Cardiacs

[hedgehog90]

Hey hedgehog90. It took me about a year, but I'm able to listen to other bands again now. Good luck.

I'm not sure if I felt excitement or panic on reading that.

On a side note, I was listening to Maresnest today. Wow! Hell of a show, right?
Anyway, I did a little bit of surface level research and I discovered something quite extraordinary.
Get this.
It was recorded on the

day
I
was
born

That's right.

Now I need to find out exactly what time I was born (I know it was late in the evening) and potentially which song was playing when I slopped out my mother's cunt.


:D

[Neville Chamberlain]

The gig actually took place in the afternoon (I know because my brother was there and I remember him being picked up in the morning by his fellow Cardiacs friends in our village) and Napalm Death took to the stage after Cardiacs had finished.

[hedgehog90]

I recently tried to improve the quality of the Seaside Treats VHS transfer that's floating around the interwebs.
With 320x240 lossy video there's not much you can do, but I figured I'd have a go.
I replaced the song bits with versions from the 2015 version of The Seaside, and I resized it to 960x720 so that YouTube would make a better effort at re-encoding it.
The results are underwhelming (well, crap), but here it is:

Cardiacs - Seaside Treats [w/ The Seaside 2015 Reissue Audio] [720]

If someone owns a relatively decent copy of the VHS and doesn't mind parting ways with it for a bit, I should be able to manage a better transfer.
I've only got a cheapo video/audio to usb capture thingy but I figured that would be sufficient to get a better quality recording.

[gloria]

William D Drake played a fine (free!) solo gig at the Ferret pub in Preston on Saturday. Fiery Pyre, Dukes of Hazzard, Paradox, She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain, Melancholy World...tunes so old I heard many of them for the first time on Napster!  Plus a healthy wodge of lovely Sea Nymphs numbers. Excellent support from Stephen EvEns, aka one time Cardiacs drummer Stephen Gilchrist.

[Phil_A]

William D Drake played a fine (free!) solo gig at the Ferret pub in Preston on Saturday. Fiery Pyre, Dukes of Hazzard, Paradox, She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain, Melancholy World...tunes so old I heard many of them for the first time on Napster!  Plus a healthy wodge of lovely Sea Nymphs numbers. Excellent support from Stephen EvEns, aka one time Cardiacs drummer Stephen Gilchrist.

Bill must be getting around a bit, I saw him with James Larcombe and Nicola Baigent in a tiny pub in Greenwich on Friday night.

It was pretty bizarre. The owner had the genius idea of having them play right by the entrance, so poor James had to keep getting out of the way every time someone wanted to come in or go out.

It was also so noisy even though I was standing about 4 feet away from the piano it was difficult to hear at times. The punters seemed to like it, though.

Tickets for the bi-annual Salisbury shindig are on sale, anything thinking of going? I'm in it for the Shrubbies reunion, definitely.

[Pete23]

50% off EVERYTHING at cardiacs.net if you enter the code "amazeballs50". Not sure if it's just for today or not.

[Bobby Treetops]

50% off EVERYTHING at cardiacs.net if you enter the code "amazeballs50". Not sure if it's just for today or not.

Well it works, thanks for the tip-off.

[buntyman]

50% off EVERYTHING at cardiacs.net if you enter the code "amazeballs50". Not sure if it's just for today or not.

Thanks very much for this, don't know the Cardiacs very well and had been put off by the price of their music and not knowing where to start. Just bought 4 cds for £6 each so looking forward to getting stuck in.

[Stoneage Dinosaurs]

This has just unexpectedly dropped:



(apart from for those of us that went to the convention who would have seen it lurking on the back of the programme)

So good news for anyone who's a fan of old songs or nearly-naked Jim

[soaking wet, mate]

Thanks for posting - I had it ordered and tweeted as soon as I saw this on Thurs. The ABC mail was a couple of hours later!

Cardiacs queshtiun:

Anyone have info on the keyboard backing tracks they used (I hate having to use past tense) in the shed and live? Like, how and by whom are they triggered, and what if they go out of time or miss something when playing along? It's always bothered me. Maybe there are some revealing balls-ups in the shed dvd. I was lucky enough to see them a couple of times and they were flawless, far as I could tell.

[Phil_A]

Thanks for posting - I had it ordered and tweeted as soon as I saw this on Thurs. The ABC mail was a couple of hours later!

Cardiacs queshtiun:

Anyone have info on the keyboard backing tracks they used (I hate having to use past tense) in the shed and live? Like, how and by whom are they triggered, and what if they go out of time or miss something when playing along? It's always bothered me. Maybe there are some revealing balls-ups in the shed dvd. I was lucky enough to see them a couple of times and they were flawless, far as I could tell.

Originally they had all the keyboards playing from DAT tapes, then some point post 2000 they switched over to triggered midi tracks. I know Bob the drummer used to have a click track in his headphones, apart from that I've no idea how they kept it so tight!

On very rare occasions they did go out of sync with the backing, you can hear in this clip towards the end of the song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqmUp3u4zVY

[soaking wet, mate]

Cheers, interesting. Always assumed Tim programmed that stuff - gives hope that he might release at least some sort of electronic stuff in the future

[Dirty Boy]

The new dvd is exceptional. Barking dogs, live wires,  flubbed lines, Jims pants and all.

Was nice to finally make it to one of them weirdo conventions they have now. Was sad to miss Shrubbies, but thought Prescott filled in marvellously and Bill's set along with spotting Tim made me all wincey eyed.

Anyone been on the Mares Nest forum lately? Spam Hell. Someone should wipe it and start again.

[Stoneage Dinosaurs]

You were there too? Met Phil_A but I had no idea you went along as well. I reckon we probably ended up bumping into each other at some point

My DVD hasn't arrived yet, no shipping email or owt :( i gather the ABC are pretty snowed under but it's still a shame

[Dirty Boy]

You were there too? Met Phil_A but I had no idea you went along as well. I reckon we probably ended up bumping into each other at some point

I was the one in the Daisy shirt.

I moved a few months ago and my internet use is sporadic to say the least, so i've not been on here as often as i'd like. Had a fine old time on the day despite doing my back in. Saw Rob Crow and Kavus do their rubbish in Manc the week before as well.

My DVD hasn't arrived yet, no shipping email or owt :( i gather the ABC are pretty snowed under but it's still a shame

It sez on FB:

Good evening, everyone. I am sorry to report that there appears to have been a whole batch of shipped orders go missing in the post. I am looking into this but in the meantime, please don't fret, if you can help it, as your order will be replaced. I am so sorry about this and will rectify the problem as soon as it is humanly possible. Your supportive and understanding correspondences are most appreciated. I hope that your patience will not be tested for too much longer. Thank you. Love Mary

Anyone know any ex -NME journos that became postmen?

[Neville Chamberlain]

I was there, too. I was the one wearing a black T-shirt with the luminous "Little Man and a House" scribbles on it. The Lost Crowns were absolutely blinding, as was Mr. Drake, who simply cannot put a foot wrong as far as I'm concerned. As for Prescott, that did nothing for me. Bob Drake underwhelmed me too, despite my being a big fan of his work. And I was a bit baffled at Rob Crowe. I dunno, I was hoping for something a little more weird and wonderful, but it all sounded a bit "ordinary" - relatively speaking at least. A couple of musical misgivings aside this year, it's still an absolutely wonderful event that deserves everyone's support!

And no, I haven't got my DVD yet, either - here's hoping they get back on track soon!

[Dirty Boy]

Nev, it took me a while to embrace the Crow, but now i really like a lot of his stuff (not keen on Pinback though and some of his most recent 'Gloomy Place' album sounds a bit generic). Other Men is my favourite thing of his.

I think it was my lack of familiarity with Bob Drake's own music that stopped him grabbing me so much. I still need to hear more of those early Thinking Plague albums.

Any info anywhere on Lost Crowns? It was the same thing last time with Heavy Lamb (i think. The Jo Spratley+kids thing).

[Neville Chamberlain]

Nev, it took me a while to embrace the Crow, but now i really like a lot of his stuff (not keen on Pinback though and some of his most recent 'Gloomy Place' album sounds a bit generic). Other Men is my favourite thing of his.

I only really know Heavy Vegetable, who're really good for the most part, with occasional lapses into a suspiciously generic, Pixies-like territory, which is off-putting in the extreme for me (apologies to any Pixies fans out there!).

I think it was my lack of familiarity with Bob Drake's own music that stopped him grabbing me so much. I still need to hear more of those early Thinking Plague albums.

Yep, they're great - but Bob Drake's solo material is pretty much all worth checking out, if you haven't already! Not sure why he didn't grab me on the night, although I'm willing to admit that might have been because I was up by the bar chatting.

Any info anywhere on Lost Crowns? It was the same thing last time with Heavy Lamb (i think. The Jo Spratley+kids thing).

No info whatsoever. I'd pay good money for an album of that wonkiness. As for Heavy Lamb, they became the Spratley's Japs touring band (with a couple of personnel changes - I think the Spratley's drummer is the drummer from ZOFFF). Again, I'd pay really fucking good money for a Heavy Lamb album - as it is, we all have to make do with the sparse clips up there on YouTube!

[Phil_A]

Gah, if we'd thought ahead it could've been a mini-Cab meet, I didn't even realise half of you were there. Ah well, maybe next time.

I understand Lost Crowns are either in the process of or just about to record an album, so we should be hearing something from them in the near future. I was gutted though, I had a recording of the whole set on my phone and lost it when the sd card died.

[Neville Chamberlain]

I understand Lost Crowns are either in the process of or just about to record an album...

Now this has made my day!

I do wonder if we'll ever see anything more of Heavy Lamb. I'm a bit obsessed with them. I guess their Spratley's commitments are getting in the way. By the way, is anyone going to any of the dates on the upcoming Spratley's tour?

[Stoneage Dinosaurs]

Aah, the shed rehearsal DVD is great fun

[Dirty Boy]

That's not real... is it?

Does anyone know where i could grab the Bill Drake radio sessions, particularly the Mark Riley ones? I think there was a site that had them archived, but i cannae find it now.

[Phil_A]

If anyone's interested in catching Lost Crowns' debut London Gig, along with the amazing Prescott and some bloke called Kavus, they're playing in Dalston on the 11th of January. Right by the station, handily enough.

http://www.wegottickets.com/event/423309

[hedgehog90]

I was just listening to Dive (from A Little Man And a House And The Whole World Window) and heard the phrase 'fake news'.

Sure enough: https://genius.com/Cardiacs-dive-lyrics

Tim Smith > Norm Macdonald > Donald Trump

[Phil_A]

That's not real... is it?

Does anyone know where i could grab the Bill Drake radio sessions, particularly the Mark Riley ones? I think there was a site that had them archived, but i cannae find it now.

Here's some of them, there's more out there I'm sure.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/mz20doe2dlxc9kg/William_D_Drake_-_Resonance_FM_Session(Unknown_Date).zip
http://www.mediafire.com/download/7s58e6j7stvl1f9/radio_interview_(resonance_fm_-_5th_february_2004).rar
http://www.mediafire.com/download/r4zjdo04l354nzm/william_d_drake_-_glass_shrimp_session_-_31-01-2007.rar
http://www.mediafire.com/download/oh223zvza9o9gzm/William_D._Drake_-_Resonance_FM_Session_14-12-10.rar
http://www.mediafire.com/download/i9wk22fh2vipqcz/William_D._Drake_-_Marc_Riley_Session_11-07-11.rar

[twonk]

There's a two page story on Tim smith in today's i newspaper and a just giving page has been set up for his healthcare costs. https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/timsmith

[Dirty Boy]

I'm sure i don't have to say this, but please share this link around as much as possible pondies. Let's get Tim the help he needs.

Here's the article in the i newspaper as well.

[Neville Chamberlain]

Blimey - the fundraiser has already raised nearly half the desired sum!!!

[hedgehog90]

I've just been contacting video uploaders on youtube to post the link in the description or pin a relevant comment.
Looks like that won't be necessary.

[Neville Chamberlain]

52%!!! :-)