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Children of Nuggets box set

Started by 23 Daves, November 26, 2005, 07:11:42 PM

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23 Daves

I just spotted this when I popped into HMV earlier, and I was wondering what everyone's thoughts on it were - I have to confess, I've probably only heard about a third of what's on there, though it's very nice to see the Dukes of Stratosphear, Julian Cope and even The Inspiral Carpets(!) included (not sure that "Weakness" would have been my prime choice of track for those fellas, though).  I would have said that the Stone Roses first album would also have been ripe for plundering on a box set of this kind, but perhaps the compilers thought that had been exposed enough already.  Anyway, here's the link:

http://www.rhino.com/store/ProductDetail.lasso?Number=74639

Not much baggy era stuff, interestingly....

Ciarán2

Yes, I spied it in Tower a while ago too. Quite a Paisley Underground thing, isn't it? Looks interesting, but I'm not prepared to fork out 70 euro or whatever for this one. I'd burn it. (Not in a fire).

I liked Nuggets II, unlike most of you.

23 Daves

Quote from: "Ciarán"

I liked Nuggets II, unlike most of you.

Oh, most of Disc one is astonishing, and the rest is just patchy.  A lot of the Nederbeat stuff on there leaves me cold, quite honestly, and if I had to pick a Q65 track at all I'd jump on "So High I've Been" rather than the sort of hectoring nonsense they did actually put on the box set.

The other problem with Nuggets II, of course, is that I had a fair 50% of what was on there already.

So far as the "Paisley Underground" is concerned, everything I've tried to listen to from this movement just sounded like REM at their most wigged-out, or Diesel Park West (remember them?).  I've always treated it with a bit of suspicion since as a result.

There was also an American neo-psych band called The Strawberry Zots (not on the new box set so far as I can see) who had a rather unfortunate eighties styled production on their work, almost missing the point of the exercise entirely.  I chucked their CD out to Oxfam quite recently (somebody will probably come along and tell me it's worth #100 now, and I'll cry).

Darrell


23 Daves

Um... yes, I just obtained a copy of this...  and so far (although obviously I haven't got all the way through it yet) it's fascinating how much of it is actually very similar stylistically to Rough Trade's Indiepop 2CD set they put out very early this year.  A lot of fey, jingly-jangly stuff, including of course early Primal Scream, flop early Creation acts (Biff Bang Pow! - bet Alan McGee is thrilled to be on a Nuggets box set), Teenage Fanclub, The Green Telescope...

It sounds enormously C86 in places, and that's quite telling in itself, because I've been arguing with a friend of mine for ages that the bulk of the C86 scene was basically a revival of the feyer end of the psych-pop material of the sixties.  I mean, Apple's "Buffalo Billy Can" sounds to me uncannily like The Pastels, for example (and I don't mean that as an insult, either).  

Other than that, once again I'm bothered by the very eighties sounding production on many of the tracks - it feels as if the rougher edges of a lot of the songs have been smoothed over, defeating the point.  Stick even the rawest track on this set next to Thor's Hammer on Nuggets 2 or Richard and the Young Lions on Nuggets 1, and you'll clearly hear the difference.  Primal Scream's "Sonic Flower Groove" for example was recorded very carefully and sometimes through making Bobby Gillespie sing one part of a line at a time (largely because he struggled to stay in tune, apparently).  A lot of these tracks just don't sound "spontaneous", which most good garage should.   And it's transparently obvious that a lot weren't recorded on retro equipment.  That shouldn't make a difference, but somehow it does.  

Some nice things on there, though.  I wouldn't totally dismiss it yet.

(and great - I finally have a digitial copy of Teenage Fanclub's "God Knows It's True", omitted from their "Best Of" for some unfathomable reason)

LadyDay

Eighties sounding production? Odd that for the eighties :-)

There's some absolute gems on there.  It's not as jingoistic as C86, there's a good mix of Brit and American stuff.  *fangirls over the Soft Boys and the Flamin Groovies*

Ciarán2

Have you actually bought a physical copy of this Daves? And if so what's the booklet like? Are there track by track notes like in the other sets? Has it got that trippy collage like artwork too? The other Nuggets boxes look really beautiful if you ask me. Nuggets might be my favourite box set. We should have a box set thread shouldn't we? I'll leave off for the mo in case it derails this though.

23 Daves

Quote from: "Ciarán"Have you actually bought a physical copy of this Daves? And if so what's the booklet like?

Um... *coughs*... I haven't seen the booklet.  Unlike the other two Nuggets boxes, I didn't really trust this one, and I'm skint at the moment anyway.

Unlike the other two boxes, this has had a UK release though (rather than being a #60 import) so it's available for about forty quid.  Not too expensive, really.  Might be worth a gander.

Paaaaul

Quote from: "Ciarán"Are there track by track notes like in the other sets?


Quote from: "Rhino site"A full-color booklet includes photos, liner notes by Little Steven Van Zandt, Nigel Cross, and co-producer Alec Palao, track-by-track commentary by Kieron Tyler, and closing comments by co-producer Gary Stewart

SurferGhost

Nice to see Cambridge's finest The Soft Boys finally get some recognition for a change (ah, it's a US compilation innit, so they will). Neither choice of track for them particularly illustrates their psych leanings, though..."I Wanna Destroy You" is a fair enough example of their later material that launched a thousand imitators I s'pose, but the other choice is very odd indeed... Not bad, just not particularly representative.

Nothing of what I know there is particularly psychy in my opinion (even The Dukes tracks aren't the ones of theirs I would've picked), which I suppose brings us back to the real question:

What is Psychedelia?

LadyDay

Well it's certainly not the Smithereens that's for sure.