The Velvet Forum

Dear Rosie
As my native language is not english, I would like a clarification.

does 350 responses mean that 350 must take the poll, or does that mean that 350 replies on Your list of bands, plus whatever bands we other 196 members think represents the VU spirit.

I have to back up what HF says about JAMC. Great band although being hard-nosed Scots I'm sure they might object to being called 'British'!

Anyway, PsychC, Darklands & the much-ignored Honey's Dead are recommended. And here's a coupla cool facts to sway you...

1. They named a song 'Moe Tucker' on their last album (unless the Reid brothers kiss & make up..please guys, please);
2. Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream played drums for them up until & including the sessions of PsychC - MOE TUCKER-stylee;
3. As a coda on 'Honey's dead' they released an outtake from the sessions for the single 'Reverence' in which Jim Reid accidentally stumbles into the lyrics for 'Roadrunner' (v.cool);
4. Talking of 'Reverence' when they released the single in the Uk, they refused to edit the song for radio and instead - to piss the programmers & their record company off further - they instead ADDED an extra minute of noise & feedback to the start of the song. That's the kinda 'edit' I want!

Homme Fatale wrote:

edgarde wrote:"Psychocandy" is definitive, and "Barbed Wire Kisses", tho less streamlined, has more of the good stuff. However, they are British. You know what that means -- the undertow of fey Britpop repels them inexorably from the True Void they seek.

Hey, hey, hey... Watch it with the negative remarks... The notion that Britishness ever stopped a band from being truly great does sound pretty ridiculous to me though, no offense.

Clearly you are not wanging chung.

Homme Fatale wrote:Many if not most of the truly classic bands from the '60s onwards were British...

Tho I didn't mean to bring this up a subject for further consideration, I'll try finish my thought without making "negative" remarks.

British rock bands have historicly displayed a great talent for synthesis and adoption. Peculiarties in their educational system produce a fortuitous surplus of smart yet still marketable rock bands who readily adopt cutting edge forms. As a bonus, this preponderance of art-school-educated bands makes available a large pool of musical instruments to be stolen by more authentic rock bands. Especially when they tour the United States.

Anyway, one of the reasons I like Mr. & Mrs. Chain so much is they seem to have invented that trebly whistling noise out of whole cloth. This is clearly exceptional, and arguably bucking the cultural tide, so to speak, so I applaud them for it.

Es. (who can't find the emoticon for "casually strumming Frank Black's guitar")

Wanted to Edit that last post a little further, but I was logged out for some reason.

jimjim wrote:...JMC. Great band although being hard-nosed Scots I'm sure they might object to being called 'British'!

Whoops. Sorry Scotland! Thanks for correcting me on this, jimjim. I must have been thinking of The Strokes.

Anyway, I'll be looking into Complete John Peel Sessions as soon as money allows. Which won't be soon.

Es. (bowing toward Richard Thompson, who eats the True Void for breakfast before going out to coach his kid's soccer team)

edgarde wrote:

jimjim wrote:...JMC. Great band although being hard-nosed Scots I'm sure they might object to being called 'British'!

Whoops. Sorry Scotland! Thanks for correcting me on this, jimjim. I must have been thinking of The Strokes.

Not trying to be a smartass, honestly, but last time I checked Scotland was part of Great Britain, was it not? And anyway, The Mary Chain moved to London very early on in their career.... And aren't The Strokes from New York?

edgarde wrote:Anyway, I'll be looking into Complete John Peel Sessions as soon as money allows.

Trust me, you'll be doing yourself a favour. Those early sessions are up there with Psychocandy - some of the songs ("Inside Me", "The Living End") I even prefer in their Peel sesh versions. 8)

Correct. But the majority of Scots are 'Nationalists' and see themselves as Scottish first, British second. Some totally object to the idea of being called British.

Several A+ choices here, but in the final analysis I have to cast my vote for Television.
Television, on stage, have the same sense of epic climax that I hear on many live Velvets recordings. The ability to make one aural wave crash on top of another until the entire musical ocean is sweeping you away.
They also have the same ability to stand stock still and rock and make it look like the coolest thing ever.

After much agonising, I too selected Television. However, here's Patti doing 'Real Good Time Together', I'll leave it up for a few days...

http://www.dalehouse.demon.co.uk/patti.mp3

Let me know if it doesn't work

I need to qualify. I live here in New orleans with my son and roommate. We are all Velvets fans. On the last question, I submitted my vote and my son joined the group and cast his vote. Both came from my computer as it is the only one in the house. Is it ok to do this again? I have cast my vote and my son is eager to do the same. Please give me your opinion. Again, thanks in advance. Ps, I went with Sonic Youth; hands down. Rick

I cast my vote for the Modern Lovers. As a Massachusetts native it does me proud to know that Boston was one of the few cities in the US that did not have to search for the Velvets' mainline as they were well and truly plugged into it right from the beginning!!! If I had access to a time machine, those Boston Tea Party gigs would be a prime destination.