Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth
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Free Music Notes for Colossal Youth
Free Music Review: Nostalgia
Hit: 4 Stars
I loved the Collosal Youth album back in the early 80's and to now have this collection is vital. A classic album the music haunts my memories past and present. If music were this beautiful then lot's of the over produced stuff today would be better off. Raw and ripe this music bites and allows you to join the taste.
Free Music Review: One of my all time favorite albums
Hit: 5 Stars
I've been trying to remember when and how I first heard of Young Marble Giants. My best guess is that it was reading one of the 1980s editions of Ira Robbins Trouser Press Guide. I also can't recall if I first discovered it on LP, cassette, or CD. I do know that I flipped over it on the very first listen. It simply didn't sound like anything else I was listening to. The closest to any other band I could come up with at the time was a few cuts by Wire, but really they don't sound like anyone else either before or since. This makes it difficult music to describe to someone else. I almost want to coin a description and call it Punk Pop Minimalism. That description would do as well as anything.
Musically the songs are structured about bare bones guitar with thumping bass, backed by a drum machine (about the only time a drum machine has not driven me insane). Though to tell the truth, Stuart Moxham plays his guitar most of the time like a percussion instrument while brother Philip plays bass like it is the lead. Allison Statton sings so casually that you aren't convinced she is committed to sticking around until the end of the song. This might not sound like a recipe for an unforgettable album, but it turns out that it is.
The album exists in a number of versions at this point. Originally it consisted 15 songs, later expanded in re-releases. But the version to get now is definitely the 3-disc, 46 cut reissue. It contains just about everything worth owning by YMG.
You simply have to listen to this to understand how unique it is. "Taxi," for instance, consists of an exotic organ backed by bass and drum machine and no vocals except for some indecipherable talking at one point. But the result is haunting. "Looking for Mr. Right" is both playful and quirky. My favorite cut on the album, "Brand-New-Life," is in comparison with the rest of the album a hard driving rocker.
All in all, I can't recommend this album highly enough. The word "original" is overused in talking of bands and musicians. This is one of the rare albums that truly is unique. Luckily, it is also very, very good. Buy it. Listen to it. Share it with your friends. All of you will be better for it.
Free Music Review: Young Magic Giants
Hit: 5 Stars
The simplicity of a good and simple fantastic short and to the point song . Less is definitely more at it's origins . I was luky to have been at the time it came out . It opened my mind for the 80's . It put me in track , as Led Zepellin did in 1970 for the 70's , and u2 for the 90's and White Stripes for the Zeros . A historical event that compares to Robert Wyatt at his best . It's so minimal it defies borders . Electric Beauty to say the least , a purple rose in my garden ...Free Music Review: This is excellent
Hit: 5 Stars
A certain claustrophobic vibe is here in this whole album, like there is an enormous amount rage just waiting to explode and yet it never does. After listening to enough loud and angry music to make my head explode, this album is a welcome detour.
The melodies are amazing and the typewriter guitar can be hypnotic in combination with Alison's voice, which is beautiful in it's simplicity and reservedness (If that's a word). I've heard that the best music always draws you into it's world, and this album does that in spades. Colossal Youth is so brilliant that there is no way Young Marble Giants could ever top it, yet the closest is the quick glance at the band with the Peel Session.
Still, whatever you do, do not start listening to the album with EP/Salad Days disc, because though it has the amazing "Final Days" the Salad Days album is mainly inferior versions of what is on Colossal Youth. The intensity is lacking on Salad Days making Salad Days the weakest part of the collection.
All in all, I agree with another reviewer that the best way to experience the band for the first time is with the Peel session, though the main course is Colossal Youth.
Free Music Review: Must-have collection from a crucial band
Hit: 5 Stars
I never write these, I do read alot of them though. I grew up with this band, along with their cousins Weekend and The Gist. I never get tired of listening to their transcendental music. This collection of their music is what a reissue is all about. Read Chris bct's review as he pretty much says what my thoughts are and says it well. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up. Your friends will appreciate hearing it too. This is a definite desert-island pick for me.
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