My Bloody Valentine >> Don't ask me 'cause I cannot see

My Bloody Valentine - "You Made Me Realise"

(Creation Records, 1988)

Not much needs to be said about this song, one of the most legendary and influential ones in the history of indie / underground music.  Sometimes I forget that the mission of this site was to promote shoegaze music.  I figured it was about time to post a tune by one of my top-5 favorite bands, and St. Patty's Day is appropriate since MBV were from Dublin.  Everyone should know by now that the band always stretched out the pure-noise middle section to ~20 mins. in concert at ear-crushing volume, which causes many a fine patron to evacuate the venue.

According to online sources, this EP was released on 8/8/88, which happens to be the day that my family moved from Olney, MD to New Orleans, and were greeted by a tropical storm.  It was also the week that the Rush Limbaugh Show went nationwide, and I think I once read that Slowdive formed on this day.  The cover art is pretty iconic, and many individuals will probably miss the fact that the girl is holding a knife to her throat amidst the flower stalks, which fits in with the line "You might as well commit suicide."  The video helpfully flashes the phrase "Teenage Suicide" at this moment:

I bought a black t-shirt on eBay with this EP's cover on it in 2005.  The guy accidentally sent me a medium, so I asked him to send me a L or XL, which he did, and even let me keep the M, which I gave to my sister.  I can't find it now, otherwise I'd post a pic.

After wondering for over a decade what the lyrics were, I Googled them.  Finally seeing them made me realize that Bare Minimum may have appropriated the line "insane eyes" for their hit song "Night We Streak, Divine Failure".

I made sure to consume the trinity of Guinness Draught, Murphy's Stout, and Killian's Irish Red today.  I did not have cabbage because I'm not Irish.  Here's video by Irish pop lady Róisín Murphy (whom I once read took 16 years of dance lessons, as you will see), one that in fact should've been a huge hit on this side of the pond:

C is for Cool Runnings, naturally: Illustrated Film Alphabets + Guess them all or die: The alphabet of sci-fi movies

Amber Rose displays her new "Irish" tat!!! - The hottest person I've seen in years continues to defile her body with lame ink, but she somehow gets even more attractive with each one

Best song of 2012 so far: "Wrong Opinion" by Chairlift

Currently watching: Eastbound & Down episode "Chapter 17", probably the funniest episode of any show I've ever seen.  The part where Kenny crashes Shane Dog's funeral and plays Candlebox's "Far Behind" and Pearl Jam's "Alive" on a boombox (before being chased out and having his boombox destroyed) will live in infamy:

Also, I just about fell out of my chair when I heard Liquid Liquid's "Scraper" in a recent episode ("Chapter 15" or Chapter 16").


Plants I've recently potted up, which is horticultural slang for "moved into a larger pot":
Dwarf Key Lime
Pond Cypress
Drooping She-Oak
Bigflower Coreopsis
Old Lady Cactus
Another term meaning the same thing is "bumped."  I don't use it because I find it to be lame.


Planets with similar climates: Band Of Susans - "Silver Lining" (1990), A Place To Bury Strangers - "I Lived My Life To Stand In The Shadow Of Your Heart" (2006), Swervedriver - "Son Of Mustang Ford" (1990), Magic Dirt - "Touch That Space" (1993), Poem Rocket - "Appeak To The Imagination" (2000), Ride - "Here And Now" (1990), Catherine Wheel - "God Inside My Head My Head" (1995), Sonic Youth - "The Wonder" (1988), Feverdream [Australia] - "Never Letting Go" (1995).

The Furious Colour >> Echoes from a far-off place

The Furious Colour - "Closer" (BBC session)

(Dave Fanning session, 1986)

I can find absolutely nothing about this band.  The violin is just heart-stoppingly, soul-stirringly unforgettable, and the chiming, spidery guitars provide a sleek urgency.  Peter Hook would've killed to have written the bassline that unfurls at the 1:20 and 2:05 marks.  There are so many little magical moments within this song, such as the very subtle vocal harmonizing.  I found this song here, at a post by someone who is an expert on this kind of music from this era and yet still knows nothing about the band.  (He mentioned that their name might actually be That Furious Colour.)  This is a Dave Fanning session, similar to a Peel session, meaning it was recorded live in a BBC studio and aired a few days later, but recorded by someone not named John Peel, and therefore by someone is probably not an admitted pedophile like John Peel.  It was recorded on 6/30/86, in "a far-off place, an everlasting far-off time."

If anyone knows even the slightest bit about this band, please leave a note.  The two other songs that TFC recorded for this session were "Torn Apart" and "Carrion," if that helps.  Over here, I found that the band featured someone named Gerry O'Connor: "Gerry O'Connor's early musical influences stem from the music of Kerry and Tipperary, through the music of both his parents and grandparents. From an early age he won national awards for his virtuoso playing. In 1981 he joined the highly successful band The Wild Geese and toured Europe extensively, performing at all major international festivals. The years from 1985 to 1989 saw Gerry perform and tour with bands such as The Furious Colour, The Wilf Brothers, Moonshine and The Rocking Chairs. In 1990 Gerry recorded his first solo album entitled Time to Time which shot straight to No.1 in the Irish Roots Music Charts and was voted folk album of the year by BBC Scotland."  So I guess it's a safe bet that TFC were from Ireland.  I found out G.O. was also in a band called Skylark and another (a duo with his wife) called Lá Lugh.  I still don't know if he sang for TFC or not.  Maybe he was just a session player hired to play violin...
So I guess O'Connor is pretty well known in some circles, but I don't know why he abandoned this passionate post-punk sound.

It reminds me a lot of "Worlds Apart" by Cactus World News (which is probably in my all-time top 10), which has the refrain "Closer than I've ever been to you."  CWN were from Dublin and released that song in 1986.  So I don't know if one band influenced the other, or if they ever even heard of each other.  So many bands had that urgent U2-ish sound at this time that it's hard to keep track of who influenced whom.  This song could thus be lumped into the "Big Music" scene/phenomenon of the mid-'80s, when bands like The Alarm, Big Country, etc. tried to make big, anthemic, inspiring, urgent songs in the vein of early U2.  I talked about this a lot a few months ago, but I forgot which post.

My mom hits the big 6-0 tomorrow, so we took her to a restaurant in the Quarter called Bayona tonight.  It's run by semi-famous chef Susan Spicer, who, according to some article I read a while back, used to be a punk/indie rocker in the '80s; or maybe that author was just surmising that based on her tattoos and overall non-stuffy attitude.  Our reservation was for four instead of five by accident, so they wouldn't seat us even though the place was nearly empty, so we went to the Pelican Club instead.  It was my first time going to a restaurant in the Quarter in many years.  The painter Michalopoulos' gallery is right next door to it, and one of the rooms of the P.C. is adorned only with his paintings.  I got a quail with grits appetizer, duck with asparagus entrée, Newcastle ale, some red & white wine, and crème brûlée.  The waiters were amazing, treating us like we were a royal family or something.  So that's the first and maybe last fine dining report in Blowtorch Baby.

I took this at Delgado Community College on Jan. 27; cropped off the top line which says "Funeral Services." I guess they teach a course on this.

I'm Still on YouTube Trying to Figure Out When Whitney Was High and When She Wasn't

Darrell Issa makes life difficult for Obama - Somewhat stunning article about this slimeball congressman (former car thief, arsonist, chronic liar, etc.) who will be trying to investigating the Obama administration leading up to the election.

Planets with similar climates: Cactus World News - "Worlds Apart" (1986), The Church - "Reptile" (1987), U2 - "New Year's Day" (1982), Simple Minds - "Speed Your Love To Me" (1983), Idaho - "Pomegranate Bleeding" (1995), Glide [Australia] - "Taste Of You" (1992), The Sound - "The Fire" (1981) & "Whirlpool" (1984), The Chameleons - "Return Of The Roughnecks" (1985), The Cleaners From Venus - "Follow The Plough" (1986), The Lotus Eaters - "Set Me Apart" (1983).