Hello, I got some persistent requests to post some music of today's artists coming all the way from South America, Peru and Argentina to be more precise, yes quality sells everywhere..
Today's Artists, would be one of the most widely respected bands in the world today -- at least on par with whip-smart types like XTC. Certainly, few can match their sheer creative stamina: how many other bands can claim to be still reinventing themselves after 40 years and more than 20 albums? But today's artists come from Holland. Furthermore, the occasional tour of the U.S. and Canada aside, they quickly made it clear that their only concession to the big outside world, would be to sing in English. That aside, anyone wanting them to tailor their unique brand of art pop to the demands of a broader audience could go hang. In particular, they specialize in making their latest album sound as little like the last as possible. This has simultaneously guaranteed them a modest degree of success across continental Europe, where fans appreciate their fierce integrity and commitment to playing intimate venues, and denied a lot of people in Britain and America some wonderfully inventive -- and very accessible -- music. Here's your chance ..............N'Joy
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
The Nits originally consisted of Henk Hofstede (vocals, guitar), Alex Roelofs (bass), Michiel Peters (guitar) and Rob Kloet (drums). Influenced by British pop music, especially the Beatles, they also incorporated influences from new wave music into their sound. They made their live debut in 1974,[1] and released their self-financed, limited-run debut LP, The Nits, in 1978.[2] This brought them to the attention of Columbia Records, for whom The Nits would continue to record for the next 22 years. Their major-label debut, Tent (1979), carried on the new wave style of The Nits, but was considerably more polished, partly due to the influence of producer Robert Jan Stips. On New Flat (1980) and Work (1981), which made increasing use of synthesisers, "Hofstede reveals a growing aptitude for creating little emotional postcards."
"The obvious derivativeness on the Nits' early albums could have been written off as cut-rate local flirtation/reassembly of the real thing from Britain and America (Beatles, Talking Heads, etc.). In retrospect, however, those records could be seen as learning experiences of a world-class band now deserving international attention."
In the meantime, the group had been developing their sound on their numerous European tours. Many songs were radically reworked for live performance, a practice the group would continue throughout their career. Between the group's experiments with different arrangements, and the addition of Stips to the line-up, The Nits gradually moved toward a more distinctive musical style, with Kloet playing a wide range of percussion, and Stips' keyboards used to produce a lusher sound. Omsk showcased the new Nits sound with songs like "A Touch of Henry Moore", almost entirely based around Kloet's percussion, and the dramatic hit single "Nescio". The follow-up "Adieu, Sweet Bahnhof" was another hit, but tensions between the group and producer Jaap Eggermont led to the departure of Peters, and a change in the group's working methods. In future, they would produce their own material and bring in guest musicians as required.
The album Henk - which included such classic songs as Bike In Head, Home Before Dark and Port Of Amsterdam - was recorded as a three-piece, after which new bassist Joke Geraets became the first female member of The Nits, completing the line-up that would go on to enjoy commercial success with single and album In the Dutch Mountains (1987). Its title track became a European hit and one of the band's biggest. It was accompanied by a video with just the image of man in a rowing boat. Follow-up J.O.S. Days was a successful single as well. The group's extensive tours during this period led to the accomplished live triple-LP Urk (1989) which became their best-selling album. The live version of Adieu Sweet Bahnhof was released as a single, again accompanied by a video. It became a Top 30 hit for the band in Holland. Urk also featured live versions of songs from Hat, the band's 1988 6-song EP, including popular songs like The Dream, Bauhaus Chair and The Train.
Giant Normal Dwarf, Ting & Hjuvi
When Geraets fell ill with a muscular disease, meaning that she was unable to play bass, the group (now using the shortened name "Nits", often rendered in capitals to emphasise the absence of the definite article) continued as a trio. Giant Normal Dwarf (1990) was a kaleidoscopic affair which at first glance seemed like a return to the psychedelia of "I Am the Walrus" and "Glass Onion" but was actually inspired by Hofstede's desire to write musical fairy tales for his newborn child. The subsequent album Ting (1992) was a return to a much more minimalist approach, both with respect to the emphasis on the piano and the inspiration of Philip Glass on several songs. At the same time as working on Ting, the group were also preparing material for a TV special with the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra. Mainly composed by Stips, this was later issued as the album Hjuvi - A Rhapsody In Time.
The 1994 album dA dA dA was something of a return to basics, with "traditional" songwriting largely replacing the quirkiness of recent Nits releases, and the group's early influences once again to the fore. The album was the first Nits material to gain a release in the United States. Ironically for a group that had always performed in English, regarding it as a necessary evil for international success, recognition in the major English-speaking markets always eluded them. dA dA dA, despite critical acclaim in both the UK and USA, still failed to break the group in either market.
In 1995, the group released Nest, a 20-track retrospective album, and the accompanying tour ended on a high note with a concert broadcast live on television from the Uitmarkt festival. Stips then left to pursue a solo career.
The group continued, releasing the introspective albums Alankomaat (1998) - which featured the singles Sister Rosa and Robinson, and fan favourite Three Sisters - and Wool (2000), followed by another retrospective, Hits.
The group continues to perform to this day following the return of keyboard player Robert Jan Stips in 2003 for the release of the album 1974, commemorating the year of their formation.
A new album titled Les Nuits was released in October 2005. Three of the songs on the album - The Laundrette, The Key Shop and The Pizzeria - were about the murder of film director Theo Van Gogh, which happened in the street where Henk Hofstede lived. The title track of the album would pop up on the band's setlists for many years to come. After an extensive tour and some solo activity, the band returned to the studio in mid-2007 to record the album Doing the Dishes, released in January 2008. The album went top 10 in the Netherlands (for the first time since URK in 1989), had an airplay hit in The Flowers and was once again followed by a tour. Many of the album's songs were performed live. In 2009, the next album and tour, Strawberry Wood, a top 15 hit on the Dutch album chart, followed. It was preceded by the single Hawelka.
Malpensa, NITS? & Hotel Europa
In early 2012, the Nits released the album Malpensa, to positive reviews and fan reactions. It contains a collaboration with Colin Benders of Kyteman on the track "Bad Government". The songs "Love-Locks" and "Man on a Wire" were released as singles, as well as "Bad Government", which was re-done with Perquisite and Dazzled Kid for the single remix. The song "Schwebebahn" finds the band singing in German for the first time. In 2013, the Nits composed and produced the music of the documentary The King of Mount Ventoux by director Fons Feyaerts. The 7-track soundtrack was released on iTunes and Spotify. 2014 and 2015 focused on the '40 years of NITS' anniversary. A 3CD compilation album spanning the band's whole career was released in 2014, which contained three unreleased tracks. In March 2015, the band released Hotel Europa, a double live album with songs ranging from Giant Normal Dwarf (1990) to Malpensa (2012), with exception of a live version of "In the Dutch Mountains". The album received rave reviews and entered the Dutch album charts at #5, making it their highest charting album since Urk (#3, 1989) and their first Top 10 album since Doing the Dishes (#8, 2008).
In November 2015, all Nits albums were released on digital platforms such as Spotify, Deezer and Apple Music.
TING! with Scapino Ballet & new album 'angst'.In 2016 the band played 20 shows with Scapino Ballet Rotterdam. The show, entitled TING!, featured 20 NITS songs including "Nescio", "Five Fingers", "The Long Song", "The Swimmers" and "In the Dutch Mountains". More than 20,000 people saw the show in Rotterdam. A set up that currently re-run in Amsterdam..
In August 2017 new album and tour angst were announced for September. Preceded by the songs "Flowershop Forget-Me-Not", "Yellow Socks & Angst" and "Pockets Of Rain". On Friday September 15 "Yellow Socks & Angst" was added to Spotify's popular New Music Friday playlist. angst was released by the band's own WERF Records and largely sold through the band's own website. Despite this, on the back of very good reviews in OOR, Algemeen Dagblad and Lust For Life a.o., and promo shows on Dutch Radio, it entered the Dutch Album Top 100 at #40. The European 2017-2018 tour started in September 2017.
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Nits were still years away from settling into their signature sound, but their debut album is probably a better indicator of the band's later direction (the Robert J Stips era) than the trio of colder, more post-punk albums they released after The Nits. Here, the influence of The Beatles is prevalent. In fact, this sounds like an album Paul McCartney could have made in 1978 (I prefer it to London Town). A little artsy, a little new wavy, but mostly these songs are clever, melodic, sunny & uplifting progressive pop from cool, drizzly, foggy & rainy lowlands. And "Tutti Ragazzi" remains a classic!
The Nits - The Nits (flac 226mb)
01 Rails And Rain 3:18
02 Tutti Ragazzi 2:28
03 Mister Mister 3:01
04 Fantasies And Factories 3:40
05 So In Love 3:30
06 London Letters 3:32
07 Yes Or No 3:03
08 After Thoughts 3:20
09 Amarilla 3:44
10 Dancing Girl - Red Cat 5:15
11 Susan My Love 2:31
12 Caravan 3:45
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
When Dutch new wavers the Nits released their self-titled debut album in 1978 on an independent label, no one would have predicted that they would become one of the most exciting bands in modern music. Signing to CBS and releasing their second album Tent in 1979, the band took a huge step forward in dynamics, arrangement, imagination, and songwriting. Vocalist/keyboardist Henk Hofstede, and guitarist/vocalist Michiel Peters are distinctive talents, both working on different tangents, yet finding common musical ground. Imagine XTC with a pinch of the Residents, a slice of Devo and two cups of Beatles' chord changes, and then cook it in the inventiveness of early 10cc. Top-notch production by the band (with manager Aad Link), and former Supersister member (and future Nit), Robert Jan Stips make the songs come alive, and are as aurally exciting as the melodies themselves. For a band to go out on a limb and be experimental on one track ("Ping Pong"), then follow it up with a catchy single ("Tutti Ragazzi") makes for an interesting listen, to say the least. "The Young Reporter" recalls the Attractions at their slickest. "Umbrella," "1:30" "Some Other Night," and "Out Of Suburbia" are thinly veiled (yet brilliantly executed) Beatles rewrites. All in all, a sophomore release that makes the listener actually forget the debut, as good as it was!
The Nits - Tent (flac 285mb)
01 Tent 2:05
02 A To B; C To D 3:01
03 The Young Reporter 2:40
04 4 Ankles 2:20
05 Hook Of Holland 3:43
06 Frozen Fred 2:25
07 Ping Pong 2:35
08 Tutti Ragazzi 2:11
09 Out Of Suburbia 2:35
10 Bungalow 2:25
11 1:30 3:08
12 Johnny Said Silver 2:43
13 Who's The Killer 2:30
14 Take A Piece 2:05
15 Tent (Reprise) 1:00
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After an enjoyable but relatively tame debut from 1978 and a creative leap forward with 1979's Tent, the Nits took a detour for this 1981 release, losing the casual fan along the way but gaining far more credibility and more fervent adulation from their remaining fans. New Flat is a strange album, plain and simple. Gone are the straightforward melodic hooks of their previous albums, replaced by cerebral hooks that creep up on you when you least expect it. No Beatlesque chord changes here. Oddly enough, strange strums, beats, clicks, ticks, and plenty of studio tricks have replaced them. In fact, rhythm seems to be the focus here, with many songs based around tribal-like thumps. "Zebra" has got to be one of the strangest songs this side of the Residents and it is based around a strange rhythm and distant shouted and whispered vocals and keyboards. "Office at Night" does have a tortured, Lennon-esque vocal for the verses, but the chorus has a haunting Kraftewerk-like beauty to it. "New Flat," the album opener, sounds like an early Devo outtake. Other tracks seem stripped down to their basics, then disassembled and rearranged for no apparent reason. Funny thing is, it all works brilliantly. The Nits may be artsy-fartsy, but they still know how to reel in the listener. Inside every twist and turn is a hook. It may be a small, little hook, but it makes perfect sense. There is not a sound on this album that is insignificant. Everything is perfectly in place, but it's up to the listener to find it all. Could this be the first interactive album released? Maybe not intentionally, but you never know.
The Nits - New Flat (flac 206mb)
01 New Flat 2:45
02 Holiday On Ice 3:00
03 Saragossa 2:29
04 Office At Night3:07
05 Uncle On Mars 3:53
06 Statue 3:18
07 His First Object 2:21
08 Different Kitchen 3:35
09 Safety In Numbers 3:12
10 Bobby Solo 2:09
11 Zebra 2:09
12 Rubber Gloves 2:34
13 Bite Better Bark 2:59
14 Aloha Drums 3:06
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The Nits' existential synthpop on Work benefited from baroque arrangements (clarinet, oboe, violin, double bass), allowing it to indulge on anxiety-inducing atmospheres (the disquieting stage-play of "Hobbyland", the worrisome sketch "Umbrella Army"), but still extruded a charming playfulness (the cheeky jogging of "Slip of the Tongue", the slightly mad ping-pong between choirs, lounge and chamber music in "Tables and Chairs") and an epic flair (the electronic-pop express of "Empty Room", the Kraftwerk-inspired auditorium-performance of "Red Tape"), eventually reaching an apex in tracks like the majestic vacuum of "Lodger" and the resigned paranoia "Hands Οn Τhe Watch". This belongs more to theater than music, their deformed pantomimes able to conjure a wide array of emotions.
The Nits - Work (flac 230mb)
01 The Lodger 2:32
02 Footprint 3:29
03 Hobbyland 3:27
04 Empty Room 4:21
05 Umbrella Army 1:48
06 Slip Of The Tongue 3:33
07 Tables And Chairs 3:10
08 Red Tape 2:31
09 Buildings 2:41
10 Hands Of The Watch 3:04
11 Man-Friday 2:25
12 Suddenly I Met Your Face 2:12
13 Umbrella Army II 1:17
14 Goodbye, Mr. Chips! 2:46
15 Oriental Skies 2:14
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Today's Artists, would be one of the most widely respected bands in the world today -- at least on par with whip-smart types like XTC. Certainly, few can match their sheer creative stamina: how many other bands can claim to be still reinventing themselves after 40 years and more than 20 albums? But today's artists come from Holland. Furthermore, the occasional tour of the U.S. and Canada aside, they quickly made it clear that their only concession to the big outside world, would be to sing in English. That aside, anyone wanting them to tailor their unique brand of art pop to the demands of a broader audience could go hang. In particular, they specialize in making their latest album sound as little like the last as possible. This has simultaneously guaranteed them a modest degree of success across continental Europe, where fans appreciate their fierce integrity and commitment to playing intimate venues, and denied a lot of people in Britain and America some wonderfully inventive -- and very accessible -- music. Here's your chance ..............N'Joy
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
The Nits originally consisted of Henk Hofstede (vocals, guitar), Alex Roelofs (bass), Michiel Peters (guitar) and Rob Kloet (drums). Influenced by British pop music, especially the Beatles, they also incorporated influences from new wave music into their sound. They made their live debut in 1974,[1] and released their self-financed, limited-run debut LP, The Nits, in 1978.[2] This brought them to the attention of Columbia Records, for whom The Nits would continue to record for the next 22 years. Their major-label debut, Tent (1979), carried on the new wave style of The Nits, but was considerably more polished, partly due to the influence of producer Robert Jan Stips. On New Flat (1980) and Work (1981), which made increasing use of synthesisers, "Hofstede reveals a growing aptitude for creating little emotional postcards."
"The obvious derivativeness on the Nits' early albums could have been written off as cut-rate local flirtation/reassembly of the real thing from Britain and America (Beatles, Talking Heads, etc.). In retrospect, however, those records could be seen as learning experiences of a world-class band now deserving international attention."
In the meantime, the group had been developing their sound on their numerous European tours. Many songs were radically reworked for live performance, a practice the group would continue throughout their career. Between the group's experiments with different arrangements, and the addition of Stips to the line-up, The Nits gradually moved toward a more distinctive musical style, with Kloet playing a wide range of percussion, and Stips' keyboards used to produce a lusher sound. Omsk showcased the new Nits sound with songs like "A Touch of Henry Moore", almost entirely based around Kloet's percussion, and the dramatic hit single "Nescio". The follow-up "Adieu, Sweet Bahnhof" was another hit, but tensions between the group and producer Jaap Eggermont led to the departure of Peters, and a change in the group's working methods. In future, they would produce their own material and bring in guest musicians as required.
The album Henk - which included such classic songs as Bike In Head, Home Before Dark and Port Of Amsterdam - was recorded as a three-piece, after which new bassist Joke Geraets became the first female member of The Nits, completing the line-up that would go on to enjoy commercial success with single and album In the Dutch Mountains (1987). Its title track became a European hit and one of the band's biggest. It was accompanied by a video with just the image of man in a rowing boat. Follow-up J.O.S. Days was a successful single as well. The group's extensive tours during this period led to the accomplished live triple-LP Urk (1989) which became their best-selling album. The live version of Adieu Sweet Bahnhof was released as a single, again accompanied by a video. It became a Top 30 hit for the band in Holland. Urk also featured live versions of songs from Hat, the band's 1988 6-song EP, including popular songs like The Dream, Bauhaus Chair and The Train.
Giant Normal Dwarf, Ting & Hjuvi
When Geraets fell ill with a muscular disease, meaning that she was unable to play bass, the group (now using the shortened name "Nits", often rendered in capitals to emphasise the absence of the definite article) continued as a trio. Giant Normal Dwarf (1990) was a kaleidoscopic affair which at first glance seemed like a return to the psychedelia of "I Am the Walrus" and "Glass Onion" but was actually inspired by Hofstede's desire to write musical fairy tales for his newborn child. The subsequent album Ting (1992) was a return to a much more minimalist approach, both with respect to the emphasis on the piano and the inspiration of Philip Glass on several songs. At the same time as working on Ting, the group were also preparing material for a TV special with the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra. Mainly composed by Stips, this was later issued as the album Hjuvi - A Rhapsody In Time.
The 1994 album dA dA dA was something of a return to basics, with "traditional" songwriting largely replacing the quirkiness of recent Nits releases, and the group's early influences once again to the fore. The album was the first Nits material to gain a release in the United States. Ironically for a group that had always performed in English, regarding it as a necessary evil for international success, recognition in the major English-speaking markets always eluded them. dA dA dA, despite critical acclaim in both the UK and USA, still failed to break the group in either market.
In 1995, the group released Nest, a 20-track retrospective album, and the accompanying tour ended on a high note with a concert broadcast live on television from the Uitmarkt festival. Stips then left to pursue a solo career.
The group continued, releasing the introspective albums Alankomaat (1998) - which featured the singles Sister Rosa and Robinson, and fan favourite Three Sisters - and Wool (2000), followed by another retrospective, Hits.
The group continues to perform to this day following the return of keyboard player Robert Jan Stips in 2003 for the release of the album 1974, commemorating the year of their formation.
A new album titled Les Nuits was released in October 2005. Three of the songs on the album - The Laundrette, The Key Shop and The Pizzeria - were about the murder of film director Theo Van Gogh, which happened in the street where Henk Hofstede lived. The title track of the album would pop up on the band's setlists for many years to come. After an extensive tour and some solo activity, the band returned to the studio in mid-2007 to record the album Doing the Dishes, released in January 2008. The album went top 10 in the Netherlands (for the first time since URK in 1989), had an airplay hit in The Flowers and was once again followed by a tour. Many of the album's songs were performed live. In 2009, the next album and tour, Strawberry Wood, a top 15 hit on the Dutch album chart, followed. It was preceded by the single Hawelka.
Malpensa, NITS? & Hotel Europa
In early 2012, the Nits released the album Malpensa, to positive reviews and fan reactions. It contains a collaboration with Colin Benders of Kyteman on the track "Bad Government". The songs "Love-Locks" and "Man on a Wire" were released as singles, as well as "Bad Government", which was re-done with Perquisite and Dazzled Kid for the single remix. The song "Schwebebahn" finds the band singing in German for the first time. In 2013, the Nits composed and produced the music of the documentary The King of Mount Ventoux by director Fons Feyaerts. The 7-track soundtrack was released on iTunes and Spotify. 2014 and 2015 focused on the '40 years of NITS' anniversary. A 3CD compilation album spanning the band's whole career was released in 2014, which contained three unreleased tracks. In March 2015, the band released Hotel Europa, a double live album with songs ranging from Giant Normal Dwarf (1990) to Malpensa (2012), with exception of a live version of "In the Dutch Mountains". The album received rave reviews and entered the Dutch album charts at #5, making it their highest charting album since Urk (#3, 1989) and their first Top 10 album since Doing the Dishes (#8, 2008).
In November 2015, all Nits albums were released on digital platforms such as Spotify, Deezer and Apple Music.
TING! with Scapino Ballet & new album 'angst'.In 2016 the band played 20 shows with Scapino Ballet Rotterdam. The show, entitled TING!, featured 20 NITS songs including "Nescio", "Five Fingers", "The Long Song", "The Swimmers" and "In the Dutch Mountains". More than 20,000 people saw the show in Rotterdam. A set up that currently re-run in Amsterdam..
In August 2017 new album and tour angst were announced for September. Preceded by the songs "Flowershop Forget-Me-Not", "Yellow Socks & Angst" and "Pockets Of Rain". On Friday September 15 "Yellow Socks & Angst" was added to Spotify's popular New Music Friday playlist. angst was released by the band's own WERF Records and largely sold through the band's own website. Despite this, on the back of very good reviews in OOR, Algemeen Dagblad and Lust For Life a.o., and promo shows on Dutch Radio, it entered the Dutch Album Top 100 at #40. The European 2017-2018 tour started in September 2017.
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Nits were still years away from settling into their signature sound, but their debut album is probably a better indicator of the band's later direction (the Robert J Stips era) than the trio of colder, more post-punk albums they released after The Nits. Here, the influence of The Beatles is prevalent. In fact, this sounds like an album Paul McCartney could have made in 1978 (I prefer it to London Town). A little artsy, a little new wavy, but mostly these songs are clever, melodic, sunny & uplifting progressive pop from cool, drizzly, foggy & rainy lowlands. And "Tutti Ragazzi" remains a classic!
The Nits - The Nits (flac 226mb)
01 Rails And Rain 3:18
02 Tutti Ragazzi 2:28
03 Mister Mister 3:01
04 Fantasies And Factories 3:40
05 So In Love 3:30
06 London Letters 3:32
07 Yes Or No 3:03
08 After Thoughts 3:20
09 Amarilla 3:44
10 Dancing Girl - Red Cat 5:15
11 Susan My Love 2:31
12 Caravan 3:45
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
When Dutch new wavers the Nits released their self-titled debut album in 1978 on an independent label, no one would have predicted that they would become one of the most exciting bands in modern music. Signing to CBS and releasing their second album Tent in 1979, the band took a huge step forward in dynamics, arrangement, imagination, and songwriting. Vocalist/keyboardist Henk Hofstede, and guitarist/vocalist Michiel Peters are distinctive talents, both working on different tangents, yet finding common musical ground. Imagine XTC with a pinch of the Residents, a slice of Devo and two cups of Beatles' chord changes, and then cook it in the inventiveness of early 10cc. Top-notch production by the band (with manager Aad Link), and former Supersister member (and future Nit), Robert Jan Stips make the songs come alive, and are as aurally exciting as the melodies themselves. For a band to go out on a limb and be experimental on one track ("Ping Pong"), then follow it up with a catchy single ("Tutti Ragazzi") makes for an interesting listen, to say the least. "The Young Reporter" recalls the Attractions at their slickest. "Umbrella," "1:30" "Some Other Night," and "Out Of Suburbia" are thinly veiled (yet brilliantly executed) Beatles rewrites. All in all, a sophomore release that makes the listener actually forget the debut, as good as it was!
The Nits - Tent (flac 285mb)
01 Tent 2:05
02 A To B; C To D 3:01
03 The Young Reporter 2:40
04 4 Ankles 2:20
05 Hook Of Holland 3:43
06 Frozen Fred 2:25
07 Ping Pong 2:35
08 Tutti Ragazzi 2:11
09 Out Of Suburbia 2:35
10 Bungalow 2:25
11 1:30 3:08
12 Johnny Said Silver 2:43
13 Who's The Killer 2:30
14 Take A Piece 2:05
15 Tent (Reprise) 1:00
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
After an enjoyable but relatively tame debut from 1978 and a creative leap forward with 1979's Tent, the Nits took a detour for this 1981 release, losing the casual fan along the way but gaining far more credibility and more fervent adulation from their remaining fans. New Flat is a strange album, plain and simple. Gone are the straightforward melodic hooks of their previous albums, replaced by cerebral hooks that creep up on you when you least expect it. No Beatlesque chord changes here. Oddly enough, strange strums, beats, clicks, ticks, and plenty of studio tricks have replaced them. In fact, rhythm seems to be the focus here, with many songs based around tribal-like thumps. "Zebra" has got to be one of the strangest songs this side of the Residents and it is based around a strange rhythm and distant shouted and whispered vocals and keyboards. "Office at Night" does have a tortured, Lennon-esque vocal for the verses, but the chorus has a haunting Kraftewerk-like beauty to it. "New Flat," the album opener, sounds like an early Devo outtake. Other tracks seem stripped down to their basics, then disassembled and rearranged for no apparent reason. Funny thing is, it all works brilliantly. The Nits may be artsy-fartsy, but they still know how to reel in the listener. Inside every twist and turn is a hook. It may be a small, little hook, but it makes perfect sense. There is not a sound on this album that is insignificant. Everything is perfectly in place, but it's up to the listener to find it all. Could this be the first interactive album released? Maybe not intentionally, but you never know.
The Nits - New Flat (flac 206mb)
01 New Flat 2:45
02 Holiday On Ice 3:00
03 Saragossa 2:29
04 Office At Night3:07
05 Uncle On Mars 3:53
06 Statue 3:18
07 His First Object 2:21
08 Different Kitchen 3:35
09 Safety In Numbers 3:12
10 Bobby Solo 2:09
11 Zebra 2:09
12 Rubber Gloves 2:34
13 Bite Better Bark 2:59
14 Aloha Drums 3:06
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
The Nits' existential synthpop on Work benefited from baroque arrangements (clarinet, oboe, violin, double bass), allowing it to indulge on anxiety-inducing atmospheres (the disquieting stage-play of "Hobbyland", the worrisome sketch "Umbrella Army"), but still extruded a charming playfulness (the cheeky jogging of "Slip of the Tongue", the slightly mad ping-pong between choirs, lounge and chamber music in "Tables and Chairs") and an epic flair (the electronic-pop express of "Empty Room", the Kraftwerk-inspired auditorium-performance of "Red Tape"), eventually reaching an apex in tracks like the majestic vacuum of "Lodger" and the resigned paranoia "Hands Οn Τhe Watch". This belongs more to theater than music, their deformed pantomimes able to conjure a wide array of emotions.
The Nits - Work (flac 230mb)
01 The Lodger 2:32
02 Footprint 3:29
03 Hobbyland 3:27
04 Empty Room 4:21
05 Umbrella Army 1:48
06 Slip Of The Tongue 3:33
07 Tables And Chairs 3:10
08 Red Tape 2:31
09 Buildings 2:41
10 Hands Of The Watch 3:04
11 Man-Friday 2:25
12 Suddenly I Met Your Face 2:12
13 Umbrella Army II 1:17
14 Goodbye, Mr. Chips! 2:46
15 Oriental Skies 2:14
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
9 comments:
Dear Rho -
Indeed, they should have been bigger than XTC – to paraphrase a famous album-title by the Television Personalities ... Or at least as big.
Thanks for the Nits; I hope there's more of their discography coming.
Frank
Oh! Wow!
Thank you so much for these gems!
I also hope there is more to come, and therefor i will stay tuned ;-)
Hey Hello thanks again for taking my request for Nits. Maybe you're not aware that this link has fallen. Please replace it whenever possible for you. Great stuff,by the way.
Not sure what you are on about, which link has fallen-according to you
Wow. Never knew of these Nits. Completely ignorant. Thanks, wonderful stuff. fwiw, the cloudyfiles link for Work is the broken thing. Cheers.
At first I'd like to thank you a lot for the great music you upload, especially in FLAC files and for all the info you share with us. Is it possible to re-upload these albums? None of them seems to work anymore.
Thank you in advance!
Hello Anon, you clearly don't think your requests thru 3 requests on the same artist, comes down to 12 titles, nobody here is interested in 12 titles of the same artist in one week, at least pace your request per week. I just prepared the first request.
Hello Rho,
I understand that I asked you a lot, renewing the uploads for all three NITS pages, but I just love them and they are so much underestimated, like they never existed. What a shame! Time passes so quickly and people forget so easily!
I downloaded, last week, the first page you fixed and I should like you to fix this too. Is it possible?
Hello Rho and thank you for renewing the downloads. I am listening to the "The Nits (1978)", which I didn't know its existence. I thought "Tent" was their first album. As long as I understand it is a vinyl rip. I saw in Discogs there is no CD release for this album. Thank you for all your work and for the excellent review presenting each album!
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