"It's just a side effect of loving you, a nasty soundtrack to the city."
I first discovered The Czars in the bargain bin of a Berkeley record store during my college years. Clacking, bleary-eyed, through the endless cutouts and unwanted, discounted dreck that inevitably accumulates in such places, the album cover above immediately caught my eye, so I payed 75 cents for the honor of hearing The Czars for the first time (incidentally, I managed to discover Joe Henry the same way). This band was a fixture of the criminally under-publicized Denver Southern Gothic music scene of the 90s and early 2000s, a scene also home to 16 Horsepower, Woven Hand, Jay Munly, and Slim Cessna's Auto Club. On The Ugly People vs. the Beautiful People, The Czars were able to perfect their unique chamber-lounge-jazz-folk sound, once again allowing John Grant's languorous vocals to take center stage, but unlike their debut record, the song-writing is consistently great and the production provides an atmospheric intangibility that works wonders for these dark ballads of heartache and spiritual despair (although I could have done without the auto-tune vocal effect on "What Used to Be a Human"). A little Paula Frazer mixed in doesn't hurt either.
The Ugly People vs. the Beautiful People
1. Drug (4:10)
2. Side Effect (4:55)
3. Killjoy (5:40)
4. Caterpillar (6:42)
5. Lullaby 6000 (5:35)
6. This (3:28)
7. Autumn (7:05)
8. Black and Blue (4:26)
9. Anger (4:06)
10. Roger's Song (5:15)
11. What Used to Be a Human (4:52)
12. Catherine (4:15)
Ok I trust you and I'm downloading this. Shall I report back? lol
ReplyDeleteDefinitely. The singer, John Grant, has a solo album out (The Czars broke up in 2004). I posted a video a while back.I'll probably be posting more Czars-related stuff later on
ReplyDeleteAgain good post. Another band I was not aware of. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteGood post, thx.
ReplyDeleteMoodswing - 1996
The La Brea Tar Pits of Routine - 1997
Before...But Longer - 2000
X Would Rather Listen To Y Than Suffer Through a C of Z's (Tour EP) - 2002
Goodbye - 2004
Sorry I Made You Cry - 2005
WK:The same year The Czars released The La Brea Tar Pits of Routine, Simon Raymonde, former bassist of the Cocteau Twins, formed the record label Bella Union. Grant, a big fan of Cocteau Twins, used this as an opportunity to send a disc to the label. Simon was pleased with their efforts and saw potential in the band, but the tracks he received didn't impress him enough to immediately work with the band.This did not end the relationship between Simon and The Czars. Instead, it opened up a line of communication between the two and The Czars continued to create demos to send to Simon. The demos that were sent after the initial disc impressed Simon and the band was invited to start an album on the Bella Union label.
douxee, I have all of the titles in the list except "Moodswings" and "X Would Rather Listen..." (which I used to have) and ("La Brea" is MP3/320). Is there one you want me to post? Also, Grant has a solo album out, which I have as well
ReplyDeletemay i suggest you a serie =)
ReplyDeletebefore Talk Talk 's one
I don't have enough Czars material for a series (I try to make these 10 posts), but I'll certainly post some more Czars material in the near future
ReplyDeletedouxee, the password for the Veirs link is: killingmoonmusic
ReplyDeletei have tryed lalunaquemata =)
ReplyDeletethank you, you're a gentleman.
my pleasure!
ReplyDeleteI’m sure you are already familiar, but if you aren’t, you need to check out the Piano Magic material. A tremendous band that has done some work with Grant as well as many tracks with the beautiful and very talented, Angèle David-Guillou(Klima is her current musical alias under which she has just released another album).
ReplyDeleteJeff, very interesting! I am not very familiar with Piano Magic and have been meaning to explore their work for some time. I will definitely do that. Some Piano Magic posts might be a nice addition here, thanks!!!
ReplyDeleteThey are one of my favorites. Sadly, they tend to be almost completely overlooked here in the states. Most of the side projects and related material is just as interesting. They are prolific enough that you could probably do an entire blog dedicated to them and all of the relevant associated music. That would actually be a pretty cool trick, start with one band and then branch out in a sort seven degrees of Kevin Bacon kind of way. At first I thought that was what you were going to do with the Echo and The Bunnymen.
ReplyDeleteI downloaded 3 or 4 PM titles and will post something in the near future. You're right; it's great. "The Killing Moon" name was more about an aesthetic or mood than a specific band or music, but as the blog evolved, I ended up wanting to part ways with that title, broadening it out a bit
ReplyDelete