Spiritualized

Might be of interest to some of you good folks...

http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4151 ... ick-mccabe

Read it yesterday, good read I thought, not too many axes being ground or knifes being sharpened really. Second time in as many weeks I`ve read McCabe claim Forth as his fav Verve album, very amusing. He was also on 6 music with Simon discussing UH today, pretty sure it will be on the iplayer, Ashcroft had his turn a week or so back with Steve Lamacq, predictably claiming as much off the UH glory for himself as he could, still entertaining listen though.

I've gone and bought the digital version of the Super Deluxe Urban Hymns reissue; at £13.99 for 5 discs it was hard to say no...

On the subject of the NMcC interview, it reminds me I should really give Forth another listen.

I went for the CD boxset with the extra 12" and photo book as well. It's quite a lot to shell out all at once, but I figured I'd probably be buying the photobook eventually anyway so might as well make the saving now.

ordering it from the link that came from the band was actually cheaper than amazon.

that Nick interview is really interesting, as said a lack of bitterness. I'm bored of all the soap opera stuff now, and I'm sure he is too. just want to enjoy the music.

I'll check out the 6music stuff when I get a chance. moved house recently and it's taken ages to sort out the internet connection (long story)

my opinion on Forth is still the same as it's ever been- very mixed bag. but the good stuff on there is really excellent and shows them really working together as a band much more than a lot of the stuff on Urban Hymns.

A few tracks that Ashcroft blocked from the box set are now on YouTube.

Anyone know what the beef is between Ashcroft and mojo magazine?

heisenberg wrote:A few tracks that Ashcroft blocked from the box set are now on YouTube.

Anyone know what the beef is between Ashcroft and mojo magazine?

Listened to them yesterday, not enough to make any judgement mind, but they all seem quite jam based work outs and works in progress rather than finished articles. The sound quality is top notch though, will definitely be listening to these some more.

Supposedly there are wav-flies floating about of the unreleased youtube-tracks. Anyone found 'm yet?

The Dr wrote:http://www.nme.com/news/music/verves-ni ... is-2135236

Thanks for posting that.

I don't remember Nick seeming like such thoughtful, reasonable and chilled out bloke, as he appears in these two interviews?

I concede I didn't just not listen to Forth, I paid absolutely no attention - so may have missed some interviews then.

Also back in the day I was really only interested in the band's songwriting dynamic, plus the geekish details of how he used dated and unfashionable gear (eg Alesis Quadraverb, JC120, Wide Range humbuckers) to create his massive guitar landscapes.

Furthermore despite enjoying their music, I was less interested in the band just because Ashcroft seemed such a wanker. Having heard bits and bobs from his crappy solo efforts, I think that was why I never bothered with Forth - but I'm keen now since I was very surprised to read Nick's considered opinion about that album's place in the Verve canon!

I love his point about Gibsons. These days their electrics are more like fancy works of art (priced accordingly) compared with the brilliantly understated workmanlike and infinitely flexible Fenders, which as per their original design can still be battered on tour - then dissembled, repaired and set up again by any competent luthier, cheaply and efficiently. To be fair I've seen McCabe work wonders with a Les Paul, but that's getting away from the point here...

I revisited Forth a month or two ago. I just looked at the tracklist and there are 5 songs that I think are really good. The rest is pretty mediocre. So, I totally disagree with Nick, as this album isn't even close to being as good as A Storm In Heaven or Northern Soul.

TheWarmth wrote:I revisited Forth a month or two ago. I just looked at the tracklist and there are 5 songs that I think are really good. The rest is pretty mediocre. So, I totally disagree with Nick, as this album isn't even close to being as good as A Storm In Heaven or Northern Soul.

Can I guess the 5? they might be the same as my 4/5?
Sit and Wonder
Judas
Columbo
Appalachian Springs
erm.. Numbness? or Love is Noise?

all the unreleased tracks are out there now I think. they are definitely unfinished and sound like they need tightening or editing. but still really good sound quality and generally have vocals rather than just being jams. I can also hear fair amount of echoes of other Verve songs which sounds to like they were jamming off ideas for B sides or something.
my initial thoughts:

All Ways Are Maybes- good but far from the unreleased classic they were bigging up. sounds a bit like it might reuse bits of Lucky Man too?
Sweet and Sour- uses the rhythm track from BSS/MSG again, nice groove
Tina Turner- loose jam with clean guitars, very sleepy and shades of Fleetwood Mac's Albatross or something like that
King Riff 2- jammy rock song. bit too close to cheesy funk rock at times but good band interplay
Jalfrezi- another one where's a melodic vocal line but sounds like it's built on loops and lots of overdubbing
Wednesday Madness more things being re-used? I can hear echoes of Rolling People. this has some of my fave guitar work on first listen though.
Sonnet (demo) pretty clunky and not that exciting as you can imagine.
Neon Wilderness (idea) gorgeous stuff, if short. I've actually always loved this song. this isn't the solo loop thing that Nick put on Myspace back in the day, it's closer to the finished thing.
Original Insanity - I think this is connected to Deep Freeze. short thing with radio static, traffic noise etc
This Time (BeatNick mix) - drums much more to the fore. sounds like McCabe doing his deconstriction remix thing like with Monkey Magic/Life's An Ocean

if anything the unreleased tunes have a Forth flavour. which kind of means that would have been the logical next step if there was another album anyway. Ashcroft's vocals are still pretty clean and Nick's guitars are used for shading and textures with lot of overdubs, rather than big elemental riffs.

(oh and the ending to Tina Turner reminds me of the outro to Brave New World of all things!!)

I consider myself a pretty big Verve fan yet
Havent even listened to Forth
Ive listened to plenty B sides and demos
Maybe its better than way...

The songs I like from Forth are ...

Sit and Wonder
Rather Be
Judas
Numbness
I See Houses

Noise Epic doesn't even come close to living up to its name. Valium Sky is pure Ashcroft garbage.

TheWarmth wrote:The songs I like from Forth are ...

Sit and Wonder
Rather Be
Judas
Numbness
I See Houses

Noise Epic doesn't even come close to living up to its name. Valium Sky is pure Ashcroft garbage.

I always thought Valium Skies was okay and Rather be and I See Houses were closer to `Ashcroft Garbage` although I seem to have temporarily lost my Forth cd so can`t check.

yeah those 3 songs are blatantly songs that Ashcroft wrote himself then said to the boys "see what you can do with these"

I don't like Valium Skies at all. Rather Be goes nowhere. I See Houses is actually alright. I quite like that chorus.

I love McCabe but Forth is mediocre at best. Definitely not a great record and never played round here. So many better songs to listen to. The demos nick released are shit too. All these reissues are obviously a cash grab. They were great, but it's been over for a long time. Move along lads.

SpaceLine wrote:I love McCabe but Forth is mediocre at best. Definitely not a great record and never played round here. So many better songs to listen to. The demos nick released are shit too. All these reissues are obviously a cash grab. They were great, but it's been over for a long time. Move along lads.

i loved the verve until i saw thwm live on the 4th tour- ashcroft with his lou reed animal look just seemed dumb and belting out hits to the back of the room. went cold from that moment. love is noise is ok, dumb catchy fun. the rest i can't even remember

i find mccabe's interviews quite sad. is he the only promoting this? not heard from any of the others and all the ashcroft stuff i hear is about oasis!

can anyone point me towards where I can find a complete recording of the '97 washington 9:30 club gig? the tracks that are on the live cd in the box set are great, and that version of stormy clouds/ reprise that's in the video is also from that gig and one of my favourite pieces of music period.
thnx in advance!
b.

I've got just about every known verve recording, doesn't look like there is one for that gig.

Here's my old list of verve recordings

http://web.archive.org/web/200908091038 ... Verve.html

There certainly could be a recording out there but I've never heard of it. Good luck.

Thnx, that's quite the list.
One would think that, since the gig was recorded, it would have been out there somewhere.

This has cropped up on Dime a Dozen tonight:

The Verve:
'Urban Hymns - Unreleased Studio Tracks'

2017 Deluxe Edition Box Set Outtakes of fully mastered tracks approved by all band members
except Richard Ashcroft and subsequently leaked allegedly by guitarist Nick McCabe.
These tracks are flawless quality, professionally mastered by the same remastering team
and should have been included in the deluxe edition box.

Tracklist:

01 Sweet & Sour
02 Wednesday Madness
03 Neon Wilderness (Idea)
04 Jalfrezi
05 This Time (BeatNick Mix)
06 Tina Turner
07 Oh Sister
08 Sonnet (Acoustic Demo)
09 Original Insanity
10 All Ways Are Maybes
11 King Riff 2

Dunno how to share it here though....

This shit is incredible. This is what Urban Hymns should have been. Man, so glad this material is out there now. I would pay a pretty penny for a vinyl pressing of this.

Not sure how its happened, but somebody is well and truly ramming it to Ashcroft and the other Verve members by making those tracks actually available through Spotify, its all so bloody petty mind but kinda funny,

Soo does anybody happen to have the outtake tracks in a downloadable format? Need to get them on the Ipod if possible

I'm going to repeat my request to see if anybody has the Urban Hymns outtakes in a downloadable format they could share? to save me going through the rigmarole of ripping them from youtube.

cheers

Try this: https://ufile.io/f5xz7

Any issues let me know.

sunray wrote:Try this: https://ufile.io/f5xz7

Any issues let me know.

thank you! appears to have worked and synced onto my ipod

Has anyone noticed that the Haigh Hall audio has been altered for this release? Specifically, McCabe's guitar at the end of Sonnet is noticeably different, as if they've just looped one bar of his playing and cut out what he actually played. I know that during the performance his guitar snaps a string and then subsequently sounds out of tune throughout the rest of the song. Interesting that they've made such an obvious alteration to the audio of their performance. That and the audience noise seems to have been really exaggerated for the whole show. I know, very geeky of me. Another example of Ashcroft trying to rewrite history of the Urban Hymns era?

heisenberg wrote:Has anyone noticed that the Haigh Hall audio has been altered for this release? Specifically, McCabe's guitar at the end of Sonnet is noticeably different, as if they've just looped one bar of his playing and cut out what he actually played. I know that during the performance his guitar snaps a string and then subsequently sounds out of tune throughout the rest of the song. Interesting that they've made such an obvious alteration to the audio of their performance. That and the audience noise seems to have been really exaggerated for the whole show. I know, very geeky of me. Another example of Ashcroft trying to rewrite history of the Urban Hymns era?

yep very noticeable. they have also cut out some of Ashcroft's ranting and swearing between songs. but most noticeably they have turned Nick's guitar right down. i think there's other minor edits sprinkled over it too

I've watched the Haigh Hall version of Sonnet many many times, but I must admit I never noticed Nick breaks a string (or indeed any out of tune playing?) I'll have to do a comparison.

angelsighs wrote:

heisenberg wrote:Has anyone noticed that the Haigh Hall audio has been altered for this release? ...Another example of Ashcroft trying to rewrite history of the Urban Hymns era?

yep very noticeable. they have also cut out some of Ashcroft's ranting and swearing between songs. but most noticeably they have turned Nick's guitar right down. i think there's other minor edits sprinkled over it too

Wow, that's pretty bizarre! to be honest that's one of the tracks i usually skip anyway. just had a listen back and yeah he's a little out of tune, but does a good job considering if there's a broken string involved. certainly doesn't justify re-recording it. Also, i like the banter. the one before rolling people always makes me laugh. And his obsession with always having to keep nick's guitar low in the mix was clear from all those reunion gigs. It's just sad really, but not exactly going to change at this point.

yep very bizarre indeed! the guitar mix on the reunion tour was strange. to have it low in the mix on one show could be iffy sound.. the fact it was like that on every show says there was more going on.
If it's Ashcroft not wanting to be overshadowed, his ego is even worse than I thought.

I'm gonna stick to the bootleg of Haigh Hall for sure.