TMBGareOK. The Official They Might Be Giants tumblr
Monterey Bay Aquarium
shark vs the universe
Color Me Curious
No title available
ellievsbear
Product Placement
The Bowery Presents
Cookie Run:Kingdom Official!
gracie abrams
blake kathryn
Doug Jones
occasionally subtle
Show & Tell
One Nice Bug Per Day
Sweet Seals For You, Always
official daine visual archive
Noah Kahan
★
d e v o n
seen from Brazil
seen from Canada
seen from Germany
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Germany
seen from Chile
seen from South Africa
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Malaysia
seen from Saudi Arabia
seen from Brazil
seen from Malaysia
seen from Venezuela
seen from Belgium
seen from United States
seen from Italy
seen from Türkiye
seen from Türkiye
@thewakeblog
Instead of a Friday night tweet
BBC ONE
The Real Marigold Hotel
A new group of celebrities test out retirement in Udaipur, India. Contains some upsetting scenes... i.e. Syd Little asking 'How can your mind be full of nothing?' re the ancient discipline of meditation. Syd. Little.
Here Comes Everybody (2015 Reissue) Liner Notes
Here Comes Everybody was the first time I became fully involved in the writing and recording of an album. I remember being excited and anxious to do well, and on the whole it was great fun but hard work. The part I remember most though was the last day and night of mixing. We were struggling to finish when suddenly everything changed. We were tired. I lay down on the couch to listen with pieces of music echoing in and out of my half sleep. It was so dreamlike, then emotional, as I realised that making an album is a very private experience, but one you hope will be loved by others. Thirty years don't matter. That feeling still bridges the gap. (Carolyn Allen)
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental… I wrote most of the words for the songs at the studio as the music was being put together or back in a room at the guest house in preparation for the next day's session. The stories emerging were a bit more direct and personal than in previous lyrics and with the pressure of a daily deadline I just let it happen. With hindsight, although the songs seem autobiographical, nearly all the situations and implied characters weren't real. I've never kept a diary. I didn't know anyone called Pamela. There was no melancholy man and I've never worn a long grey overcoat. But up and down the length of Church Road in the quite affluent area of Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester, I swear I saw versions of those people going to and from school, work and home. (Caesar)
Gruesome Flowers: Moving from Factory to Sarah
It was early in 1987. We had been working with Factory Records for over five years when we started to record our Something That No One Else Could Bring EP with much sought-after producer John Leckie. However, in the lead-up to its November release, we had a rare disagreement with label boss Tony Wilson about the artwork.
We'd always created our own covers and once again we had an idea of what we wanted but didn't really have anyone available to sketch it out for us. In the meantime, Tony suggested commissioning something original from his latest design flame. I can't recall the company's name but they did a lot of A Certain Ratio's things at that time. They came up with a sleeve which was basically for an ACR-style dance record and it just wasn't right for us - very 80s New York, very clubby - and nothing at all to do with our sound. Had any of these people even listened to tracks like Gruesome Castle and Pale Spectre?
We certainly felt considerable pressure to say yes to the over elaborate packaging that had been foisted upon us, but we stood our ground, moved in the opposite direction and went for something a lot more basic-looking. It turned out Tony wasn't entirely happy about the run-in and the record was given a pretty low-key release (even by Factory standards) perhaps to teach us a lesson. It could not be found in the megastore, as the song says. I must emphasize though, apart from this minor quarrel, Tony was always supportive of us.
It was just a period when the label was changing and new people were becoming influential within and apparently a shift towards dance music was the order of the day. Rightly or wrongly, we believed our EP was a more natural route for them to take.
Anyway, we were left in a situation, in 1988, where we probably spent most of the year unsure if we had their backing anymore. In turn, we had to ask ourselves if we really wanted to be there. We kept playing live. 1988 quickly became 1989. We knew we wanted to continue but it was clear we had to look for another recording outlet.
Our hometown friends The Orchids were already on Sarah. We didn't know anything about label founders Matt and Clare except that The Orchids worked with them and they might be interested in new Wake songs. So we struck up a deal to do something and went on to make the Crush the Flowers single. It was seen as a bit of a departure from our previous work but, to us, it related stylistically to our first self-financed release On Our Honeymoon.
The so-called Sarah aesthetic felt like familiar territory to us. Initially, we were advised Matt and Clare weren't too keen on 12" singles although that changed with the eventual release of the expansive Missing the Moon by The Field Mice. Still, any allegiance to 7" vinyl happened to suit the songs we had written at that moment. In general, we didn't find the label's approach to be markedly different from Factory except there was a smaller budget for recording etc.
I remember the three of us (the three remaining members Carolyn, Steven and I) recording Crush the Flowers and Carbrain at our co-producer Duncan Cameron's house and his son Jamie asking: "Who are those weirdoes, Dad?" We were doing vocals in the hallway, that sort of thing. It was real Joe Meek stuff. By the way, Jamie grew up to play guitar with BMX Bandits for a while.
For The Wake, independence was never about a policy, a particular format or one type of music. It just meant freedom for groups to do things the way they wanted to do them, without interference and preferably with empathy and support. Luckily, we had that at both labels.
We think the move to Sarah expanded our audience. That's not to say it was noticeable back then. But it seems being with two well-regarded organizations has made a difference in the long run. So here is the music we made during and after that sudden period of transition; spiky protest songs, unfettered pop satires, direct and personal, far removed from everything, travelling alone. Glasgow. Manchester. Bristol. There and back again.
- Caesar (on behalf of The Wake)
Ticket for New Order, The Wake and James at Brixton Academy, 1983. £3.50!
Poster for A Factory Records Night 1985 featuring New Order, The Wake, The Royal Family & The Poor.
The Wake performing in Europe in the early 1990s.
© 333sound - We Are Publishing A Book About Sarah Records
The Pastels / The Wake CCA Glasgow Poster 2013
This is a link to the Wake playlist made up by Caesar for the Stupefaction website.
Indietracks Festival Sunday 28th July
Pleased to announce The Wake are playing at Indietracks Festival on Sunday 28th July. More info here https://www.facebook.com/indietracks?ref=ts here http://indietracksblog.blogspot.co.uk/ and here https://twitter.com/IndietracksFest
Liner notes from Harmony Factory Benelux reissue
The first seven songs on this CD made up the original Harmony vinyl mini album as released by Factory Records in 1982. But that record's side one actually consisted of tracks 4-7 from this version and side two had tracks 1-3. I can half explain the eventual running order changes shortly.
The idea of a release came about at the suggestion of inspirational nonconformist entrepreneur and New Order manager Rob Gretton after we had played live together a few times. I'd say he was thinking in terms of a single but we wanted to do something lengthier while we had the opportunity, and, characteristically, audaciously, Rob was into it. Now all he had to do was persuade Tony Wilson. If you look back at many of the events in Factory lore, he often managed to do that to the benefit of increased productivity and influence if not the label's profits.
The soon to follow Factory Benelux version – initially a separate imprint with above-board Factory connections as far as we could tell – added an unfinished outtake 'Chance' without our permission but it's good this try-out is still available to listen to. It's included here and this time we're fully in the picture.
The trouble on the day with the aptly named 'Chance' was our drummer and founder member Steven Allen (assisted on this one song with some extra percussion from bassist Bobby Gillespie) couldn't quite get the fast pattern he'd created exactly right. It was first written for a session at The Hellfire Club rehearsal and recording studios in our hometown of Glasgow. It was quite a relentless rhythm and hard to reproduce under first time in a big studio conditions so the planned mini album became slightly more mini…It's comforting how time can make these hitches seem perfectly all right though.
I'm sure that's where the track listing first mysteriously transformed – on that first Benelux issue – again without our say-so. It's persisted to this day. We think it works both ways, especially in the present random play CD (now partly post CD) age.
The recordings took place at Strawberry Studios in Stockport under the calm and heartening supervision of sound engineer Chris Nagle who had previously worked with the likes of Barclay James Harvest and studio owners 10cc. Who knows what he made of the four shy Scottish waifs with tuning and tempo problems who displayed a bizarre mix of cluelessness and self-assurance. But his easy-going manner, super confident technical abilities and natural quiet creativity and musicality really helped us to sometimes get the feel we were aiming at, especially on tracks like 'The Old Men' and 'Heartburn'.
The 'Something Outside' and 'Host' 12'' was recorded soon after at another Factory frequented studio, Revolution, and we were a lot more confident about what we were doing by that point and working closely with our occasional live sound guy Oz. More confident to the extent we thought it was quite the thing to play away for nearly eight minutes per song. This was a genuine belief in the notion of expanding the time limits of whatever sort of music we were making rather than any obtuse desire to test the listener's patience. Carolyn's opening keyboard part mixed with Steven's soft drum barrage provided the compositional starting point for the A-side.
The three Peel show tracks marked the culmination of our recorded work with Bobby. It was a bit disappointing to hear the respected DJ – who was otherwise very supportive – announce as the session went out – and as we were about to take the stage at The Hacienda – that 'Uniform' was very depressing. To be fair, it's certainly no 'Teenage Kicks'. Maybe it wasn't helped in that respect by a random playback of voices from some TV show about loss. It was left out when the session was repeated. It really wasn't meant to be cold-hearted or insensitive though and hopefully that's a bit clearer now.
This collection ends with our first recordings made at Wilf's Planet in Edinburgh because The Fire Engines had worked there. I came up with the lyrics, guitar and bass parts the night before the session and taught the bass line to Bobby's predecessor Joe Donnelly as we waited to start. Steven had to improvise his drumming on the spot. And the studio was little more than a hole in the ground. And you try and tell the young people of today that. And they won't believe you.
Caesar (for The Wake)
Short video clip of ending from our 12 Stars theatre performance Treatise On The Steppenwolf. The Glasgow shows featured live music by The Durutti Column.
Plastic Flowers
the wake : live at the haçienda
ltm recordings
One page play: The Present System
VOICE 1 If this all goes according to plan -
VOICE 2 And there’s every reason to expect it will.
VOICE 1 It’s going to mean a lot of changes.
VOICE 2 Now for some people change is good.
VOICE 1 Some people need change - we’re thinking of those people who don’t benefit much in the present system.
VOICE 2 Other people can do without change - we’re thinking of those people who do very well in the present system.
VOICE 1 The advantage of this proposition is that while everything seems to change nothing is really changing at all.
VOICE 2 And there you have it.
VOICE 1 These are the findings of our independent inquiry. Some of you will understand this - we’re thinking of those people who think they understand everything.
VOICE 2 Other people won’t understand this - we’re thinking of those people who never understand anything.
VOICE 1 It’s not for us to explain, elucidate, enlighten…
stunning
One page play: Far From Everything
VOICE 1 We’re far from everything.
VOICE 2 Quite far.
VOICE 1 Just the sea. A few gulls. Not much. Nice.
VOICE 2 Warmness of the sun.
VOICE 1 (Aside) Obviously.
Dry sand spilling through our fingers.
VOICE 2 Clear horizon.
VOICE 1 The whole day to ourselves.
VOICE 2 I’m thinking about -
That tower in the distance. The Martello.
VOICE 1 Have something to eat later. And the flask anytime.
VOICE 2 No pressure.
VOICE 1 Read more books. Take a few photographs.
There’s a reason.
VOICE 2 Yes?
VOICE 1 A reason to everything.
VOICE 2 In my opinion - they should open something up here.
VOICE 1 No. That would kill it.
© Gerard McInulty
Full questions and answers for Boston Phoenix article on Captured Tracks
- How did you meet Captured Tracks? What was your first impression of the label? Your initial reaction when they wanted to reissue your music?
It was Mike at Captured Tracks who found us. I think he had some problems tracking us down as we didn’t have any official internet presence then apart from an old Myspace page. Now we’re on Twitter and Tumblr we’re so hip! But he persisted and managed to find us in the end. He had an idea about putting out a compilation covering the entire Wake history, somewhat inspired by the Orange Juice set on Domino Records. It couldn’t be done at the time as there are complications about rights and existing editions but we were keen.
We were taken with Mike’s resolve to reach us, especially as he had to go through so many different channels and didn’t just quit. Also, the ambitious nature of the proposal for our back catalogue was appealing. The label’s high standards of presentation and mixture of new artists with reissues looked very positive to us right away. The enthusiasm came across directly.
Our reaction was we must try to do something. As Mike’s initial concept was proving difficult we had to go in a different direction. The point is both parties were dedicated to achieving whatever was possible. To keep it simple we had to stick to vinyl only reissues of a couple of singles, namely On Our Honeymoon and Crush The Flowers, coupled with a tribute called Gruesome Flowers featuring covers by Beach Fossils and Wild Nothing. It was a good way to start. - What about working with the label appealed to you? What sort of void do you think Captured Tracks fills in the music world right now?
We liked the way the label’s profile is determined by the music it releases and not by some perceived attitude or fixed style. And the initiative and passion to do special things is inspiring. Again we were restricted to vinyl but a lot of hard work and care went into the box version of Here Comes Everybody, mainly from the label’s side.
I think Captured Tracks retains the essential spirit of the best independents from the past and yet seems able to compete and stand out in the present day world. It certainly shows respect for the aims of the people involved in the groups. That personal aspect is so important. The actual process of dealing with the rapid changes of these internet times can dehumanize everything. - What sort of similarities and differences do you see between labels you were involved with in the 1980s (Factory, Sarah) and Captured Tracks?
We detect the same impulsive and intuitive approach to ideas as we experienced at Factory. I’ve said before Factory just went with a creative proposition if they were excited enough by it, no need for demos and explanations. The motivation to do something to the highest possible level is similar too. I feel both Factory and Sarah were hampered by the British obsession with compartmentalizing everything though. They were perceived in definite ways and to an extent played up to that too much. You can’t identify one all-encompassing Captured Tracks style really, although I’m sure many will try.
- If it's not too huge a question -- what sorts of similarities and differences do you see in the music world, in general, these days versus when you were releasing records with Factory and Sarah records?
The obvious shift is in the ways we can encounter music these days. I’m happy to use the internet to check out stuff but nearly always end up with a physical copy of favourite works. The one thing that never seems to change thankfully is that there are people out there who want to make and listen to imaginative, inspiring music and by and large they find ways of connecting with each other. The 80s and 90s were no better or worse for that. - How does it feel to see this wave of young bands inspired by the Wake on Captured Tracks
Well, we’re very aware it’s to do with a wider appreciation of independent music of the time and not just us. But it’s really encouraging to think we may have been a small influence or stimulus to others. The Wake has always been about looking forward to tomorrow though. Not that we’re doing much tomorrow but you know what I mean.
