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| Track list: 1. Horse Overboard 2. Loftholdingswood 3. Singer's Hampstead Home 4. She Only Gave In To Her Anger 5. Gale Force Wind 6. I Can't Say No 7. Angels 8. Mrs Simpson 9. Armadillo Man 10. And He Descended Into Hell 11. Rack 12. Big Sleeping House 13. Back To The Old Town 14. Send Herman Home 15. Town To Town 16. Begging Bowl Running time: 62 minutes Released: 1995 |
Ah Microdisney. I got into them through the retrospective double album Daunt Square to Elsewhere after loving Cathal Coughlan's contribution to the special edition of When the Haar Rolls In, where he covered James Yorkston's song Tender to the Blues, and his solo work. Black River Falls is a real favourite.
I loved Daunt Square so went looking for more, only to find most of it out of print (a couple of albums have been re-released since). So although many of these tracks I already had, I was pleased to find this best of which, nevertheless, offered me tracks I did not otherwise have access to.
This version of Horse Overboard is tonally different from the Daunt Square version and - having heard the other first, I prefer that to this. The song is a typical example of the somewhat off-the-wall lyricism of Microdisney. There are stories in there, there is feeling, but it is all dressed up in somewhat absurdist imagery. I find this rendition of the song too slow. The tun is all there, and OK so its in a slightly different style, but its the lower pace (or at least the feeling of it) that makes me not appreciate the song so much.
Loftholdingswood has a similarly modified tone to the music to the other two versions I have (Daunt Square and The Peel Sessions). Again the effect is to make it feel like the tempo is lower behind the lyrics and the top notch delivery of them. That said, I think this is pretty much my #1 Microdisney song, the chorus resonates with me in both literal and acerbic interpretations, I find it clever. Meanwhile the composition behind it is pleasingly simple but staggeringly effective. Simple loops, melodic though. It all hangs together nicely. This is not my preferred version of the tune though. We then dip into invective and the glorious disdain that is Singer's Hampstead Home. OK, so it's not exactly big or clever to write songs to launch into other people in your industry as this tirade, reportedly aimed at Boy George, does but the song itself is gloriously poppy whilst thriving on the back of Coughlan's animated vocal. The man can really sing. It is the way he manages to be so tuneful but still convey anger and other negative or destructive emotion that keeps me captivated.
I am less fond of Microdisney's slower numbers. In my epoch-dismissive way I think it shows up the limitations of 80s tone and pop composition. The (I reckon) synth drums and slightly tinny pop sounds are much better employed at higher pace and with a bit more going on. Gale Force Wind starts as I finish that sentence, and is a good example. This tune is so 80s it is amazing. 80s in tone, 80s in composition, 80s in how much it rails against the age - capitalism, AIDS etc. Its like the decade in microcosm. If I had to pick one song to sum up the world during the first 10 years of my life, admittedly as someone who generally dislikes the 80s music he is familiar with, this would be it. The moment I actually realised what this tune spoke to lyrically I was completely re-sold on Microdisney all over again.
We then get a novelty track, where Coughlan is replaced by a (to me unidentified) female singer who sensually spins out a number that is so cheesy it has to be a complete piss take on the part of the band. This interpretation actually makes it amusing and enjoyable, and based on the other output of the band there is no way I can take it at face value. That is followed by Angels, a song I haven't listened to much as I think I only have it on this compilation; it feels like a little bit of a nothing song in the context of the tunes around it. Not bad, but not stellar like Mrs Simpson which follows on its tail. This track is another real favourite, despite my earlier assertion that I do not like the slower tracks as much. This gets away with it because it is not as full of pop sounds, and is more a fully composed and arranged number, the strings that support the main themes are superb at framing the lyrics, delivered as ever with excellence. I think I also bring more to this track because of the construction of the album on Daunt Square, where it culminates a run of four favourite tracks.
Ah, Armadillo Man. This song makes me smile in its caricature of an American anti-communist, gun-nut. It is all too cheery for a song about the absurdity of the Cold War, and Microdisney have form for that... Town to Town (coming later) is cheery even in the face of Armageddon, or nuclear winter anyway.
Despite finding slower songs weaker, in general, I can't bring myself to divest of tracks like She Only Gave In To Her Anger or And He Descended Into Hell, or indeed Angels. I am also finding myself reticent to make the decision to cull the tracks that I have other, preferred versions of. I suspect this is because I actually want to maintain as much of a representative picture of Microdisney as I can because I wasn't there at the time they were producing this material, but 2 decades on from that they became real favourites in a way that endures.
Rack is stunningly good, again full of question, anger and incredulity at the powers that be. Angry demonstration is not something I think is generally successful, but channeling that vitriol through the medium of music is powerful when you have a voice as good as Cathal Coughlan's to spit those lines out. Again it is a nicely arranged piece with an integral string theme that picks up the all too catchy structure of the bass and turns the song as a whole into something transcendent. At least for me. The title track is a sad song really, but there is nothing sad about its construction. Another example of being upbeat about things that really we should not necessarily be upbeat about. These tracks later on this disc don't have the odd differences from the versions that I first heard that were present on the opening couple. Listening to this rendition I can't identify any obvious variation from the recording on Daunt Square to Elsewhere that I first heard. This makes Rack and Big Sleeping House candidates for cutting in a way that Loftholdingswood clearly is not. I don't think I will though; I like weighting the old RNG of shuffle a bit in favour of tunes I really dig.
Two more tracks that I believe I have only on this disc now, and both are catchy in different ways. Back to the Old Town is punchy rhythmically in a way that is uncharacteristic of the group. The vocal is very consistent, but the structure of the song is a nice change up. In contrast, Send Herman Home is very much the epitome of Microdisney, bright pop sounds layered underneath a song with a message; that it opens and bridges with what I can only assume is a send up of the late Reverend Ian Paisley (the less said about that man, the better) leaves me in little doubt that this is another "sound friendly, hide the meaning" song. I might be way off base, and there's nothing quite like half-arsedly interpreting something 30 years after its creation to make you look a fool!
There's Town to Town; so relentlessly nice in tune and tone yet so amazingly bleak when you listen to the words. It is an astonishing contrast - instinctively you might think it would be a mess but there is real craft in the pairing and the dissonance you expect it to cause just never arises. At least it doesn't for me. Ooh, there's a real feeling in the mouth organ that opens Begging Bowl; that's a really nice touch, the fading, unclean edge to the sound that is missing from other versions of the tune. It soon becomes an irrelevance to the rest of the track - the sound does not make another appearance - but it puts me in a good mood to enjoy what I normally consider to be one of the weaker tracks that I still listen to a lot.
Overall I am not sorry I picked up this compilation for what amounts to three tracks I really like and four that are not as strong as the material I had already. That said, whilst I would happily recommend Microdisney to anyone, I would also counsel picking up Daunt Square to Elsewhere over this if you want a snapshot of their career.
This version of Horse Overboard is tonally different from the Daunt Square version and - having heard the other first, I prefer that to this. The song is a typical example of the somewhat off-the-wall lyricism of Microdisney. There are stories in there, there is feeling, but it is all dressed up in somewhat absurdist imagery. I find this rendition of the song too slow. The tun is all there, and OK so its in a slightly different style, but its the lower pace (or at least the feeling of it) that makes me not appreciate the song so much.
Loftholdingswood has a similarly modified tone to the music to the other two versions I have (Daunt Square and The Peel Sessions). Again the effect is to make it feel like the tempo is lower behind the lyrics and the top notch delivery of them. That said, I think this is pretty much my #1 Microdisney song, the chorus resonates with me in both literal and acerbic interpretations, I find it clever. Meanwhile the composition behind it is pleasingly simple but staggeringly effective. Simple loops, melodic though. It all hangs together nicely. This is not my preferred version of the tune though. We then dip into invective and the glorious disdain that is Singer's Hampstead Home. OK, so it's not exactly big or clever to write songs to launch into other people in your industry as this tirade, reportedly aimed at Boy George, does but the song itself is gloriously poppy whilst thriving on the back of Coughlan's animated vocal. The man can really sing. It is the way he manages to be so tuneful but still convey anger and other negative or destructive emotion that keeps me captivated.
I am less fond of Microdisney's slower numbers. In my epoch-dismissive way I think it shows up the limitations of 80s tone and pop composition. The (I reckon) synth drums and slightly tinny pop sounds are much better employed at higher pace and with a bit more going on. Gale Force Wind starts as I finish that sentence, and is a good example. This tune is so 80s it is amazing. 80s in tone, 80s in composition, 80s in how much it rails against the age - capitalism, AIDS etc. Its like the decade in microcosm. If I had to pick one song to sum up the world during the first 10 years of my life, admittedly as someone who generally dislikes the 80s music he is familiar with, this would be it. The moment I actually realised what this tune spoke to lyrically I was completely re-sold on Microdisney all over again.
We then get a novelty track, where Coughlan is replaced by a (to me unidentified) female singer who sensually spins out a number that is so cheesy it has to be a complete piss take on the part of the band. This interpretation actually makes it amusing and enjoyable, and based on the other output of the band there is no way I can take it at face value. That is followed by Angels, a song I haven't listened to much as I think I only have it on this compilation; it feels like a little bit of a nothing song in the context of the tunes around it. Not bad, but not stellar like Mrs Simpson which follows on its tail. This track is another real favourite, despite my earlier assertion that I do not like the slower tracks as much. This gets away with it because it is not as full of pop sounds, and is more a fully composed and arranged number, the strings that support the main themes are superb at framing the lyrics, delivered as ever with excellence. I think I also bring more to this track because of the construction of the album on Daunt Square, where it culminates a run of four favourite tracks.
Ah, Armadillo Man. This song makes me smile in its caricature of an American anti-communist, gun-nut. It is all too cheery for a song about the absurdity of the Cold War, and Microdisney have form for that... Town to Town (coming later) is cheery even in the face of Armageddon, or nuclear winter anyway.
Despite finding slower songs weaker, in general, I can't bring myself to divest of tracks like She Only Gave In To Her Anger or And He Descended Into Hell, or indeed Angels. I am also finding myself reticent to make the decision to cull the tracks that I have other, preferred versions of. I suspect this is because I actually want to maintain as much of a representative picture of Microdisney as I can because I wasn't there at the time they were producing this material, but 2 decades on from that they became real favourites in a way that endures.
Rack is stunningly good, again full of question, anger and incredulity at the powers that be. Angry demonstration is not something I think is generally successful, but channeling that vitriol through the medium of music is powerful when you have a voice as good as Cathal Coughlan's to spit those lines out. Again it is a nicely arranged piece with an integral string theme that picks up the all too catchy structure of the bass and turns the song as a whole into something transcendent. At least for me. The title track is a sad song really, but there is nothing sad about its construction. Another example of being upbeat about things that really we should not necessarily be upbeat about. These tracks later on this disc don't have the odd differences from the versions that I first heard that were present on the opening couple. Listening to this rendition I can't identify any obvious variation from the recording on Daunt Square to Elsewhere that I first heard. This makes Rack and Big Sleeping House candidates for cutting in a way that Loftholdingswood clearly is not. I don't think I will though; I like weighting the old RNG of shuffle a bit in favour of tunes I really dig.
Two more tracks that I believe I have only on this disc now, and both are catchy in different ways. Back to the Old Town is punchy rhythmically in a way that is uncharacteristic of the group. The vocal is very consistent, but the structure of the song is a nice change up. In contrast, Send Herman Home is very much the epitome of Microdisney, bright pop sounds layered underneath a song with a message; that it opens and bridges with what I can only assume is a send up of the late Reverend Ian Paisley (the less said about that man, the better) leaves me in little doubt that this is another "sound friendly, hide the meaning" song. I might be way off base, and there's nothing quite like half-arsedly interpreting something 30 years after its creation to make you look a fool!
There's Town to Town; so relentlessly nice in tune and tone yet so amazingly bleak when you listen to the words. It is an astonishing contrast - instinctively you might think it would be a mess but there is real craft in the pairing and the dissonance you expect it to cause just never arises. At least it doesn't for me. Ooh, there's a real feeling in the mouth organ that opens Begging Bowl; that's a really nice touch, the fading, unclean edge to the sound that is missing from other versions of the tune. It soon becomes an irrelevance to the rest of the track - the sound does not make another appearance - but it puts me in a good mood to enjoy what I normally consider to be one of the weaker tracks that I still listen to a lot.
Overall I am not sorry I picked up this compilation for what amounts to three tracks I really like and four that are not as strong as the material I had already. That said, whilst I would happily recommend Microdisney to anyone, I would also counsel picking up Daunt Square to Elsewhere over this if you want a snapshot of their career.
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