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Post by blade on Nov 20, 2008 11:40:19 GMT
I think we all like Howling Bells because they're different to everyone else, they don't follow trends or fall into any particular pigeon hole. I've read about comparisons to PJ Harvey, Blondie, Garbage, The Dirty Three, Nick Cave, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and most recently The Duke Spirit. I don't see any of that myself, although The Duke Spirit thing is probably the most similar, but even that's not real close as they play more bluesy-rock. Buying "Into the Chaos" and getting my record player to work again got me playing some old 12" singles, particularly several by All About Eve, so I listened a bit more to their albums as well. For those who don't know, All About Eve released four albums between 1988 and 1992 and were seen as an offshoot, in their early days at least, of 'Goths'. Anyway, I played their (highly unsuccessful) 1991 album "Touched By Jesus" for the first time in a few years and I reckon some of the tracks on it are more similar to Howling Bells than anything I've heard elsewhere. See what you think, and don't be afraid to tell me I'm being an utter fool: "Touched by Jesus" www.sendspace.com/file/j920bh"Hide Child" www.sendspace.com/file/120t36"Are You Lonely" www.sendspace.com/file/x07tzuBy the way, "Touched By Jesus" was their first album with guitarist Marty Willson-Piper (more famous for playing with "The Church") and, coincidentally, he's Australian too.
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Post by carpathian on Nov 20, 2008 14:34:31 GMT
Anyway, I played their (highly unsuccessful) 1991 album "Touched By Jesus" for the first time in a few years and I reckon some of the tracks on it are more similar to Howling Bells than anything I've heard elsewhere. This should be interesting. I used to love AAE (yeah, I'm the one) but didn't get that later album - now I'm curious to check it out.......
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Post by blade on Nov 20, 2008 16:34:58 GMT
There were two of us......
I used to go see them all over the country - Sheffield several times, Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Manchester, Nottingham, even, (I'm not fibbing) the Royal Albert Hall in London. And I remember it was pretty full so there must have been more than just you and me........
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Post by sixthofmay on Dec 1, 2008 0:08:54 GMT
I'm not hearing the similarity with All About Eve, but I like and may add to my collection. Listen to the song Kerosene Dreams by Autodrone. I just found out about them today and I think the vocalist sounds a bit like like Juanita in that one. Their first album was just released and I ordered it as well as their previous EP. free download of the track: rcrdlbl.com/artists/Autodrone/track/Kerosene_Dreamswww.myspace.com/autodroneAnd then there's The Organ: www.myspace.com/theorganNot that similar in vocal style, but the dark aching is there...
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Post by sixthofmay on Dec 1, 2008 1:35:22 GMT
I'm listening to more of Autodrone-- are they good or what?! ;D Thanks for bringing them to my attention! Hehe.. my goosebumps kinda perked up when I came across them today. Yeah the Organ split up, but recently they released an EP with some rare stuff. I found out about them a few months ago, and bought all their stuff. They're no Howling Bells, but not bad either. Yup..Mazzy Star is one of my favs.
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Post by blade on Dec 1, 2008 17:14:26 GMT
Autodrone - great! Didn't know about them but her voice (Katherine Kennedy?) is awesome. Not that bothered about The Organ though. And I agree with Lee about Hope Sandoval.
Welcome sixthofmay - I've checked your female vocal-list and there's quite a few the same as mine. I'll PM you mine because I'm sure there's one or two you won't know.
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Post by pbobcat on Dec 1, 2008 19:41:05 GMT
I used to adore All About Eve circa '89 but I sort of went off them with the release of Touched by Jesus which i thought drifted too much into AOR territory and lacked the charm and character of their earlier material. Their final album, Ultraviolet, was a belated and not too successful attempt at jumping on the Shoegaze bandwagon that left me cold completely. I don't think they sound that much like the HB's to be honest - a bit too folk-influenced perhaps - with acoustic numbers and fiddles sometimes making an appearance on the first 2 albums at least. I reckon this band are a little more like the 'Bells: www.myspace.com/etherauraIn fact, the HB's were in their "top friends" last time i checked - not there now though. I don't think they're as good as the HB's but they marry Shoegaze and Alt. Country/Americana in a similar fashion and think they're well worth a listen. Also they do a cracking version of The Smiths' "Last Night I Dreamt..." and the singer sounds very much like Julianne Regan in my opinion. Check 'em out:)
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2008 20:01:29 GMT
Similarities - always a great and difficult topic. As for All About Eve's Touched By Jesus... hm, well, no, I don't see similarities. The kind of singing and the melodies are different, the mix is pretty "thin" compared to the HB's album. Marty does a good job on that album, but I always felt there's something completely missing there (a second guitar actually). I think that Ultraviolet is their best album. Listen to Marty's guitar solo on Outshine The Sun and fall down on your knees in awe. ;D
Having heard The Spirited Ones several times now it suddenly occurred to me that it sounds a lot like some stuff by The Cardigans.
And the latest version of Cities Burning Down reminds me of the good old Chameoleons, with all their echo and reverb and stuff. But the HB will probably say "never heard about them".
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Post by blade on Dec 1, 2008 21:51:00 GMT
Talking about All About Eve, their first (self-titled) album was good and new at the the time, but their second (Scarlet and Other Stories) was pretty poor (too much violins and folksy). I once heard guitarist Tim Brecheno describe the first album as "a healthy, bouncing 9lb baby boy", while the second was "a breech birth". I know what he meant - it was a case of the record company forcing them to bring a second album out too quickly because the first had done well.
Marty Willson-Piper added something completely different and I also thought Ultraviolet was the best of their four albums (due to Marty's writing and guitar playing), but it alienated a lot of their early fans. Only their first album was a success, the other three were commercial flops, which is why they packed it in.
P.S. I'm just listening to Ether Aura. This is good stuff, and I've been introduced to more music (Autodrone, also today, on another thread), plus Asobi Seksu and The Little Flames, that I would never have come across if it weren't for all you lot. Ta very much everybody!!
Ether Aura's top friends include Hope Sandoval, Mazzy Star and Nick Cave. And timetunnel mentioned The Cardigans, who are another of my faves. Everything keeps interconnecting.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2008 21:35:51 GMT
Just listened to Autodrone. Wow, great stuff! And so many other bands to discover... sixthofmay's list of favs is ideal for music discovery on a long cold winter day, listening to all these bands wihle sipping some tea and staring at the grey rainy skies. As for similarities: one thing I like about HB's sound is that it is all kind of cinematic (yawn, like lots of people have said already ;D ), but I can't recall many bands right now that are able to sound cinematic and, uhm, "indie" at the same time, like HB do. Though HB are not as cinematic as, e.g., Sigur Rós, who are huge at being that way.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2008 22:03:45 GMT
Speaking of similar artists, cinematic and Australia, it just occured to me that one of the other Australian bands I love (no, this time not The Church ;D ) seems to have lots of similarities: a band called Halogen. They have three albums out by now but seem to have split up. Alas, their MySpace site mostly has tracks from their lastest album, which is pretty good but kind of stiff. But you should listen to songs like "All I Want", "Caught Me", "Hopes And Fears", "Walkaway", "While I'm Dreaming" and "Wired", which are all from their first album called "Save the ones you love", released 2003. Aaaah. I'm just listening to them, and, wow, not only do I love Halogen, but their first album is pretty close to the Howling Bells.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2008 22:07:37 GMT
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Post by chrome3d on Dec 5, 2008 7:38:31 GMT
This is a blast from the past. The dusty 80´s and a style called desert rock. Thin White Rope made some strange and demanding stuff. I would recommend their albums ´In The Spanish Cave´and ´Sack Full Of Silver´. Especially the epic song ´Red Sun´captures their essence very well. Like Bells this stuff is hard to find these days. This band had a growling man as a singer but there are some similarities in their sound and in their atmospheres compared to Bells.
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Post by chrome3d on Dec 5, 2008 15:34:46 GMT
Blonde redhead isn´t exactly like Bells. They aren´t that country and the guitars are more clean but there are similar kind of atmospheres and female singer. I´m talking mostly about their new album ´23´. Their style is more like a cosmopolitan cocktail of dream pop, shoegaze and Cocteau Twins.
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Post by blade on Dec 5, 2008 19:02:53 GMT
When I started this thread talking about All About Eve I couldn't have predicted how it would have developed, but I suppose that's why they're called threads, as they can go any which way.
Regardless of whether anybody sounds like anybody else, I've discovered some brilliant music here in the last few days. I'm currently listening to Halogen and I'm in a dilemma because I can't decide which of them or Autodrone are better. I'll have to put them equal first, with Ether Aura just behind. Blonde Redhead are a bit too electronic for me.
I searched Myspace to see if Halogen have any other pages hidden away and found there are at least three other groups called Halogen, so if you're buying their CD or planning to see them on tour or something, make sure you get the right one!
Halogen singer Jasmine Yee occasionally sounds like Dolores O'Whatsername from The Cranberries, but without the Irish accent......
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