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How mad is Paddy McAloon ?

C

cliffpatte

Speed camera anarchist
OK we're up to the P's in the great CD rip project, and most mad of all is the Paddy McAloon CD from a couple of years back "I Trawl the Megahertz"

When I first played this (on an IPOD connected to the car stereo) about two years ago, I actually never got past track 1 which is some American woman reading out "poems" constructed from snippets of people talking on Short Wave Radio. Weird is not the word for it.

Still, after all this time, I have to say that there is some fascinating stuff on this CD, in fact it competes with Sufjan Stevens for the sheer variety of sounds and textures that Paddy McAloon can get from Orchestra and other instruments.

Here is what the BBC made of it

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/classicpop/reviews/paddymcaloon_trawl.shtml

At least its not quite as soft in feel as the last Prefab Sprout CD Gunman And Other Stories (which was really an excuse for regurgitating a set of songs that should have accompanied some "love in" type of TV kitchen sink drama IMHO.

OK nothing can compare to Steve McQeen - the Prefabs best CD, but at least this is "interesting" if nothing else.

Incidentally if you want to know why PM was listening to the Short Wave Radio, the BBC link explains it ... a bit.
 
I LOVE this album. Just listened to it this past weekend, loud and with the lights out. Fantastic. A unique piece that arose from very unusual circumstances. Took quite a mind to find music in that situation.
 
Sounds as if the Mhz where trawled by a blind man.

PF produced some albums as great as their name is daft. As well as Steve McQueen there is Jordan, the Comeback ( bible, not boobs) and the one with King of Rock 'n Roll. Name escapes me, I need a cup of tea.
 
I Trawl The Megahertz is pretty unique, and once you get on with the speaking lady, is beautiful.
 
Swoon is the classic for me - changed the way I perceived that pop songs could be written i..e dispensing with the formula verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/chorus structures etc. Agree Mhz is a bit special - written whilst he believed he might be going blind i understand.

Cheers

Rich
 
Useless fact #37: On these shores, Steve McQueen is known as Two Wheels Good. Some legal hoohah with the late actor's estate, or so I recall. Stupid Amurkins.

(Up until Ian Moore released "And All The Colors", Steve Mc/Wheels was my favorite album of ever.)
 
Cruel has been one of my favourite songs for years. Love the lyrics

If I’m troubled by every folding of your skirt,
Am I guilty of every male inflicted hurt?
But I don’t know how to describe the modern rose,
When I can’t refer to her shape against her clothes.
With the fever of purple prose.

Captures those heady 80s days and the complexity of being a fully reconstructed new man. Wonderful.

Kevin
 
+1 for Steve Mc. my all time desert island album. Must try the Trawl, I wasn't into forgiving him at the time for the (mostly) dross that followed Steve, although I still bought them, for the missus, of course.

Them were the days.
 
Can't stop hearing the Kooks and "Naive" on XFM and it reminds me so much of Swoon. Playing it (Swoon) now and still lamenting the early Paddy. It must be age, I guess.
 
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