Wednesday, February 23, 2011


The Czars- Before...But Longer (2000) MP3 & FLAC -For Douxee-


"I'd like to get in your skin, to see what I could see from there."

Technically speaking, Before...But Longer was The Czars third album, having self-released two earlier albums that gained some attention in France but generally kept The Czars flailing in obscurity in the States. "Discovered" by two former Cocteau Twins, Simon Raymonde & Robin Guthrie, and subsequently signed to their fledgling label, The Czars perfected their singular sound and produced the kind of dark, haunting album their earlier work only hinted at. This is evident from the first track on  Before...But Longer, "Val," which opens with a laconic bass soloing the song's melody until John Grant's mournfully enveloping falsetto steps forth to draw the song upwards, all the while backed by the stunning voice of Paula Frazer. "Get Used to It" has a catchy country-folk feel that belies the song's depressive lyrics, and is easily one of The Czars finest moments. This is the album on which The Czars came into their own, and while they hit some greater heights on their next album, The Ugly People vs. the Beautiful People, Before...But Longer is arguably their masterpiece.

Before...But Longer
 1. Val  (5:11)
 2. Concentrate  (4:45)
 3. Get Used to It  (3:40)
 4. Any Younger  (4:49)
 5. Gangrene  (5:10)
 6. Stay  (5:13)
 7. Dave's Dream  (3:49)
 8. What Can I Do for You  (5:43)
 9. Zippermouth  (6:56)
10. Pressure  (4:38)
11. Leavin' on Your Mind  (3:28)



Pubblicato da voixautre at 1:34 AM
(La) luna Lexicon: , , , , , , , , , ,

8 comments:

  1. commissioner of sewersFebruary 23, 2011 at 1:45 AM

    I wish to be a czar one day comrade.

    ReplyDelete
  2. polecat in the navyFebruary 23, 2011 at 2:25 AM

    me too!

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  3. scurfieFebruary 23, 2011 at 3:10 AM

    Not familiar with The Czars. Your writeup did give me pause so I'm going to give this a listen. Thanks for this!

    ReplyDelete
  4. voixautreFebruary 23, 2011 at 9:29 AM

    scurfie, I posted, and you downloaded, another Czars album a while back and you said you liked it

    ReplyDelete
  5. scurfieFebruary 23, 2011 at 10:06 AM

    LOL busted! Hey I wrote that before the caffeine kicked in.

    ReplyDelete
  6. voixautreFebruary 23, 2011 at 11:54 AM

    ok, we'll forgive you this time ;)

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousFebruary 23, 2011 at 7:52 PM

    Interesting - Jellyfish meets Bad Seeds with southern dixie thrown in ...

    Thanks for the introduction - checking out their stuff on discogs even as we speak. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  8. voixautreFebruary 23, 2011 at 9:01 PM

    Anon. nice description. There are two more albums (one is a compilation of b-sides), which I will post at some point

    ReplyDelete

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