Bricolage, Josef K & Orange Juice
Meet Bricolage. They are a Glasgow band who produce chiming indie pop steeped in that late 80s sound that is so popular at the moment, and from the sounds of it they are pretty bloody good. They have a couple of singles to their names so far, and the tracks on their MySpace page are for the most part terrific, so I find myself really rather looking forward to the album they are releasing. It’s interesting though, since I bought my record player and began to accumulate 7″ singles I have become less and less interested in albums, so I will be getting my hands on their singles as soon as I can.
People compare these guys to the likes of legendary Scottish indie bands Josef K and Orange Juice and, in my colossal ignorance, I find myself unable to contribute to this discussion. I’ve already made my excuses about a foreign upbringing denying me the kind of knowledge that everyone else my age has about the birth of indie, but if anyone can recommend a couple of really good 7″s I should buy, or a classic album or so to help be understand what was going on the last time Edinburgh was a musical powerhouse I would really appreciate it. I am going to bait them intentionally by linking to them, but I am guessing JC, Ed, Colin and Davy could help out. I am pretty confident DC‘ll throw in his tuppence worth, and very grateful I will be for it too.
So, until I make inroads into my monumental ignorance, I can only say that these guys sound like classic 80s indie to me, and that they also sound bloody brilliant. There are a few live dates on their MySpace page, but sadly nothing in Edinburgh for the foreseeable future, so I will just have to wait.
Bricolage – Lucinda Said
Bricolage – Temp it Up
Don’t know much about Josef K, but Orange Juice is tops. Definitely hear them in this Bricolage.
OJ – You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever might be a good album start, though if you look for their recent best-of, The Glasgow School, you can hear “Louise Louise” more cheaply than if you were to buy Rip It Up, which it’s on (that’s one of my personal favorite songs, in addition to “Love-Sick,” on Can’t Hide Your Love Forever.
Also…this video is like nothing else: http://youtube.com/watch?v=UuOVTDShZs0&feature=related
Ack, apologies for the lack of Amazon link and closed parentheses the second time around.
No worries China, I fixed it myself. Thanks for the tip. C&B kindly emailed a Josef K song through as well. Much appreciated, both of you.
I sent on an Orange juice tune as well. Check out “Entomology” on Domino for the most comprehensive Josef K disc.
So inevitably all the people I ungratefully neglected to mention in my post beat the ones I did to the advice-a-thon.
China I’m less surprised by, but C&B, you send me such a lot of American folky stuff I actually didn’t see you as a C86 sort of bloke actually. Shame on me indeed.
What!? I’m Twee as the dickens! Honestly. I used to masturbate to “Happy Head” by the Mighty Lemon Drops. Oh!
My eyes my eyes!
Alright, having streamed a good amount of Josef K over the Hype Machine, I’m officially in love and have more music shopping to do. Yes, definitely an applicable music reference.
C&B – even Toad can’t serve as much of a buffer after that one. You suddenly make me wonder about all the boys I went to school with. Oh god.
China, you don’t know the half of it! Some mysteries are better left unsolved really.
Lots of mp3 goodies should be with you by now Mr T.
Any of the OJ compilations are fine…although they seem to be getting more and more difficult to pick up (although I. almost certain that ‘The Glasgow School’ was going for £5 in Fopp about a month ago’).
Josef K – C&B has highlighted one collection. Another is ‘Endless Soul’ which came out on Marina Records in 1998.
I also sent you a couple of songs by The Fire Engines – another legendary early 80s band from Edinburgh.
I’ll finish on a bum note. Paul Haig playing his first Glasgow gig in years – Sunday 4th May at King Tuts. Same night as Nick Cave is in town…..and I never miss out on the latter.
Hi Matthew-all of the Orange Juice albums -You Can’t Hide your Love Forever, Rip It Up,Texas Fever and Orange Juice (The Third Album) are worth owning but currently unavailable on CD, in UK at least. Am planning to post these very soon on 17 Seconds. (Avalanche, Record Shack Vinyl Villains etc.. in the meantime!!) The Etymology compilation by Josef K is very good, and available the same applies to the Glasgow School by Orange Juice, and get whatever Fire engines you can (certainly stuff on emusic and iTunes).
Ed
Oh and Bricolage are great too!
Cheers Ed – I do believe you wrote about them sometime last year didn’t you, so I guessed you were already a fan. Definitely looking forward to your posts on Orange Juice. The C86 one is amazing, in a slightly odd, staring right into the eyes of history sort of way.
I shall go on a vinyl quest then. Elvis Shakespeare and that wee place in Otago Lane in Glasgow seem like good places to go ferreting too.
When people talk about sounding like Orange Juice they’re primarily talking about the early, indie-sounding stuff that’s on The Glasgow School. I like all of their records, though after You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever they sort of suffer from Eighties Production.
that’s a good point, Bill, particularly on the Rip It Up LP, though they didn’t get it as badly as others did (see Wild and lonely by the Associates for an example of when production really spoils a scots indie record.).
Just for the record, I Think ‘You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever’ is the second best debut by a scottish band ever, after Psychocandy, though I am possibly in the minority on that one.
Oh, and Matthew, re; bands you’ve featured, there’s an interview with foxface over at 17 Seconds.
Ed
I have to strongly disagree with Bill P and Ed. The later records don’t suffer from ‘Eighties Production’. They are recorded on a major label, and thus in studios that have better equipment.
Also, Edwyn in particular was becoming a better guitar player and was learning to sing differently.
I’m no real fan of Rip It Up….but Texas Fever and The Orange Juice are as good as You Cant Hide Your Love.
Just pick up any compilation that spans the years and listen without prejudice. The records are far from over-produced. You’ve made me angry – and coming on the back of the Caledonia Dreaming debacle, I am one very unhappy weegie bunny.
Stop being indie-snobs….
I dunno, I almost agree a touch with Bill – the one thing I noticed about some of the stuff of theirs from later on is that it’s a bit more new wave-y, a little corny (cornier?), a bit too big (at least, for my personal taste). Still like it somewhat, but not nearly as much as the sparse-sounding stuff.
Well some bands genuinely sound worse when they start to sound better, if you know what I mean. Are you talking about just not liking the particular production style of that period in the 80s or generally excessive slickness ruining the record?
I ain’t getting involved in this one – all the bases/recommends appear covered, so I’ll sit here & be quiet. For once. Except to ask, did you see the Postcard Records doc the other night on one of those BBC channels? Rather informative, if a bit fluffy & reverential, it were too.
Is that not the one JC is in a mood about? I think so. I didn’t see it though, because we don’t have a telly at the moment.
Backtracking a few…for them in particular, I think the slickness, though it’s sort of a combination of the two – I generally tend to dislike it when low budget bands with sparse sounds suddenly find money and make records with bigger, cleaner sounds (oh, to resent money!). Much as clean production ruins the fun of a punk record, I think it’s partially to blame for some bands sounding more pop or generic than they once were.
Blah blah evolving blah blah maturing blah. I like crappy, cheap production, basically, though I suppose ’80s flash isn’t much my thing. On a side note related to DC’s post, it sounds as though you get more interesting documentaries than we get in the states. Humph.
That’s the beauty of the BBC, despite the cost of the license.
@JC… I’m all for proper studios and good microphones, etc. But when I say “Eighties Production” I’m talking about the then need to put Fairlight synth and Linn drums on everything. (Like the awful syn-toms all over the otherwise amazing High Land Hard Rain.) And just the general way they recorded drums from ‘85 – ‘90 (BIG BIG BIG) makes so many records from that era sound a bit dated.
At the risk of becoming the bore on this one….the drums on later OJ recordings are all down to the incredible skills of Zeke Manyika rather than the artificial nonsense mentioned by bill p.
I just get pissed off with those who dismiss the later records as being less relevant than the Postcard releases. I get the same way with those who idly dismiss Morrissey’s solo output…..
[...] they mean, JC, those 80s ‘pyoo pyoo’ sounds aren’t doing anyone any favours – see comments.) Fire Engines – Candyskin (Peel Session Version) Orange Juice – [...]