Hello, well it's Halloween week, time to honor/remember the dead, sadly the US has turned it into a horrorfest, in Europe there's still more awareness of the true nature of it, but it's mixed with old superstitions (witches etc). Here we keep it to Autumnlike gloom at Aetix and later this week at Sundaze
Today's artists iare a rock band from Watford, England which formed in 1980. Their sound blends post-punk, gothic, atmospheric keyboards and psychedelia. .....N'Joy
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Sad Lovers and Giants are a British post-punk band influenced by psychedelia and folk music. Their clean-sounding but not over-produced recordings blend chiming guitars, atmospheric keyboards, urgent rhythms, and acerbic lyrics. Their music tips toward gloominess, but it avoids the melodramatic clichés of some of the more theatrical bands associated with '80s goth rock and new wave. Often likened to bands such as the Chameleons UK and the Cure's earliest work, they've gained a cult following, often referred to as a well-kept secret. The group have disbanded and re-formed several times since forming in the early '80s.
Sad Lovers and Giants began in Watford, England in 1980, originally consisting of vocalist Garçe Allard, bassist Cliff Silver, guitarist Tristan Garel-Funk, drummer Nigel Pollard, and keyboardist/saxophonist David Wood. They made their debut in 1981 with two tense yet breezy 7"s released by Last Movement: the Clé EP and the single "Colourless Dream." They recorded a session for influential BBC DJ John Peel, and signed with Midnight Music, who issued their debut full-length Epic Garden Music and unrelated single "Lost in a Moment" in 1982. The band opened for the Sound at a major venue in London shortly after the album's release, and when sophomore album Feeding the Flame appeared in 1983, they toured Germany and the Netherlands, gaining a significant fan base in those countries. They disbanded due to tensions within the group, however, and Garel-Funk and Pollard subsequently formed a harder-edged band called the Snake Corps. In 1984, Midnight Music issued In the Breeze, a collection of previously unreleased songs and demos. Total Sound, a recording of a 1983 session recorded for Dutch radio station VPRO, was issued in 1986.
That same year, Allard and Pollard formed a new lineup of Sad Lovers and Giants, including guitarist Tony McGuinness, keyboardist Juliet Sainsbury, and bassist Ian Gibson. The full-length The Mirror Test appeared in 1987, and the group toured Europe to an increasing fan base. A compilation titled Les Années Vertes was issued in 1988. Original bassist Silver replaced Gibson, and the group released Headland in 1990, followed by Treehouse Poetry in 1991. Midnight Music went out of business, however, and the group broke up again, although they occasionally re-formed for gigs, opening for similar-minded post-punk group And Also the Trees.
Cherry Red issued a Sad Lovers and Giants retrospective titled E-Mail from Eternity in 1996, after it had acquired the Midnight Music catalog. In 1999, Voight-Kampff Records issued La Dolca Vita, a live album recorded in 1988, and the label reissued Headland and Treehouse Poetry on a single disc in 2001. Sad Lovers and Giants re-formed again in 2002, releasing the full-length Melting in the Fullness of Time on Voight-Kampff. After a few live dates in Italy, the group went on hiatus again, and McGuinness concentrated on his successful progressive trance group Above & Beyond and labels Anjunabeats and Anjunadeep.
As Cherry Red reissued the first two Sad Lovers and Giants albums in 2009, the group (consisting of Allard, Pollard, McGuinness, and Gibson) performed concerts in Italy and Greece. Keyboardist Will Hicks joined the group later in the year. More European gigs followed in 2010, along with a reissue of The Mirror Test and new single "Himalaya." More U.K. and European dates followed, and the group began writing material for a new album. Allard's book Things We Never Did – The Story of Sad Lovers & Giants was published in 2014. In March of 2016, Dark Entries released Lost in a Sea Full of Sighs, a compilation of Sad Lovers and Giants' early singles, and the group toured the United States for the first time.
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Working hard to further their penchant for hashing together paisley underground psychedelia and classic post-punk, Sad Lovers and Giants followed their first two acclaimed singles with the hefty EP Epic Garden Music in fall 1982. With a delicious blend of gloomy guitar and bass infused with punch and verve that recalls early Cure, and a sophisticated wordplay that was uniquely their own, the quintet split the songs between seaside and countryside, between earth and air, and inflected a little of each into the music. Absolutely cohesive and completely on track, the songs on this set are slick and smooth. From the opening "Echoplay" and the foggy "Clocktower Lodge," which walk a quiet edge, to the pure pop of "Alice (Isn't Playing)" and the ominous closer "Far From the Sea," which sounds as if vocalist Garce Allard sang his part through a window outside the studio, each moment is a masterpiece. And, though most of the songs maintain similar a tempo and intensity, "Clint" snaps heads around, while "Lope" features a sublimely off-kilter sax solo from David Wood. It's an addition that brings the closing dregs of a traveling circus to mind -- or, perhaps in a nod to the side's vibe, a closing seaside town that has turned a woolen shoulder to November wind and rain. Sorely overlooked outside of England, Sad Lovers and Giants may have been lost in the wake of the post-punk generation's heroes, but they haven't been forgotten. They remain a small pearl -- a gem of the ocean that birthed them.
Sad Lovers and Giants - Epic Garden Music (flac 355mb)
01 Imagination 5:40
02 Landslide 3:00
03 When I See You 3:16
04 Colourless Dream 4:44
05 Things We Never Did 4:07
06 Lost In A Moment 4:18
07 The Tightrope Touch 5:18
08 Echoplay 2:55
09 Clocktower Lodge 4:17
10 Clint 3:27
11 Lope 3:28
12 Cloud 9 3:21
13 ART (By Me) 3:04
14 Alice (Isn't Playing) 3:44
15 Far From The Sea 4:45
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Working hard to further their penchant for hashing together paisley underground psychedelia and classic post-punk, Sad Lovers and Giants followed their first two acclaimed singles with the hefty EP Epic Garden Music in fall 1982. With a delicious blend of gloomy guitar and bass infused with punch and verve that recalls early Cure, and a sophisticated wordplay that was uniquely their own, the quintet split the songs between seaside and countryside, between earth and air, and inflected a little of each into the music. Absolutely cohesive and completely on track, the songs on this set are slick and smooth. From the opening "Echoplay" and the foggy "Clocktower Lodge," which walk a quiet edge, to the pure pop of "Alice (Isn't Playing)" and the ominous closer "Far From the Sea," which sounds as if vocalist Garce Allard sang his part through a window outside the studio, each moment is a masterpiece. And, though most of the songs maintain similar a tempo and intensity, "Clint" snaps heads around, while "Lope" features a sublimely off-kilter sax solo from David Wood. It's an addition that brings the closing dregs of a traveling circus to mind -- or, perhaps in a nod to the side's vibe, a closing seaside town that has turned a woolen shoulder to November wind and rain. Sorely overlooked outside of England, Sad Lovers and Giants may have been lost in the wake of the post-punk generation's heroes, but they haven't been forgotten. They remain a small pearl -- a gem of the ocean that birthed them.
Sad Lovers and Giants - Feeding the Flame (flac 360mb)
01 Imagination 7:22
02 Cow Boys 5:34
03 3 Lines 3:13
04 Big Tracks Little Tracks 3:31
05 On Another Day 5:01
06 Sleep (Is For Everyone) 5:04
07 Vendetta 4:37
08 Man Of Straw 6:18
09 Close To The Sea 4:44
10 Strange Orchard 6:11
11 Burning Beaches 4:12
12 Your Skin And Mine 5:21
13 In Flux 5:57
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By the time this was released Sad Lovers and Giants had gone through a break up and then reformed with a radically changed line-up. The result was a very different outlook of the band to the one which had put out two albums earlier in the eighties and produced some fine, edgy, dark post-punk music. In many ways, The Mirror Test marked a complete change in style . It's a brilliant atmospheric Post Punk album, elements of Joy Division and The Chameleons and more tellingly of bands that followed. The Mirror Test marked the return of Sad Lovers And Giants, who were enthusiastically embraced by their fanbase and a whole new legion of fans.
So, if you've got the first two albums, this one definitely deserves your attention. Easily recommendable to anyone who digs moody post-punk of the Chameleons UK, Joy Division, And Also The Trees, and Cure ilk.
Sad Lovers and Giants - The Mirror Test (flac 313mb)
01 Ours To Kill 4:41
02 White Russians 5:16
03 Take Seven 1:17
04 Seven Kinds Of Sin 5:05
05 The Green Years 4:27
06 A Map Of My World 3:31
07 The Outsider 4:03
08 Cuckooland 4:07
09 Return To Clocktower Lodge 4:04
10 Wire Lawn 4:01
11 House Of Clouds 6:11
12 Summer And Smoke 4:45
13 Life Under Glass 6:20
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Recorded in London during late 1989 and early 1990, Headland captures the band at a time when UK interest was waning but their popularity in Europe was on the increase. This, combined with record company problems, meant that the album's release was delayed and, when it did eventually surface, little promotion was offered. As such it disappeared fairly quickly and thus remains a great lost gem within the band's catalog. Headland offers an immaculate example of epic, ambitious late 1980s pop, laced with synthesizer washes, reverb drenched guitars, huge drums and grandiose, emotive vocal performances. The four bonus tracks, which constitute the Clocks Go Backwards EP offer a more direct, stripped back sound, and, as such, further insight into the band's position around this time, making this package a concise, complete take on this era of the band's career.
Sad Lovers and Giants - Headland (flac 228mb)
01 Godless Soul 6:21
02 Like Thieves 5:51
03 One Man's Hell 5:08
04 Restless 2:41
05 Alaska 6:57
06 It's Snowing 4:54
07 My Heart's On Fire 3:35
08 Life Will Kill Us 5:48
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Today's artists iare a rock band from Watford, England which formed in 1980. Their sound blends post-punk, gothic, atmospheric keyboards and psychedelia. .....N'Joy
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Sad Lovers and Giants are a British post-punk band influenced by psychedelia and folk music. Their clean-sounding but not over-produced recordings blend chiming guitars, atmospheric keyboards, urgent rhythms, and acerbic lyrics. Their music tips toward gloominess, but it avoids the melodramatic clichés of some of the more theatrical bands associated with '80s goth rock and new wave. Often likened to bands such as the Chameleons UK and the Cure's earliest work, they've gained a cult following, often referred to as a well-kept secret. The group have disbanded and re-formed several times since forming in the early '80s.
Sad Lovers and Giants began in Watford, England in 1980, originally consisting of vocalist Garçe Allard, bassist Cliff Silver, guitarist Tristan Garel-Funk, drummer Nigel Pollard, and keyboardist/saxophonist David Wood. They made their debut in 1981 with two tense yet breezy 7"s released by Last Movement: the Clé EP and the single "Colourless Dream." They recorded a session for influential BBC DJ John Peel, and signed with Midnight Music, who issued their debut full-length Epic Garden Music and unrelated single "Lost in a Moment" in 1982. The band opened for the Sound at a major venue in London shortly after the album's release, and when sophomore album Feeding the Flame appeared in 1983, they toured Germany and the Netherlands, gaining a significant fan base in those countries. They disbanded due to tensions within the group, however, and Garel-Funk and Pollard subsequently formed a harder-edged band called the Snake Corps. In 1984, Midnight Music issued In the Breeze, a collection of previously unreleased songs and demos. Total Sound, a recording of a 1983 session recorded for Dutch radio station VPRO, was issued in 1986.
That same year, Allard and Pollard formed a new lineup of Sad Lovers and Giants, including guitarist Tony McGuinness, keyboardist Juliet Sainsbury, and bassist Ian Gibson. The full-length The Mirror Test appeared in 1987, and the group toured Europe to an increasing fan base. A compilation titled Les Années Vertes was issued in 1988. Original bassist Silver replaced Gibson, and the group released Headland in 1990, followed by Treehouse Poetry in 1991. Midnight Music went out of business, however, and the group broke up again, although they occasionally re-formed for gigs, opening for similar-minded post-punk group And Also the Trees.
Cherry Red issued a Sad Lovers and Giants retrospective titled E-Mail from Eternity in 1996, after it had acquired the Midnight Music catalog. In 1999, Voight-Kampff Records issued La Dolca Vita, a live album recorded in 1988, and the label reissued Headland and Treehouse Poetry on a single disc in 2001. Sad Lovers and Giants re-formed again in 2002, releasing the full-length Melting in the Fullness of Time on Voight-Kampff. After a few live dates in Italy, the group went on hiatus again, and McGuinness concentrated on his successful progressive trance group Above & Beyond and labels Anjunabeats and Anjunadeep.
As Cherry Red reissued the first two Sad Lovers and Giants albums in 2009, the group (consisting of Allard, Pollard, McGuinness, and Gibson) performed concerts in Italy and Greece. Keyboardist Will Hicks joined the group later in the year. More European gigs followed in 2010, along with a reissue of The Mirror Test and new single "Himalaya." More U.K. and European dates followed, and the group began writing material for a new album. Allard's book Things We Never Did – The Story of Sad Lovers & Giants was published in 2014. In March of 2016, Dark Entries released Lost in a Sea Full of Sighs, a compilation of Sad Lovers and Giants' early singles, and the group toured the United States for the first time.
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Working hard to further their penchant for hashing together paisley underground psychedelia and classic post-punk, Sad Lovers and Giants followed their first two acclaimed singles with the hefty EP Epic Garden Music in fall 1982. With a delicious blend of gloomy guitar and bass infused with punch and verve that recalls early Cure, and a sophisticated wordplay that was uniquely their own, the quintet split the songs between seaside and countryside, between earth and air, and inflected a little of each into the music. Absolutely cohesive and completely on track, the songs on this set are slick and smooth. From the opening "Echoplay" and the foggy "Clocktower Lodge," which walk a quiet edge, to the pure pop of "Alice (Isn't Playing)" and the ominous closer "Far From the Sea," which sounds as if vocalist Garce Allard sang his part through a window outside the studio, each moment is a masterpiece. And, though most of the songs maintain similar a tempo and intensity, "Clint" snaps heads around, while "Lope" features a sublimely off-kilter sax solo from David Wood. It's an addition that brings the closing dregs of a traveling circus to mind -- or, perhaps in a nod to the side's vibe, a closing seaside town that has turned a woolen shoulder to November wind and rain. Sorely overlooked outside of England, Sad Lovers and Giants may have been lost in the wake of the post-punk generation's heroes, but they haven't been forgotten. They remain a small pearl -- a gem of the ocean that birthed them.
Sad Lovers and Giants - Epic Garden Music (flac 355mb)
01 Imagination 5:40
02 Landslide 3:00
03 When I See You 3:16
04 Colourless Dream 4:44
05 Things We Never Did 4:07
06 Lost In A Moment 4:18
07 The Tightrope Touch 5:18
08 Echoplay 2:55
09 Clocktower Lodge 4:17
10 Clint 3:27
11 Lope 3:28
12 Cloud 9 3:21
13 ART (By Me) 3:04
14 Alice (Isn't Playing) 3:44
15 Far From The Sea 4:45
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Working hard to further their penchant for hashing together paisley underground psychedelia and classic post-punk, Sad Lovers and Giants followed their first two acclaimed singles with the hefty EP Epic Garden Music in fall 1982. With a delicious blend of gloomy guitar and bass infused with punch and verve that recalls early Cure, and a sophisticated wordplay that was uniquely their own, the quintet split the songs between seaside and countryside, between earth and air, and inflected a little of each into the music. Absolutely cohesive and completely on track, the songs on this set are slick and smooth. From the opening "Echoplay" and the foggy "Clocktower Lodge," which walk a quiet edge, to the pure pop of "Alice (Isn't Playing)" and the ominous closer "Far From the Sea," which sounds as if vocalist Garce Allard sang his part through a window outside the studio, each moment is a masterpiece. And, though most of the songs maintain similar a tempo and intensity, "Clint" snaps heads around, while "Lope" features a sublimely off-kilter sax solo from David Wood. It's an addition that brings the closing dregs of a traveling circus to mind -- or, perhaps in a nod to the side's vibe, a closing seaside town that has turned a woolen shoulder to November wind and rain. Sorely overlooked outside of England, Sad Lovers and Giants may have been lost in the wake of the post-punk generation's heroes, but they haven't been forgotten. They remain a small pearl -- a gem of the ocean that birthed them.
Sad Lovers and Giants - Feeding the Flame (flac 360mb)
01 Imagination 7:22
02 Cow Boys 5:34
03 3 Lines 3:13
04 Big Tracks Little Tracks 3:31
05 On Another Day 5:01
06 Sleep (Is For Everyone) 5:04
07 Vendetta 4:37
08 Man Of Straw 6:18
09 Close To The Sea 4:44
10 Strange Orchard 6:11
11 Burning Beaches 4:12
12 Your Skin And Mine 5:21
13 In Flux 5:57
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
By the time this was released Sad Lovers and Giants had gone through a break up and then reformed with a radically changed line-up. The result was a very different outlook of the band to the one which had put out two albums earlier in the eighties and produced some fine, edgy, dark post-punk music. In many ways, The Mirror Test marked a complete change in style . It's a brilliant atmospheric Post Punk album, elements of Joy Division and The Chameleons and more tellingly of bands that followed. The Mirror Test marked the return of Sad Lovers And Giants, who were enthusiastically embraced by their fanbase and a whole new legion of fans.
So, if you've got the first two albums, this one definitely deserves your attention. Easily recommendable to anyone who digs moody post-punk of the Chameleons UK, Joy Division, And Also The Trees, and Cure ilk.
Sad Lovers and Giants - The Mirror Test (flac 313mb)
01 Ours To Kill 4:41
02 White Russians 5:16
03 Take Seven 1:17
04 Seven Kinds Of Sin 5:05
05 The Green Years 4:27
06 A Map Of My World 3:31
07 The Outsider 4:03
08 Cuckooland 4:07
09 Return To Clocktower Lodge 4:04
10 Wire Lawn 4:01
11 House Of Clouds 6:11
12 Summer And Smoke 4:45
13 Life Under Glass 6:20
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Recorded in London during late 1989 and early 1990, Headland captures the band at a time when UK interest was waning but their popularity in Europe was on the increase. This, combined with record company problems, meant that the album's release was delayed and, when it did eventually surface, little promotion was offered. As such it disappeared fairly quickly and thus remains a great lost gem within the band's catalog. Headland offers an immaculate example of epic, ambitious late 1980s pop, laced with synthesizer washes, reverb drenched guitars, huge drums and grandiose, emotive vocal performances. The four bonus tracks, which constitute the Clocks Go Backwards EP offer a more direct, stripped back sound, and, as such, further insight into the band's position around this time, making this package a concise, complete take on this era of the band's career.
Sad Lovers and Giants - Headland (flac 228mb)
01 Godless Soul 6:21
02 Like Thieves 5:51
03 One Man's Hell 5:08
04 Restless 2:41
05 Alaska 6:57
06 It's Snowing 4:54
07 My Heart's On Fire 3:35
08 Life Will Kill Us 5:48
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
thank you so much
ReplyDeleteBeautiful band... Thank you very much...
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteCould you please re-post the Sad Lovers and Giants albums? Thanks!
please reup Headlands
ReplyDeleteYour blog never ceases to amaze me. I was unaware of Headlands. Thanks and Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteArriving late at the party, I could put an hand on "Feeding The Flame". Having listened to some of the songs, I must say that I'm pretty much interested in hearing for more. When I think that that precited album dates from 83, I feel as covered with some weird matter that I would call "Shame Slime".
ReplyDeleteAnyway, another more than likely discovery thanks to your Blog.
Thanks, thanks and thanks.
Can u rep up please ?
ReplyDeleteThanks by advance,
Spacepop.
Many thanks !
ReplyDeletespacepop