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Unsung Forum » To Live And Shave In LA/AndrewWK |
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Lawrence 9547 posts |
Jun 13, 2004, 16:29
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Funny I got the latest Entertainment Weekly featuring a records list by Andrew WK where he mentions To Live And Shave In LA, who I plan to open for this September. If you don't know TLASILA is a noise-group along the lines of Pengo and Hair Police (for example) featuring Tom Smith, originally known for his previous band Peach Of Immortality -- once on tour w/ Pussy Galore and infamous for their REM Is Air Supply album. I have seen To Live And Shave live before and they are excellent and worth seeing. And Tom Smith is really handsome!
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Stevo 6664 posts |
Jun 13, 2004, 16:43
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Apparently Tom Smith was in a band with MIke Stipe pre REM. I just recal having read an interview with him in Your Flesh or something. Also put out an lp called Ed Vedder BedWetter and Peach Of Imorrtality's lp was called Talking Heads '77 wasn't it? I haven't heard the band, but I've meant to. Stevo Np Uncut Acid Daze The Executives Ginza Strip
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Lawrence 9547 posts |
Jun 14, 2004, 16:41
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Actually Talking Heads '77 was the first one, not as good as REM Is Air Supply. Yes, I have both. And I had heard he collaborated w/ members of REM before they became popular, which makes all that dirty-minded REM baiting ironic!
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greenfield 1 posts |
Jun 26, 2004, 03:54
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Disagree with Lawrence re TLASILA - they resemble no-one and have very few peers. I'm no blind fan - they've released a few duff recordings, but have also created several astounding albums, two of which were name-checked by Wilkes-Krier. They are light years beyond Pengo and Hair Police, and this should not be mistaken as a slag on those groups, who are very satisfying. No, To Live and Shave in LA are, quite simply, infinitely better, the best of all the American groups who have been tarred with the "noise" brush. Like their Miami contemporaries Harry Pussy, they may appear to be "noise-rock," but they are undoubtedly, resolutely other. With Shave, punk, glam, electronica, dub, musique concrete, aletory compositional techniques, garage-rock, free jazz, and wild, weird, out-there-ness collide, combine, and explode. The Boredoms are perhaps the closest analogue, though Eye's cabal are arguably more consistent. Shave can be spotty, but when they are on-target, the planet dissolves, and madness rules. No joke, none at all. Severe and inexpressible, they have made one hell of an impact. The new line-up may prove to be the best ever - I wish they were coming to England! They toured here in the late 90s (on two separate ocassions), and I missed them both times. Handsome? Smith is one ugly fucker, but like many ladies' men, this impediment seems to work in his favor. His recent Dusted piece was a great read.
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Lawrence 9547 posts |
Jun 26, 2004, 15:52
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That was excellent!
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Edward III 2 posts |
Jun 30, 2004, 18:52
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I recall picking up Jehovah My Black Ass... when it first came out - this was '86 or '87. Must say that both the Peach of Immortality records worked better as pop-art pranks than actual listening experiences. The same can't be said of Smith's later works, which range from interesting to all out flattening, including some of the unreleased POI stuff from the 90s. I've a cassette called "Taxi Zum Shoah" that's a fairly engulfing piece of crud. At one point amid a lull in the clamor a voice is heard announcing, "SATAN! HEY SATAN, MAN, WE'RE HERE!" Needless to say a classic moment in modern music. A fanzine I edited (Ugly American) did a pretty extensive interview with Smith back in the early 90s. A pretty sad story - yeh, he was in a "band" with Stipe, but while living in GA the love of his life perished in a car crash. She's the "peach" in Peach of Immortality. According to him she was a Georgia peach who will live forever in his music. One thing Smith doesn't get enough credit for is his lyrics, probably because they're usually indecipherable. He's one of the few whose lyrics can be read seriously in a written format - bizarre and funny mashed up poetry concrete. Smith's prose style has a sinister simularity to Mr. Cope's own verbose lysergic haruspex musings on this very site. For more obscure connect-the-dots: To Live and Shave in LA counted Ugly American editor Greg Chapman as a member during one of their European tours -> Greg was also a member of Frown -> Frown's Wallghost was the Unsung album of the month June 2004.
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Edward III 2 posts |
Jun 30, 2004, 18:54
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doh, make that June 2003
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