"You have the twisted head of fate my love."
Exceedingly dark, cathartic, and at times, seemingly unhinged, Gordon Sharp's Cindytalk was a dazzlingly self-indulgent gloom-fest that anticipated the Industrial-Rock movement years before the genre even had a name. Best known for his fine contributions to the first This Mortal Coil project, It'll End in Tears, Sharp's work in Cindytalk is far more visceral and far less ethereal than what was emanating from 4AD at the time. While Gothic in mood, Camouflage Heart, Cindytalk's debut, has a dirty, gritty undertow that makes it sound something like Peter Murphy at his most dramatic fronting The Birthday Party (in fact, Mick Harvey appears on "Under Glass"). On the standout track,"The Ghost Never Smiles," Sharp's eerie, wailing vocals sound like they are emanating from the bottom of a well as a dull tribal beat and guitar feedback carry the song toward what feels like a free-fall into the abyss. Truly harrowing stuff.
Camouflage Heart (1996 Remastered Edition)
1. It's Luxury (3:42)
2. Insctinct (Backtosense) (4:04)
3. Under Glass (1:59)
4. Memories of Skin and Snow (5:37)
5. The Spirit Behind the Circus Dream (5:36)
6. The Ghost Never Smiles (6:44)
7. A Second Breath (1:53)
8. Everybody Is Christ (4:22)
9. Disintegrate... (4:36)
In This World (1995 Re-issue Edition)
1. In This World (7:04)
2. Janey's Love (3:12)
3. Gift of a Knife (3:31)
4. Playtime (4:46)
5. The Room of Delight (1:36)
6. Touched (4:06)
7. Circle of Shit (6:28)
8. My Sun (1:51)
9. The Beginning of Wisdom (6:44)
10. No Serenade (7:28)
11. Sight After Sight (6:11)
12. Angels or Ghosts (2:43)
13. Through Water (9:02)
14. Cherish (1:14)
15. Homeless (1:27)
16. Still Whisper (1:27)
17. In This World (3:08)
My favorite "band" of all time. I have all of this on vinyl. You have truly outdone yourself. Believe it or not, I was going to comment and ask if you had Wappinshaw. I'll have to register so I can post as an actual "person" instead of just "anonymous."
ReplyDeleteB&B Man
Oh man, this is amazing!I've forgotten that bands like Cindytalk even exist.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your efforts to bring such a good music to your devoted followers!
Very good and accurate description of a band that I never heard of until today. Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeletethanx for sharing this!
ReplyDeletekeep it going =)
A new page format, grooovy! Will grab this up when this Hecker finishes. Thanky
ReplyDeleteB&B Man, I'll see if I can get "Wappinshaw" up on WLIL! soon. Do register and become a follower of the blog. We'd love to have you aboard!
ReplyDeleteiggy! & scurfie, my pleasure. I'd been planning this one for quite some time
ReplyDeletedouxee, good to hear from you! I thought you had disappeared ): Don't worry, I've got some really interesting things in the works
ReplyDeleteJo Jo, glad you like the new look of the moon. This is phase 4 ;) I just get tired of seeing the same thing day after day. I think it looks more "moon-like" and seductive now
ReplyDeleteI've commented elsewhere earlier blog-wise on this album, and all that matters has already been said.
ReplyDeleteStill, Gordon Sharp is the end of the fucking rainbow.
And unless I'm mistaken, there ain't much lossless Cindy out there!
Wappinshaw has been suggested and would be a fabulous place to start(or continue!) Then again everything by Cindytalk would be lovely.
I suggest you devote yourself 24/7 to this blog, researching ever-more vigorously, ruling out anything else but work and the bare minimum of food & sleep, so that you can find everything, absolutely everything, that we ask of you!
You have to love him really, Mr Sharp; I remember buying this from Probe in Liverpool, probably sometime around when the first This Mortal Coil album came out, and reading an interview with Ivo about It'll End in Tears. He said it was difficult getting Gordon to agree to things and that the only reason agreed to provide the vocal for Kangaroo was that he loved the last line of the song! Something about loving you like a Kangaroo.
Well I've rambled here rather but this is important: Cindytalk. It's so good that that word is being kept alive. A lot of the brilliant bands that you put up here are famous enough that their names will always be somewhere. Not so bands like Cindytalk or Breathless or ...
If I'm alive in 2050(hmm...44 now, so, er, maybe make that 2035!)then I will still be leaving comments like these.
Do you know what this blog is?
Awake.
As in Gurdjieff. That's why it's great. That's why it's rare.
Don't need to tell you though!
Be well, and take it easy yeah?!
Please support Cinder's (Gordon's transgender moniker) efforts by buying these releases and any others.
ReplyDeleteRC, absolutely! For those who had never heard Cindytalk until this download(or those who had for that matter), now you have a great reason to hit up a record store (hopefully, they will have some of these in stock). Due to popular demand, I will be posting more Cindytalk albums in the future
ReplyDeleteMace, although I know you were joking (sort of); I'd love to do this full time, but alas, it doesn't pay my considerable bills (although my job doesn't do this so well either). Anyway, I will make an effort to post some more lesser known bands because you're right, it keeps the word alive (and as a result, the music). I've got some good things lined up just around the corner thanks to some late night suggestions by the one and only Henry Rollins.
ReplyDeleteAnother great artist that defies genre classifications and is frequently overlooked. It is nice to see that it appears to be so well received here. I was actually lucky enough to find some cindytalk vinyl a few years back in a cutout sale for almost nothing.
ReplyDeleteExcellent, I'll check it out.
ReplyDeleteThank you from the bottom of my heart for providing all three of my favorite Cindytalk albums in high quality.
ReplyDeletenow to listen and just float away......
Slow Pulse Girl, good to hear from you. Here are a few more Cindytalk albums I posted on the other blog:
ReplyDeletehttp://plasticpalacepeople66.blogspot.com/search/label/Cindytalk