fandorin wrote:
i stand by my word - GAF is a brilliant record, with the only major flaw being the absence of real drums. the guitars sound immaculate! also some extra points for being the best-dressed and -styled band on the planet in 1990
+1
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Gold Afternoon Fix
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 camel |
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Posts: 4772 (09/05/2009 09:13) Faith Healer
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+1
across the endless sky we are deployed
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newoldfan |
Essence is pure " Neu! " | ||
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Maven
Posts: 16 (09/14/2009 04:21) |
I agree GAF is an oft unfairly maligned album . One of my favourite Church LPs. And ' Essence" is one of my favourite pieces of music by the Church
. I can't believe all the people who singled out essence to mention ( at least the ones I read ) have not picked up on its Kraut -rock origins. *note to Fandorin ; your're posting from Berlin , right ? I'm aware of your extensive musical knowledge. I'm sure you know of " Neu ! ". I'm sure the Church would not be averse to acknowleging that Essence, at least musically if not lyrically , is an homage to the Dusseldorf group ( duo? ) Neu ! who came along at the time of Can, Cluster and the early Kraftwerk. The drummer , Klaus Dinger, had this patented beat, "motorik " named because it was so propulsive. The Church are in good company because David Bowie did the same on the track " Red Sails " on his album, Lodger . anybody out there who has this listen to this track and then Essence . Pure " Neu '75. "
Last Edited By: newoldfan
09/14/2009 04:38.
Edited 1 times.
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fantasticandy |
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Perfect Child
Posts: 205 (09/14/2009 12:48) |
MWP is a huge fan of these guys......in fact of krautrock in general.
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ynnpar |
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Glow Worm
Posts: 699 (09/16/2009 05:12) Glow Worm |
Ha! Essence is a definite tribute to Neu's Isi. Another of my favorite bands, Stereolab, also borrows liberally from Neu, in particular from the song
Hallogallo. I personally think it's neat to hear these songs reworked this way.
Other than You're Still Beautiful and the drums, which do sound very robotic, I love GAF, always have. |
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fandorin |
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Posts: 5689 (09/17/2009 03:09) Faith Healer |
yes I can see the NEU! allusion. There are quite a few Church songs owing something more or less directly to NEU!
Is This Where You Live You Took Shadow Cabinet Essence Let Me Tell You A Secret (noctorum) Just that they insert soul and heart into Neu!'s constructions. They paint the rooms Dinger & Rother constructed...
Last Edited By: fandorin
09/17/2009 08:59.
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ynnpar |
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Glow Worm
Posts: 699 (09/17/2009 05:41) Glow Worm |
Adding heart and soul -- that's a perfect way to put it.
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miles aweigh |
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Maven
Posts: 17 (01/24/2010 15:45) |
I just read through this thread, not carefully mind you, and was surprised how popular this album is with the fans here. I thought there would be more "if they had only..." povs, but generally there is strong, if qualified support. This is a great album in my opinion, and is in many ways the apex of Kilby's decadent period. I love the science fiction movie for which this provides the soundtrack. One of the earlier comments referred to Philip K Dick, and I heartily concur, in how the theme of alienation is expressed in many forms. The future is dystopian, but superficially pleasant. What is real, or human becomes an elusive quest, as technological perfection masks and mimics the beauty and ugliness of existence. Dick wrote about drugs quite a bit as well, and I don't think you can remove that vibe from GAF; they are a refuge and a barrier to clear perception. In this kind of world, however, clear perception may induce madness.
Another writer that comes to mind, not only on SK's songs at this period, but throughout the entire arc, is Paul Bowles. They both have the sensation of being outside conventional experience, of being distant strangers first and foremost, whether at home or abroad. The desolate deserts and poisonous jungles that Bowles' protagonists wander off into offer the same timeless doom and ecstasy that Kilby finds in his sonic voyages. The derangement of the senses is a logical response to the inexplicable or impossibly foreign, yet remaining in the mundane world is ultimately more horrific than the danger and isolation of being forever outside of it, so derangement it shall be.
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chrome3D |
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Posts: 4634 (01/24/2010 20:56) Faith Healer |
The sci-fi aspect of GAF is everywhere. So much that it´s almost a theme album. I wonder who else has made anything remotely like it. There isn´t that many contenders who can believably do this kind of stuff. All details are honed to perfection, even the uber-stylish cover, which is a like a reminder of an era that never actually existed in rock music. Too bad that the yardstick GAF was measured against was Nirvana´s Nevermind. The stylish intrigue of GAF never had the chance.
Even though the band is clearly not satisfied with it, I still think it´s one of their best efforts. They say that they were not firing on all cylinders while doing this but that may be the thing which makes GAF special. Other good things might come out when you are not trying and it´s not needed to fill all parts with bigger and louder bombast. Besides, GAF shows that SK has a certain level that he is simply unable to get rid of, hard as he may try. We all know that Marty and especially PK have a level that is high all the time.
He drums impatient fingers on the chrome and on the leather
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miles aweigh |
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Maven
Posts: 17 (01/25/2010 09:56) |
I understand SK's feeling of missed opportunity with the record, and I really believe if the band had gone in the one of the directions proposed, a really adventurous experimental one, the result would have been wonderful. It probably would not have changed the relationship with their newly found wider audience or the commercial expectations of their label, in that it would have been compared to Starfish and found lacking just as GAF was, if for different reasons. The same arc would have resulted, a commercial breakthrough that could not be repeated. And as many have pointed out, more success would have made them a very different band than the one that made P=A and their later masterworks.
I don't think trying to make a "commercial" record is an inevitable doom, and in the case of GAF, the talent and vision of the band shine through the frustration and constraints, internal and external. Despite many characterizations of it as half assed, I find it quite ambitious in scale, experimental in turns, diverse, and well crafted more often than not. Perhaps the frustration is just the feeling you could have done more, something all of us can pin on ourselves in retrospect. |
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fandorin |
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Posts: 5689 (01/25/2010 15:11) Faith Healer |
chrome, miles -
three of the best and most enlightening posts ive read here in a long time!! > like a reminder of an era that never actually existed in rock music YES!! |
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thetawave |
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Glow Worm
Posts: 1496 (01/26/2010 19:26) Disillusionist |
I revisited my post on GAF from 2001...
Gold Afternoon Fix was released at the same time I discovered Phillip K. Dick. This fortuitous pairing has always influenced my perceptions of GAF. In my opinion, GAF has as much to do with PKD as it does with any of its musical influences. Dick, like other great science fiction writers, penned social, political, and philosophical critiques disguised as science fiction. GAF is populated by characters enslaved to power and intoxicated by technology, vanity, and drugs, poised on the precipice of some poignant knowledge of reality. Consider Pharaoh with its imagery of a brutal power enforcing profit over principle (one man with a big connection takes the whole damn ship in the wrong direction) contrasted with a voice asking for sanity (is there anybody out there/show your faces if you dare). This is a consistent theme in Dick's novels. Ive heard that its about the bands relationship to the record label in the wake of the success of Starfish, but by couching it in metaphor, it transcends and becomes a larger remark on our relationship to any powerful entity. It sets the stage for the apocalyptic tension that pervades Metropolis (back in metropolis/the weather is ridiculous/whats it all coming to?), Terra Nova Cain (back before the continent sank/you could still go outside), Grind (a vortex appears, unleashed by the crash), and especially City (In this very house/a giant was born/ with two angry eyes/and one sharp black horn). What I love most about GAF, and other works by the Church, is the theme of intoxication. Intoxication via power is clearly evident in Pharaoh. Marty touches on it in Russian Autumn Heart (a trillion pennies/for a handful of dust). Intoxication via technology is adeptly depicted in Terra Nova Cain (we used to float around her weightless bedroom/that drove me right up the wall). You're Still Beautiful describes intoxication via vanity (when you looked at your reflection and asked/are you still beautiful baby) and Grind also depicts it (line up the arrows/push off the cap/ this can cause sustain forever). I mentioned that the narratives of GAF also describe some poignant knowledge of reality. For example, City (behind the vicars gates/ a sign reads beware of god), Monday Morning (shes forgotten your name, the cracks become quite clear), Essence (the universe is female/eluding the science of men), Disappointment (drowned for the moment/on an empty ocean floor), Laughing (and theyre laughing/laughing at you anyway), and Grind (again, a vortex appears/unleashed by the crash). Finally, the songs are simply beautiful. That this band would consciously release filler is anathema to me. |
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chrome3D |
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Posts: 4634 (01/27/2010 02:37) Faith Healer |
Thanks theta for sending the probe to the GAF deep space and coming back with some serious thoughts. Even after ?00 listens there is still new things to discover and think. This stuff was made to last.
He drums impatient fingers on the chrome and on the leather
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miles aweigh |
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Maven
Posts: 17 (01/28/2010 16:21) |
Theta, a really illuminating post, thanks! I became obsessed with Dick later and read every one of his novels, excepting the more obscure mainstream efforts.
As a unified work the, one song that stands outside the theme for me is You're Still Beautiful. I like it quite a bit, but it feels like a diversion. Disappointment has always been one of my favorites and the central line "I can't find my memory anywhere" poses Dick's question about human vs android consciousness. It captures the dislocated feeling of not being sure if you are even a "genuine" person or a "genuine fake"(a direct quote from Dick.) While your senses are occupied by empty rituals and vague reassurances, you can't find yourself in your surroundings, are they just a stage set?
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thetawave |
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Glow Worm
Posts: 1496 (01/28/2010 21:07) Disillusionist |
"Disappointment has always been one of my favorites and the central line "I can't find my memory anywhere" poses Dick's question about human vs android consciousness. It captures the dislocated feeling of not being sure if you are even a "genuine" person or a "genuine fake"(a direct quote from Dick.) While your senses are occupied by empty rituals and vague reassurances, you can't find yourself in your surroundings, are they just a stage set?"
Well said |
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fandorin |
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Posts: 5689 (01/30/2010 04:18) Faith Healer |
i think it's amazing how GAF connects with so many people's mindset, and how it spawns the impression of something really epic and futuristic going on. lyrically, it's a very very sophisticated album, and both the words and the guitars leave so many holes to fill with your dark imagination, which is gently steered by the record... i also like the clarity of it. ok, i have nothing against trippy, but i adore SF's and GAF's sharpness and clarity.
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Torn n Frayed |
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Perfect Child
Posts: 200 (02/01/2010 11:39) |
fandorin wrote: |
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davem2 |
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Perfect Child
Posts: 240 (02/01/2010 12:13) |
Timing is so important.
For me it came sandwiched between two albums that are amongst the most important in my life - then and now. I also saw them 3 times on the GAF tour and didn't enjoy the way I felt the band were on stage - in terms of attitude not music. Additionally, I'd not long been married and for a couple of years had two jobs to help pay the bills, so for a couple of years that and an unfortunate dalliance with becoming a worship leader in an evangelical church (long story - none the better for the telling) took priority over the latest Church release. That release happened to be GAF. So GAF isn't much a part of my musical heritage.....but I do like it. I think pretty much every other Church release has led to me putting real life on hold for a few weeks to absorb the noise. Amen! |
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- Welcome
- Myths You Made / News, Speculation and Questions
- The Feast
- After Everything / The Church Discography
- Two Places At Once / Solo Work / Side Projects
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- Further Aventures of the Time Being / Current Tour & Past Gigs
- Why Don't You Love Me / Other Artists
- Volumes / Womb Music
- Grandiose / Other General Arts and Web Sites
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- Happy Hunting Ground
- Under the Milky Way / Lounge
- All I know / Suggestions, Advice, and Challenges
