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Thread: Who Is Your Favourite Group And Why?

  1. #31
    Join Date: May 2009

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    Quote Originally Posted by Simon_Nottingham View Post
    I think that I have two favourite bands. There are bands I love, bands that I get excited about when they have a new album out, but there are two band that I love.

    The first is Half Man Half Biscuit. I first got in to the Biscuits when I was in sixth form (via a cooler lad in upper sixth) about the time the second album came out. Now you may think that they're just a comedy turn, and I'd be the first to admit that no one in the band is going to appear in a list of the best guitarist/bassist/drummer/singer in the world, but I keep coming back. Of all the bands I was into in my teens, this is the only one that I still listen to now. They make me smile, and more than once they make me think...

    There is nothing better in life
    Than writing on the sole of your slipper with a biro


    And you know what? There isn't.
    What he said, except for the sixth form bit. The mighty HMHB have been quietly putting out album after album of classic songs, doing a few gigs a year, and never taking themselves, or anything else, too seriously. Nigel Blackwell is a great interviewee, and by all accounts a lovely bloke.

    https://www.theguardian.com/theguard...kend7.weekend6

    'More than anything, however, it is the sheer wit and the accuracy of Blackwell's observations and lyrics that is the glue that binds the Biscuit fraternity - and there is, of course, also something in the band's can't-be-arsed attitude that endears them to fans such as Shaun Ryder. Ryder has never truly acknowledged it, but his songs are striated with Biscuit influences, from mentions of Zippy out of Rainbow to homages to Netto. Maybe the Biscuit track 24-Hour Garage People is a crafty riposte to Happy Mondays? "No," says Nigel, "it's about rude staff in all-night petrol stations. The way they roll their eyes at the ceiling if all you want is a Scotch egg."

    The band are lazy in the best sense, and utterly unwilling to make sensible career moves. They have never signed a contract with Probe Plus, a fact that has encouraged many bigger record labels to launch takeover attempts. Yet none has ever tempted Nigel away from Probe, whose symbiosis with Half Man Half Biscuit has transcended goth, acid house, indie dance, grunge, techno, jungle, garage and several visits from the bailiffs.

    Charlie Galloway from Castle Records recalls the weekend in 1999 when he thought he'd tempted Blackwell to sign for a considerable sum: "We'd brought him to London and were due to meet at The Columbia [famous rock 'n 'roll hotel by Hyde Park] for talks. When we got there, there was a note from Nigel. It said: 'I feel a little queasy and have gone for a walk. If it's not too much trouble, can we meet on the bench by Peter Pan's statue?' "

    In the park, they'd had a good chat about Millwall FC, but no deal ensued and Blackwell was so distressed at the thought of wasting Castle's time that he offered to reimburse the train fare. Blackwell says that he has come to love the way that band and label complement and reflect each other.'

    http://www.popmatters.com/feature/ha...iscuit-060303/

    'The head Biscuit has been known to tell fibs in public before, however. He once convinced a journalist from the Guardian, for example, that there was a HMHB tribute band called It Ain’t Half Man, Mum. Which was both a blatant lie, and very funny if you know your British television history. Which Blackwell most certainly does. When Back in the DHSS first came out, I described it as “the best debut release since The Clash” and speculated that “this fantastically absurd record must be the fruit of minds deranged by having nothing else to do all day but watch TV and wish they had more money to spend on drugs”. I wasn’t, says Blackwell, entirely on the money.

    “I never did get around to taking drugs. I think it was probably to do with the fact that my older brother did, and so sometimes you tend to go in the opposite direction. It’s for this simple reason also, I imagine, that I don’t own any Yes albums. I’m not anti-drugs by the way (except for the smackhead who robbed our house obviously), I’ve just never been interested in them. I’ve not even tried any to be honest. Might do one of those Fly Agaric mushrooms for my 80th birthday, though.”

    These days, as always, Blackwell is clearly keen to protect his privacy. He does few interviews and poses for absolutely no promotional photographs. Regardless, a clear picture of the man emerges from his work, and I envisage Blackwell as a kind of Wallace (of “and Gromit” fame) figure, happy to sit around his house, drinking tea and reading, dabbling in whatever takes his interest, taking long walks in the countryside and being very well known in his local pub. I also suspect him of having a dog.

    “Most of that is probably true, although I don’t really go to the pub. Only once a week for about forty minutes in fact. But I do have a dog, yes—a Golden Retriever bitch—there is nothing as gentle on Earth.”'

  2. #32
    Join Date: Aug 2009

    Location: Staffordshire, England

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  3. #33
    Join Date: Apr 2013

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    Probably Massive Attack for me, I love the weight and mood of their music. They work with amazing vocalists and know how to write interesting lyrics.

    Their programming and production is crafted to perfection, their work always seems considered and particular but as laid back as can be.

    There are times when only Massive Attack will do.

  4. #34
    Join Date: Nov 2014

    Location: Leicestershire

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    I'm Mark.

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    Ramones.
    Without a femtosecond of hesitation.
    Ramones.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

  5. #35
    Join Date: May 2010

    Location: Vancouver, Canada

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    I'm Alex.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Clifford.T Ward View Post
    I think the main reason I bother to have an interest in the apparatus or musical reproduction is the actual music and artists who produce it......

    So, I thought it might be a good idea to start a thread about members favourite groups ( maybe this will lead to others like singers, orchestras etc who knows?)

    I thought I would start with mine ..

    The Beatles

    (What I hope to stimulate is this section .....the why!)

    To me what makes the Beatles great is the fact that all four members made a full contribution to the group.

    In the early days of the band ...bands were always X and the ys and the lead was really considered to be the star......

    George Martin and Brain Epstein realised quickly that this was not applicable to the Beatles , each one had plenty to bring to the table.

    In the early days the Beatles , the Beatles were largely a covers band and each member brought their own personal contribution of an impersonation of a major rock and roll star.

    In addition, The Beatles , had a really broad repertoire they could turn their hand to Rock and Roll, country music, soul, ballads, comedy songs and much more.......in addition the Beatles were great musicians
    As their career progressed they started to write their own material and blossomed into a wonderful band.
    Again each contributed much to the songs even though they didn’t always get the credit for it.
    Paul’ s song writing reflected romance , sensitivity , embryonic political awareness and good old rock and roll
    John’s reflected love , peace , an understanding of the human condition, politics and fantasy
    George was the spiritualist and philosopher
    And Ringo? Well all those drum parts were written by him but were totally unaccredited!
    Mine too. I think the Beatles are the only act (save for the Rolling Stones, but only their work in the 1960s) who were careful to never repeat themselves. Pretty much every Beatles song is a genre onto itself.

    Acts like Jimi Hendrix and James Brown were great, but they tended to repeat themselves a lot. Not like U2, mind you (who keep replaying the same song over and over), but many acts fall back into the easy pattern -- if it worked on the last album, it'll work on the next album. Formulaic approach to music kills it. No one could ever accuse the Beatles of practising formulaic approach to their material.
    Don't you just hate it when you cannot detect where the post ends and a signature line begins?

    Alex.

  6. #36
    Join Date: Dec 2008

    Location: East Riding of Yorkshire these days

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    Also got a serious soft spot for Camel especially the album 'Dust and Dreams' based on the Grapes of Wrath. Some really emotionally moving melody lines in that album and in keeping with Prog Rock it is of course a 'concept' album as only the best are

    Truly love the musical ramblings of Ozric Tentacles as well. Their album 'Pungent Effulgent' is bloody remarkable if you like that Hawkwind style space rock jazz kind of thing. For me, there is currently nothing to come even remotely close. Their early stuff is staggeringly good but the newer stuff has been Pro Tooled to death and must now be the equivalent of an HDR photographic image.

  7. #37
    Join Date: Feb 2017

    Location: Sussex

    Posts: 324
    I'm Simon.

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    I could never say one is my best as it's just not possible as so much music is good and it's just a case of what one group does best, another can do the same, but in different ways.

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