james

'Stutter'

I love their new album but nothing beats LAID..

check out their home page at http://www.jamestheband.com

also check out....

The Official TRISOMIE 21 Home Page http://www.geocities.com/sscwon/t21.html http://t21.isCool.net http://come.to/t21

The Official CLOSE LOBSTERS Home Page http://www.geocities.com/sscwon/lobsters.html http://closelobsters.areCool.net http://come.to/closelobsters

http://www.wearejames.com/news/wp-content/uploads/13456604x400.jpg

The Night Before is the first of two forthcoming mini-albums by Mancunian rock band James due for release on April 19, 2010 in the UK on Mercury Records.

1. It's Hot
2. Crazy
3. Ten Below
4. Porcupine
5. Shine
6. Dr Hellier
7. Hero [Bonus Track]

Porcupine is wonderful.

Ha, I kind of love that this is the only James thread.

Anyway. I might have been the only person that was excited to buy "Laid' the day it was released specifically because it was produced by Eno. Certainly one of the few Americans. I remember walking to the local used record store and finding it second-hand on CD the day it came out; obviously someone with the advance dumped it with extreme prejudice. But I instantly took to the album, without knowing much about the band. I used to listen to it when I fell asleep for a while. It's the perfect album for that, not because it's boring but because it's so beautiful and soothing. I still say "Sometimes" might be the prettiest song I've ever heard, definitely one of them, and in fact I remember reading that that song was the reason Eno took the gig. James had been campaigning for him, but he demurred, until he finally put on the demo of new stuff and heard that song. I still listen to the album all the time.

I've always wondered, though, about all the thousands of people that bought the record because the title track was a fluke hit. Did they sell it back immediately? Did they listen to anything but the title track? Did they think it was weird or boring? Did they hate it? Did some of them love it? No idea. I do know that no one bought "Whiplash" (which is also pretty good), and when I saw the band on a sacrificial early slot on Lollapalooza they had their fans (and they're pretty good performers), but didn't make much of an impact, and I want to say took years before they came back on tour.

Haven't liked the most recent stuff, btw, the last couple of albums. Maybe I'll give them another shot? I do however love the last two Eno albums and especially their b-sides. I want to say those albums were never even released in America.

As far as I know, Laid sold reasonably well in NA as a result of the title track's success, but I would imagine that half the purchasers would have been disappointed when the rest of the album wasn't similarly horny.

Whiplash is in my opinion kind of a weak album beyond the first four tracks... I adore "She's A Star" and many of the b-sides from those recording sessions though.

Millionaires was afaik the first album to be summarily omitted from NA release. (I assume this was the case because the Greatest Hits collection didn't have any truck in NA-- which is too bad, it's an unimpeachable greatest hits collection! This band writes singles!) I remember Millionaires was well-received when it was released but I did not care for it, and specifically thought there were many arrangement and production decisions that I actively hated. The singles were, of course, amazing.

Pleased To Meet You was sold in NA and I bought a copy and I rate it as highly as my two favourite James albums, Laid and Wah Wah. In particular I think Tim's lyrics and vocal performance on it are wonderful.

I gave Hey Ma a half-hearted listen but my use for this band's music has moved on from being present-tense to being an act of reminiscence.

Generally I think the band hasn't made any good, complete 'albums' (aside from the three I mentioned, and honourable mention to Seven). I would cite any of their 80s one-off singles as my favourite songs of the decade though, especially "Hymn" and "Chain-Mail".

I guess it's not that interesting a tidbit or whatever, but Markus Dravs was the "other producer" on Wah Wah aside from Eno. His work on that album inspired Arcad3 F1re to hire him (Neon Bible-to-present), which in turn got him hired by Coldplay (and a Rock Album Grammy) and hired by Mumford (and an Album Grammy). I love Markus.

Yeah, didn't he get his start with Eno on ... Nerve Net, maybe?

"Waltzing Along" from "Whiplash" I like almost as much as "Sometimes." Such a lovely melody.

I think his first Eno album was Nerve Net, but they first met each other while working on Derek Jarman's Blue. Markus is credited as Markus Draws on that movie iirc

Ah, I said that I don't rate any of James's albums proper very highly but I randomly think One Man Clapping is amazing also ha

Heh. I still like listening to them, though, even if I don't necessarily think of each albums as a piece, per se.

I bought Laid on the strength of "Sometimes," which got airplay on my college station in fall '93 a couple months before the title track. I loved it on first listen, especially the Eno-fied harmonies in the outro.

Even after "Laid" my station kept putting tracks in rotation through the summer of '94: "Say Something," "One of the Three" I have taped.

Love this. One of my favorite filmmakers, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, is in NYC this weekend in conjunction with a career retrospective of his work at Lincoln Center. (IMHO, he's arguably the greatest living filmmaker at the moment with only a few others that I'd put at the same level.) They're showing a few programs covering his short films, and one of them (The Anthem) doubles as a nice tribute to James:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKA4iLL89hI

Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul made this short work as a cinematic ritual to be played at the start of film programs, a kind of blessing.

'In Thailand the Royal Anthem plays before each feature film presentation, in order to honour the King. One of the rituals embedded in our society is to give a blessing to something or someone before certain ceremonies. I would like to propose a Cinema Anthem that praises and blesses the approaching feature for each screening. An older lady will perform a ritual channelling energy to the audience to give them a clear mind. The ritual will ensure that after the feature film ends, life and the outside world will be better.' - Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Of course as soon as I post that, I keep thinking "where did this song come from? I can't remember hearing it" and sure enough, it ain't the band James. 😬 NM!

Love this. One of my favorite filmmakers, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, is in NYC this weekend in conjunction with a career retrospective of his work at Lincoln Center.

Damn, just getting way into Weerasethakul and i'm uptown, would sooo love to check this out but this week is lookin rough :(

I was up there for something else but didn’t cross paths with him. The retrospective looks good. Also showing a bunch of films chosen by him.

that sounds great! one problem is i haven't been able to watch any of his films without falling asleep, or at the very least having to pause the dvd and take a nap midway through. i have some worries about falling asleep at the movies. for instance, i don't know if i'm a snorer, but what if i snore?

Hah, I’m now at a theater where I experienced that last week - guy was next to me so I had to reach over and tap him on the shoulder to wake him.

I usually drink coffee beforehand!

And the guy in question actually just sat down next to me AGAIN! (He’s a regular here.)

And the guy in question actually just sat down next to me AGAIN! (He’s a regular here.)

LOL hopefully he won't drool on your shoulder

And the guy in question actually just sat down next to me AGAIN! (He’s a regular here.)

― birdistheword, Sunday, 7 May 2023 17:00 (eighteen minutes ago) link

And the guy in question actually just sat down next to me AGAIN! (He’s a regular here.)

― birdistheword, Sunday, 7 May 2023 17:00 (eighteen minutes ago) link

sit down sit down sit down sit down

Happy 30th to Laid. (Never really a fan of the title track/the American hit but otherwise I will always appreciate its particular mood and flow.)

One of my faves, this album.

“sometimes” is an incredible song. like [redacted] doing morrissey

My buddy just got a tattoo re: that song. I love this band so much

Love the band, but that song is something else.

More than "Laid," it's hearing "Sometimes" late at night on my college station that drove me to buy the album.

on radio week before last i did an hour of songs from 92-93 from artists with indie/punk backgrounds who were now in their 30s and doing tuneful melodic songs where they sound like they've gone through the wars/beaten by life a bit but wiser for it. i led with 'sometimes'*.

(*though i was gonna play 'born of frustration' at first)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLppQxXIO7g

Booth explained how “Sometimes” came to life in the studio with Eno when he recently told NME, “We jammed it in our rehearsal room at Beehive Mill in Manchester. We knew it would be a big song, so we sent the demo to Brian Eno. Everyone wanted to work with Eno, and they still do! He rang me up at 9 o’clock in the morning and said he’d record with us. ‘Sometimes’ was the main song he talked about. I hadn’t got the lyrics for it at the time. I had the bit about the boy who wanted to be struck by lightning but no chorus. In the studio I had to keep telling him I wasn’t ready to record it yet, because I hadn’t finished the lyrics.”

“We had this layout where we’re in a circle around him with the recording console is in the middle of the room. Eventually we say: “Okay Brian, we’re ready to record ‘Sometimes’.” I’d got the chorus ready and I hadn’t told them. He’s prowling around the floor while we were playing the start of the song, just waiting to see what I’d got. I sang the chorus and he kind of went white and sat down while we were playing. I thought: ‘Oh shit, he doesn’t like it’. When we finished he didn’t say anything. He had his head in his hands on the desk and we all crowded round him and eventually he looked up and he said: “I’ve just experienced one of the highlights of my musical life.” We went: “Woah!” We were completely blown away. That someone we held in such high esteem could have such a physical, tangible reaction to that song. His reaction was one of our highlights of our musical life!”

Great story – tho Eno has told similar stories about Moment of Surrender by U2 and the entirety of 1. Outside with Bowie. Dude sure had a lot of “Greatest moment of my career” tunes in the 90s – and while I mostly love all this material I’m not sure any of it has proven to be quite as classic as he insisted at the time.

Beyond that, I feel like we’ve come full circle and are now discounting what a great and iconic song the title track is. That tune absolutely charged into heavy rotation for me (and my girlfriend at the time) in college. That it became something of a hit for them felt like an exciting vindication of sorts in those heady days of Fall ‘93.

To be fair, those U2 and Bowie projects came a few years after "Laid," so maybe "Sometimes" was his greatest moment up until then!

"Laid" is a great song, and done under 3 minutes!

I'm a big fan of "Whiplash," which has stuff as lovely as this one (also featuring Wall of Eno vox):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMCWLc58oP8

I'll always have a soft spot for Tomorrow

i adore the first 3 or 4 songs on whiplash! but there’s a sheer drop after that, and tbf none of the other songs are as lovely as waltzing along.

Whiplash gets amazing after track 4! Actually I really like the whole album - "Tomorrow" is something else - but I appreciate how it starts out fairly typically before deciding it wants to be Wah Wah and the Bad Angel. "Go to the Bank" is my favourite.

they released this 2 days ago btw: https://james.tmstor.es/product/Live-at-the-Acropolis-cd-dvd

Watching them now, loving it. I'm a softy, and this is the band for me. " Sometimes," man, what can I say.

Just saw them here in SF -- really remarkable show, honestly, they absolutely know their strengths to the full and that crowd was INTO it (sold out Fillmore audience). Also I gather that the tour started out more as a 'play the album straight through' affair but by now it's a two-part set where they scatter all the songs throughout the set amid other numbers. A really smart move, honestly, and they did play everything!

Including the stuff Booth can't sing, like "Skindiving"!

I love seeing bands that play big places back home play what amounts to intimate gigs in the States.

I didn't see them again in Chicago, but it looks like they had a blast at Riot Fest:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjoPlQX9J0s

Including the stuff Booth can't sing, like "Skindiving"!

Having Chloe Alper do the lead vocals was a smart move.

Super smart, especially how she wasn't just hidden in the background as a ringer, like more ego driven frontmen often do to their backing vocalists, but up front, incorporated into the band. The one thing I couldn't figure out was why they needed two drummers, though.

It was a little surprising to see but I thought they worked well together, also she did more backing vocals and other instruments -- it worked! It struck me that they manage the 'bunch of people on stage doing multiple things' approach a lot better than the various clumps of people in large ensembles did in their wake in the 2000s.

saw them headline a festival a few years ago.
they were super tight, and sounded amazing, with tim in complete control.
not a big fan, but yeah, they really know how to put on a show.
i grinned and danced a lot to songs i had forgotten i loved.
oh, and just remembered, johnny marr came on stage and joined in (he was on the same bill earlier).