ok so i got into Fun Trick Noisemaker in like 2011 through this really lovely guy with a music blog who is responsible for about half my CD collection, legend. but i never listened beyond that because i assumed it would grate.
today i listened to Her Wallpaper Reverie and Tone Soul Evolution. what the fuck have i been doing? they are both absolutely great! the endorphin rush i got from the opening of Shine A Light… whew!!
There was a brief time in my life when I listened to them pretty religiously along with They Might Be Giants for a good 2-3 months. Haven’t heard them in forever, fun band. Going to revisit.
About 10 years ago I checked out a few of the Elephant 6 bands beyond NMH all at once but I now get some of them mixed up, particularly Apples in Stereo and Olivia Tremor Control. Think I remember AiS being decent though. Will reinvestigate.
I adore The Apples In Stereo, seen them live multiple times. Will admit I’m less of a fan of their psychedelic stuff though, but will check out some of the recommendations here since I’m definitely less familiar with it.
Here’s my AiS anecdote…
Back when I was working in my first proper job since moving to London around 2007, I managed to find some common ground with one of my workmates in that we both liked the band. I hadn’t seen them live at that point but my workmate said he saw them not so long ago at 93 Feet East bit it was awful. The sound was horrendously mixed and it was so loud you could barely hear anything through the feedback.
About two weeks after this, they released their new album New Magnetic Wonder and as the opening track Can You Feel It? came to an end, the feedback sounds are mixed into audience from a live performance where you can hear a bunch of people shouting “turn it down!” at them a lot. Then, in one of those moments which properly jolted my brain, I heard my workmates voice shouting “EVERYTHING’S FEEDBACKING, CAN’T YOU HEAR IT!?”.
My mind was blown, I told him right away with a level of excitement that was ridiculous. He thought it was quite funny, and confirmed that was the gig and that was him but didn’t quite have the same level of excitement. I mean, we were talking about them, that gig just a couple of weeks before, and then the exact incident appears on the opening track of their new album, focusing on the person who told me the story!? Still does my nut in to this day.
Amazing! I know the sample well and have always assumed it to be the band shouting at each other during recording, put there to sound slightly rock & roll. Knowing it’s audience members having a bad time puts a different perspective on it.
