ken Sharp
15. It's You Tonight performed by Flashcubes
16. No Romance Today performed by Elliot Kendall
17. Get To Know You performed by Vandalias
18. When Is Your Dream performed by Whallop
19. Why Can't We Make Believe We're In Love? performed by Buddy Love
20. Love Sick Trip performed by Three Hour Tour
21. I Like The World performed by Mark Johnson
This is out of print, I've tried to get it before.
cough cough cough cough cough !!!!!!!
I used to have the first two or three of these, and traded them in for a song years ago--they go for $25 used nowadays!
Anyway, this series never made much of an impression on me. As I remember it, it all ran together, which is probably is indicative of the disservice '90s artists did to the genre. Skinny stood out as being pretty different from the rest, but only because it was so awful. Three Hour Tour is a band I'd like to hear again. I had the first couple of EPs on Parasol and they were great.
And that's about all I remember.
Cédric wrote:Aloysius wrote:the loveless wrote:Obmij wrote:Okay then, I propose the greatest power pop artist is Prince when he does his pop thing with songs like "Pop Life" and "Rasberry Beret". That shit can't be beaten.
Absolutely.
Great pop, but perhaps not what I have in mind by power pop. I think its the psychedelia thing that puts this material in a box with XTC/Dukes, Soft Boys/Hitchcock, Wondermints, Jellyfish etc. Its just different to my ears
Cognate genres include chamber pop (Boettcher>Surf's Up>Cardinal>Siesta Records>Louis Philippe>High Llamas etc.) and UK pub rock/melodic punk (Nick Lowe, Rockpile, Undertones, Buzzcocks).
For me power pop is a pretty tight genre - Big Star, Rubinoos, Greg Kihn, Shoes,Twilley etc. Probably Teenage Fanclub, early Ben Vaughn combo and Pursuit of Happiness too.
Actually, the best definition (rather than the best music per se), is probably side one of this:
Yeah, I agree with you, Aloysius. For me too, power pop is a very tight genre. I'm not even sure that Big Star (too "funky", sometimes... the Memphis roots !) and Teenage Fanclub (too "byrdsian" and definitely too Scottish !) also fit in that category. Regarding the 70s power pop, the Rubinoos, the Shoes, Dwight Twilley and some tracks by Badfinger are perfect. Since the 80s and after the Punk, I'd say that it's mainly a question of an easy melody and nice harmonies put on some powerful chords and dynamic tune. Like I said earlier, the green album by Weezer is the perfect power pop record, IMO.
goldwaxxx wrote:womble wrote:goldwaxxx wrote:Roygbiv wrote:Aloysius wrote:BTW, has anyone heard this or another in the series?
1. Remedies performed by Dwight Twilley
2. I Miss You performed by Shoes
3. Speed Kills performed by Adam Schmitt
4. Is It Any Wonder performed by Cowsills
5. Song of the Universe performed by Twenty Twenty
6. Fingers On It performed by Enuff Z'nuff
7. Stars performed by Devin Hill
8. You Can't Lie performed by Critics
9. Rest Up performed by Jim Basnight
10. Open Wide performed by Chris VonSneidern
11. Skinny performed by Spongetones
12. The Girl performed by Rubinoos
13. Disarray performed by Tommy Keene
14. Break Down The Walls performed by Ken Sharp
15. It's You Tonight performed by Flashcubes
16. No Romance Today performed by Elliot Kendall
17. Get To Know You performed by Vandalias
18. When Is Your Dream performed by Whallop
19. Why Can't We Make Believe We're In Love? performed by Buddy Love
20. Love Sick Trip performed by Three Hour Tour
21. I Like The World performed by Mark Johnson
This is out of print, I've tried to get it before.
cough cough cough cough cough !!!!!!!
I used to have the first two or three of these, and traded them in for a song years ago--they go for $25 used nowadays!
Anyway, this series never made much of an impression on me. As I remember it, it all ran together, which is probably is indicative of the disservice '90s artists did to the genre. Skinny stood out as being pretty different from the rest, but only because it was so awful. Three Hour Tour is a band I'd like to hear again. I had the first couple of EPs on Parasol and they were great.
And that's about all I remember.
Goldwax is right -- this was a promising series that looked better 'on paper' then it did in execution -- was it compiled by Ken Sharp himself? I dunno ... I think I've still got this and volume 2 if anyone is interested ....
Wasn't it Yellow Pills editor JOrdan Oakes who put this together?
Jimbo wrote:Roygbiv wrote:Then I see The Who being described as power pop and it all becomes a bit confusing
"Maryanne With the Shaky Hands" is so power pop. The music is sweet, but the lyrics are witty and subversive.
GoogaMooga wrote: The further away from home you go, the greater the risk of getting stuck there.
snarfyguy wrote:Mr. Jim wrote: Supertramp