Orange Juice | ||
| Allmusic Biography : The leaders of the Scottish neo-pop uprising Orange Juice formed in Glasgow in late 1976. Originally dubbed the Nu-Sonics, the group comprised vocalist/guitarist Edwyn Collins, guitarist James Kirk, bassist David McClymont, and drummer Steven Daly; following the formation of the Postcard label by Collins protégé Alan Horne, the quartet renamed itself Orange Juice in 1979, adopting the new moniker as well as an aura of romantic innocence as a direct reaction to the increasingly macho aggression of punk. As Postcards flagship band, Orange Juice quickly distinguished the label as a leading proponent of independent pop music; their 1980 debut single "Falling and Laughing," recorded for less than 100 pounds, garnered massive critical acclaim, and subsequent releases like "Blueboy," "Simply Thrilled Honey," and "Poor Old Soul" further established the group as a major new talent. Soon, sessions began for a full-length album; however, in the midst of recording, Orange Juice left Postcard to sign to Polydor, which funded the LPs completion. After the 1982 release of the album, titled You Cant Hide Your Love Forever, ex-Josef K guitarist Malcolm Ross joined the group, hastening the exit of Kirk and Daly (who went on to form Memphis) and paving the way for Zimbabwe-born drummer Zeke Manyika. The addition of Manyika gave Collins the new capability of exploring a more complex fusion of pop and blue-eyed soul; consequently, 1982s Rip It Up was a more ambitious affair than its predecessor, veering from the buoyant Motown tribute "I Cant Help Myself" to the energetic pop of the title track, Orange Juices lone Top Ten single. However, subsequent releases failed to chart, and relations between the group and Polydor began to disintegrate; amid these tensions, both Ross and McClymont quit, with Ross later resurfacing in Aztec Camera. Reduced to the duo of Collins and Manyika, Orange Juice enlisted reggae producer Dennis Bovell to record the 1984 EP Texas Fever. After a makeshift tour, Collins and Manyika returned to the studio to record a dark, ambitious full-length effort; released in 1984, neither The Orange Juice nor its singles "What Presence?!" and "Lean Period" charted, and Collins was dropped from his contract, although Polydor kept Manyika on as a solo act. Only in 1995 did the stunning single "A Girl Like You" finally win Collins the commercial respect that had so long eluded him and his former bandmates. Later on, throughout the late 90s and early 2000s, the rise of Scottish bands as disparate as Belle & Sebastian and Franz Ferdinand won Orange Juice a younger set of fans, helped in great part by the 2005 compilation The Glasgow School. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 12 Title: You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever Released: 1982-02 Tracks: 13 Duration: 38:13 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Falling and Laughing (03:51) 2 Untitled Melody (02:07) 3 Wan Light (02:24) 4 Tender Object (04:25) 5 Dying Day (03:00) 6 L.O.V.E. Love (03:34) 7 Intuition Told Me, Part 1 (01:09) 8 Upwards and Onwards (02:28) 9 Satellite City (02:41) 10 Three Cheers for Our Side (02:50) 11 Consolation Prize (02:52) 12 Felicity (02:35) 13 In a Nutshell (04:16) |
| You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever : Allmusic album Review : After leaving Postcard Records and convincing Rough Trade to finance the sessions, Orange Juice ended up signing to Polydor for their 1982 debut album, You Cant Hide Your Love Forever. Made up of a couple re-recordings of brilliant songs from early singles ("Falling and Laughing," "Felicity"), cleaned-up versions of songs from the demo, and a few new tracks, the album is a slick, tuneful slice of early-80s pop thats catchy and bright, and only slightly overcooked. Both Edwyn Collins and James Kirk could have retired after this album and been secure in the history books as two of the finest songwriters of the era. Kirks "Three Cheers for Our Side" and "Felicity" are brilliantly odd and hooky songs that sound unlike anything anyone else was doing at the time; Collins songs are reliably witty, cutting, and romantic with lovely choruses. "Falling and Laughing" is timeless pop, "Tender Object" is rippingly good dance-punk, his ballads are heartbreaking ("Untitled Melody," "In a Nutshell"), and "Consolation Prize" takes the prize for hilarity ("I wore my fringe like Roger McGuinns/I was hoping to impress/So frightfully camp it made you laugh/Tomorrow Ill buy myself a dress"). Not too many other folks were writing songs like these, either. Add some excellent guitar interplay between Kirk and Collins and a strong rhythm section to the mix and youve got something that seems hard to mess up. Unfortunately, some of the production choices come close to wrecking things, as the tinkling pianos and backing vocalist can come on a little strong at times. The glossy finish given to the album is also a giant leap from the scrappiness of their early sound, though its effects are lessened by the exuberant energy the band plays and sings with at all times. These criticisms aside, once one accepts that the arty punks Orange Juice started off having fully embraced the sophisticated pop side of the world, then its easy to see that You Cant Hide Your Love Forever is one of the best examples of early-80s pop there is. That its the one and only album the team of Collins and Kirk made before splitting only makes it all the more essential to own. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 12 Title: Rip It Up Released: 1982-11 Tracks: 10 Duration: 42:25 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Rip It Up (05:19) 2 A Million Pleading Faces (03:15) 3 Mud in Your Eye (03:56) 4 Turn Away (03:19) 5 Breakfast Time (05:10) 6 I Can’t Help Myself (05:06) 7 Flesh of My Flesh (03:13) 8 Louise Louise (02:55) 9 Hokoyo (05:07) 10 Tenterhook (05:00) |
| Rip It Up : Allmusic album Review : After releasing their first album in February of 1982, Orange Juice were struck with their usual batch of bad luck. First drummer Steven Daly and guitarist James Kirk, whose songwriting efforts were crucial to the band, left; then the label pressed them to follow up with a new album as soon as possible in order to cash in on their fading buzz. After adding ex-Josef K guitarist Malcolm Ross and drummer Zeke Manyika, they headed back to the studio and Rip It Up was released a mere ten months later. The album reflected the lineup change and quick turnaround quite a bit. In the search for material, Manyika contributed two songs with an Afro-pop influence ("A Million Pleading Faces" and "Hokoyo") and Ross brought a sprightly song he wrote while in Josef K ("Turn Away"), and while they are all good efforts, they dont measure up to Kirks contributions. Edwyn Collins went back to a couple old songs and revamped them for the album, turning "Breakfast Time" into a weirdly reggae-influenced ballad and "Louise Louise" into a jaunty, jazz-influenced trifle. He also took a song from the very earliest incarnation of the band as the Nu-Sonics and stretched it out into the overly long "Tenterhook." So far not the makings of a great album, but the rest of the songs turn the tables almost completely. "Mud in Your Eye" is a sweet little soul crooner with heartfelt guest vocals from Paul Quinn, "Flesh of My Flesh" is a bouncy tropical pop song that shows Haircut 100 how it really should be done, and "I Cant Help Myself" gives the Four Tops a run for their money in the hooks department. Best of all is the title track, a timeless indie dance classic that rode an impossibly catchy synth bassline, infectious handclaps, and one of Collins best lyric/melody combos right to the top of the charts. Despite these moments of genius, the album is an uneven and frustrating listen that proves you cant rush a band into making great art. And despite the frustrating nature of the album, Rip It Up is definitely still worth checking out for the moments of brilliance and the overall sound Orange Juice deliver even in their weakest moments. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 12 Title: Texas Fever Released: 1984-03 Tracks: 9 Duration: 32:23 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Bridge (03:37) 2 Craziest Feeling (03:01) 3 Punch Drunk (03:34) 4 The Day I Went Down to Texas (02:41) 5 A Place in My Heart (03:01) 6 A Sad Lament (04:43) 7 Leaner Period (03:45) 8 Out for the Count (04:45) 9 Move Yourself (03:12) |
 | Album: 4 of 12 Title: The Orange Juice Released: 1984-11 Tracks: 10 Duration: 35:33 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Lean Period (03:18) 2 I Guess I’m Just a Little Too Sensitive (03:51) 3 Burning Desire (03:35) 4 Scaremonger (03:40) 5 The Artisan (02:23) 6 What Presence?! (03:57) 7 Out for the Count (03:53) 8 Get While the Gettings Good (03:35) 9 All That Ever Mattered (04:19) 10 Salmon Fishing in New York (03:02) |
| The Orange Juice : Allmusic album Review : After the group splintered yet again during the recording of what turned out to be the Texas Fever EP, Orange Juice returned as the duo of Edwyn Collins and Zeke Manyika to craft maybe the most satisfying album of their too-short career. Working with producer Dennis Bovell for the most part, the record sounds great from start to finish. Highly polished mid-80s pop with plenty of dubby bass (provided by Clare Kenny), inventive rhythms, and some of Collins best vocal work, the record is a sophisticated, diverse, and mature work that easily stands the test of time, even if it was somewhat dismissed at the time of release. Collins also managed to craft an incredible batch of songs that range from the laid-back grooves of tracks like the self-effacing "I Guess Im Just a Little Too Sensitive" and the guitar-heavy and determined-sounding "What Presence?!" to charging rockers like "The Artisans" and "Salmon Fishing in New York," with plenty of introspective ballads that suggest Collins was doing a bit of soul-searching at the time. Indeed, his decision to pack up the band and head out as a solo act soon after the albums less-than-heralded release seems to bear this out. Titles like "Lean Period" and "Get While the Gettings Good" make it clear, so does the elegiac "All That Ever Mattered," which sounds like nothing less than a lovesick ode to bandmembers come and gone. Orange Juice may be the groups swan song that came too soon; its also an excellent example of why people still care about the band years later. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 12 Title: In a Nutshell Released: 1985 Tracks: 14 Duration: 00:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Falling and Laughing (?) 2 Poor Old Soul (live version) (?) 3 L.O.V.E. (?) 4 In a Nutshell (?) 5 Felicity (?) 6 I Can’t Help Myself (?) 7 Hokoyo (?) 8 Rip It Up (?) 9 Flesh of My Flesh (?) 10 A Place in My Heart (?) 11 Bridge (?) 12 Out for the Count (?) 13 The Artisans (?) 14 What Presence?! (?) |
| In a Nutshell : Allmusic album Review : Though their first LP, the whole of their early output on the Postcard label, and a few well-chosen singles are preferable to this greatest-hits sampler, this is still a great record by one of the U.K.s best-of the unappreciated. In fact, now that they are gone, we can all take a Stalinist view (borrowing a Mick Jones phrase there) of the recordings they made after You Cant Hide Your Love Forever, while Edwyn Collins fished about trying to reinvent himself as something of a white soul singer, even if his talent meant that you still got the occasional great throwback record like What Presence?! Interestingly, the demand for this collection can be felt: in interview after interview it has become clear what an inspiration this great Scottish group has proved to be the modern scene, starting with the Smiths and moving on to acts on labels like Creation Records. Six boos to the Polydor label for dropping them (causing their breakup) then releasing this, though. What craven jerks! | ||
 | Album: 6 of 12 Title: The Orange Juice / You Cant Hide Your Love Forever Released: 1991 Tracks: 23 Duration: 1:13:58 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Lean Period (03:19) 2 I Guess I’m Just a Little Too Sensitive (03:51) 3 Burning Desire (03:35) 4 Scaremonger (03:40) 5 The Artisan (02:26) 6 What Presence?! (03:57) 7 Out for the Count (03:53) 8 Get While the Gettings Good (03:35) 9 All That Ever Mattered (04:19) 10 Salmon Fishing in New York (03:04) 11 Falling and Laughing (03:51) 12 Untitled Melody (02:07) 13 Wan Light (02:25) 14 Tender Object (04:24) 15 Dying Day (03:00) 16 L.O.V.E. Love (03:34) 17 Intuition Told Me, Part 1 (01:09) 18 Upwards and Onwards (02:28) 19 Satellite City (02:42) 20 Three Cheers for Our Side (02:50) 21 Consolation Prize (02:52) 22 Felicity (02:35) 23 In a Nutshell (04:15) |
 | Album: 7 of 12 Title: Ostrich Churchyard Released: 1992-10-12 Tracks: 16 Duration: 46:05 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Louise Louise (02:50) 2 Three Cheers for Our Side (02:52) 3 (To Put in a) Nutshell (04:06) 4 Satellite City (02:42) 5 Consolation Prize (03:10) 6 Holiday Hymn (03:00) 7 Intuition Told Me, Part 1 (01:13) 8 Intuition Told Me, Part 2 (03:22) 9 Wan Light (02:30) 10 Dying Day (03:09) 11 Texas Fever (01:44) 12 Tender Object (04:40) 13 Falling and Laughing (live) (03:23) 14 Love Sick (live) (02:23) 15 Poor Old Soul (live) (02:34) 16 You Old Eccentric (live) (02:20) |
 | Album: 8 of 12 Title: The Heather’s on Fire Released: 1993 Tracks: 14 Duration: 38:16 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Falling and Laughing (03:59) 2 Moscow (02:01) 3 Moscow Olympics (02:07) 4 Blue Boy (02:54) 5 Love Sick (02:27) 6 Simply Thrilled Honey (02:43) 7 Breakfast Time, Breakfast Time (01:56) 8 Poor Old Soul, Part One (02:29) 9 Poor Old Soul, Part Two (02:36) 10 Felicity (02:35) 11 Upwards and Onwards (02:22) 12 Dying Day (03:10) 13 Holiday Hymn (03:17) 14 Three Cheers for Our Side (03:34) |
| The Heather’s on Fire : Allmusic album Review : For all the broader attention Orange Juice received with its leap to Polydor, it was with its earlier independent singles on Postcard -- many being the earlier versions of songs later re-recorded -- that it built its deserved reputation. Though the low-key sonic quality of the earliest days sometimes obscured the disco and soul roots that were as important to the original quartet as the likes of T. Rex and the Velvet Underground, The Heathers on Fire finally brought those brilliant songs together in one place, 40 minutes worth of energy, romanticism, and sly lyrical hearts on display in one place. Scads of photographs (many featuring the famous Collins fringe) and a variety of remembrances, quotes, and bemusing essays help tell the original story very well, but its the gorgeous, energetic rise of the music one wants to concentrate on. Collins ever-arch vocals sounded even more on the edge and at points slightly strained in those days, but never with a sense of flailing, making the beautiful kick of songs like the Chic homages "Falling and Laughing" and "Poor Old Soul" all the more of a passionate listen. Even at its murkiest ("Moscow Olympics" sounds like it was recorded at the other end of a gymnasium), the music as a whole cant be beat; songs like "Blue Boy," "Upwards and Onwards," and brilliant renditions of "Simply Thrilled Honey" and "Felicity" sparkle with life and energy echoed in any number of bands since. Postcards tongue-deeply-planted-in-cheek Scots-kitsch packaging is on full display here, from the tartan in the CD inlay to the obviously doctored cover photos of the members in kilt-laden regalia (or Brian Eno get-up!). Unlisted bonus track: an extremely thrashy and not entirely there take on the New York Dolls "Who Are the Mystery Girls?" | ||
 | Album: 9 of 12 Title: Orange Juice EP Released: 1994 Tracks: 3 Duration: 18:39 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Multi Vitamins (05:45) 2 Beside an Orange (04:59) 3 Beside an Orange (Siamese Twins remix) (07:55) |
 | Album: 10 of 12 Title: A Casual Introduction: 1981/2001 Released: 2002 Tracks: 18 Duration: 1:13:21 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 A Girl Like You (03:56) 2 What Presence?! (03:58) 3 The Magic Piper (of Love) (03:17) 4 Rip It Up (intermediate edit) (04:57) 5 A Sad Lament (04:43) 6 The Witch Queen of New Orleans (long version) (04:04) 7 Johnny Teardrop (single mix) (03:49) 8 Gorgeous George (04:17) 9 Ghost of a Chance (04:06) 10 The Campaign for Real Rock (06:37) 11 Hope and Despair (03:24) 12 Falling and Laughing (03:51) 13 Keep on Burning (04:06) 14 Adidas World (02:29) 15 Felicity (02:35) 16 Tenterhook (05:01) 17 Witchcraft (04:25) 18 Graciously (03:37) |
 | Album: 11 of 12 Title: The Glasgow School Released: 2005-07-25 Tracks: 23 Duration: 1:06:18 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Falling and Laughing (03:59) 2 Moscow (02:01) 3 Moscow Olympics (02:07) 4 Blue Boy (02:54) 5 Love Sick (02:27) 6 Simply Thrilled Honey (02:43) 7 Breakfast Time (01:56) 8 Poor Old Soul, Part 1 (02:29) 9 Poor Old Soul, Part 2 (02:37) 10 Louise Louise (02:51) 11 Three Cheers (02:52) 12 In a Nutshell (04:05) 13 Satellite City (02:42) 14 Consolation Prize (03:10) 15 Holiday Hymn (03:00) 16 Intuition Told Me, Part 1 (01:13) 17 Intuition Told Me, Part 2 (03:23) 18 Wan Light (02:32) 19 Dying Day (03:10) 20 Texas Fever (01:44) 21 Tender Object (04:40) 22 Blokes on 45 (04:26) 23 I Dont Care (03:07) |
| The Glasgow School : Allmusic album Review : Orange Juices three albums, along with compilations of various shapes and sizes, have floated in and out of print throughout the years. This hasnt made it convenient for anyone curious about the band, whether the interest was sparked by Haircut 100, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Belle & Sebastian, Franz Ferdinand, the unlikely mainstream success of Edwyn Collins "A Girl Like You," the history of post-punk, or the birth of indie pop. The Glasgow School, released in 2005 by Domino, contains the bands four singles for Postcard, the bulk of Ostrich Churchyard (a disc released in 1992, containing early versions of what would become 1982s You Cant Hide Your Love Forever), a Stars on 45-style version of "Simply Thrilled Honey," and a crude cover of the Ramones "I Dont Care." For a lot of people, the material here (dating no later than 1981) is where Orange Juice begins and ends. The band signed to Polydor soon after the latest song on this disc was recorded, and they promptly gave their sound a coat of shiny wax -- so they helped invent indie pop, only to abandon it before their first album. Though the notion extends throughout Orange Juices discography, they were nothing if not fearless. What other way is there to describe lyrics like "I wore my fringe like Roger McGuinns/I was hoping to impress/So frightfully camp -- you laughed," or their wholly convincing (if occasionally gawky) way of bouncing the jangly folk-rock of the Byrds off the fat-bottomed disco drive of Chic, all the while creating an identity all their own? Both the singles and the Ostrich Churchyard takes are as crafty as they are crude, and if you cant get past the amateurishness, theres plenty of winsome attitude to win you over. This disc serves as proof that, along with Josef K, Associates, Altered Images, Simple Minds, Cocteau Twins, and the Scars, Orange Juice helped make Scotland a very productive resource during the post-punk/new wave era. | ||
 | Album: 12 of 12 Title: …Coals to Newcastle Released: 2010-11-08 Tracks: 124 Duration: 6:54:30 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Falling and Laughing (03:59) 2 Moscow (02:01) 3 Moscow Olympics (02:07) 4 Felicity (live) (02:48) 5 Blue Boy (02:54) 6 Love Sick (02:27) 7 Simply Thrilled Honey (02:43) 8 Breakfast Time (01:56) 9 Poor Old Soul, Part 1 (02:29) 10 Poor Old Soul, Part 2 (02:37) 11 Louise Louise (02:51) 12 Three Cheers for Our Side (02:50) 13 To Put in a Nutshell (04:06) 14 Satellite City (02:42) 15 Consolation Prize (03:10) 16 Holiday Hymn (03:00) 17 Intuition Told Me, Part 1 (01:13) 18 Intuition Told Me, Part 2 (03:23) 19 Wan Light (02:32) 20 Dying Day (03:10) 21 Texas Fever (01:44) 22 Tender Object (04:40) 23 Poor Old Soul (French version) (02:35) 24 Poor Old Soul (instrumental version) (04:25) 25 Simply Thrilled Honey (live) (02:39) 26 Botswana (live) (01:15) 27 Time to Develop (live) (01:46) 28 Blue Boy (live) (03:00) 1 Falling and Laughing (03:51) 2 Untitled Melody (02:07) 3 Wan Light (02:24) 4 Tender Object (04:25) 5 Dying Day (03:00) 6 L.O.V.E. Love (03:34) 7 Intuition Told Me, Part 1 (01:09) 8 Upwards and Onwards (02:28) 9 Satellite City (02:41) 10 Three Cheers for Our Side (02:50) 11 Consolation Prize (02:52) 12 Felicity (02:35) 13 In a Nutshell (04:05) 14 Intuition Told Me, Part 2 (03:17) 15 Moscow (02:01) 16 You Old Eccentric (02:41) 17 Two Hearts Together (10″ version) (04:06) 18 I Can’t Help Myself (7″ version) (03:31) 19 Tongues Begin to Wag (04:15) 20 Barbecue (04:51) 1 Rip It Up (05:19) 2 A Million Pleading Faces (03:15) 3 Mud in Your Eye (03:56) 4 Turn Away (03:19) 5 Breakfast Time (05:10) 6 I Can’t Help Myself (05:06) 7 Flesh of My Flesh (03:13) 8 Louise Louise (02:55) 9 Hokoyo (05:07) 10 Tenterhook (05:00) 11 Rip It Up (12″ version) (03:54) 12 Snake Charmer (04:46) 13 Lovesick (re-recording) (02:15) 14 Flesh of My Flesh (7″ version) (03:15) 15 Lord John White and the Bottleneck Train (12″ version) (04:43) 16 Flesh of My Flesh (12″ version) (04:19) 17 All That Ever Mattered (07:25) 1 Bridge (03:37) 2 Craziest Feeling (03:01) 3 Punch Drunk (03:34) 4 The Day I Went Down to Texas (02:41) 5 A Place in My Heart (03:01) 6 A Sad Lament (04:43) 7 Out for the Count (04:45) 8 Bridge (Summer ’83 version) (03:27) 9 Poor Old Soul (re-recording) (03:14) 10 Leaner Period (03:45) 11 Move Yourself (03:12) 12 The Day I Went Down to Texas (flexi version) (02:53) 13 Craziest Feeling (03:03) 14 Bridge (03:35) 15 The Day I Went Down to Texas (02:43) 16 A Place in My Heart (03:01) 17 Out for the Count (03:55) 18 Punch Drunk (03:32) 1 Lean Period (03:19) 2 I Guess I’m Just a Little Too Sensitive (03:51) 3 Burning Desire (03:35) 4 Scaremonger (03:40) 5 The Artisans (02:23) 6 What Presence?! (03:57) 7 Out for the Count (03:53) 8 Get While the Gettings Good (03:35) 9 All That Ever Mattered (04:19) 10 Salmon Fishing in New York (03:02) 11 What Presense?! (12″ version) (04:07) 12 A Place in My Heart (12″ version) (03:09) 13 In a Nutshell (live) (03:59) 14 Simply Thrilled Honey (live) (03:31) 15 Dying Day (live) (03:17) 16 Bury My Head in My Hands (03:11) 17 Lean Period (12″ dub version) (04:08) 18 Rip It Up (live) (03:26) 19 What Presense?! (live) (04:09) 20 Burning Desire (Alexis mix) (03:29) 21 All That Ever Mattered (alternate version) (04:21) 1 Poor Old Soul (02:36) 2 You Old Eccentric (02:22) 3 Falling and Laughing (03:24) 4 Lovesick (02:24) 5 Upwards and Onwards (02:24) 6 Wan Light (02:31) 7 Felicity (02:34) 8 Dying Day (03:11) 9 Holiday Hymn (03:07) 10 Three Cheers for Our Side (02:54) 11 Blokes on 45 (04:26) 12 Mud in Your Eye (03:43) 13 I Can’t Help Myself (03:18) 14 In Spite of It All (02:42) 15 Turn Away (03:00) 16 What Presense?! (04:05) 17 Salmon Fishing in New York (02:32) 18 Bridge (03:22) 19 BBC Interview, Part 1 (04:50) 20 BBC Interview, Part 2 (03:32) |
| …Coals to Newcastle : Allmusic album Review : When the Scottish pop band Orange Juice split up in January of 1985, it didn’t seem too likely that they would become one of the more influential bands of the era. Yes, their early singles on the tiny Postcard label generated some excitement, and they had a bona fide chart hit with the 1983’s single "Rip It Up," but their career had mostly come to a sputtering halt outside the lens of the public eye. One short year later, with the rise of C-86 and the early indie pop bands, the brightly scrappy attitude and scruffily melodic sound of early Orange Juice suddenly became popular again. Fast forward to the mid-90s and Belle & Sebastian, then Franz Ferdinand and more, to see that the Orange Juice legacy lives on as strongly as ever. The songs of Edwyn Collins (and those of James Kirk) have been required listening for a large number of great pop bands. Thanks to the release of 2005’s The Glasgow School, which made all the band’s early recordings widely available for the first time, even more bands were able to draw inspiration from the band and their sound. In 2010, all the band’s recorded output was finally made easily accessible. Put together in part by Edwyn Collins, the box set …Coals to Newcastle is beautiful to look at, wonderful to listen to, and basically a dream come true for Orange Juice fans who weren’t able to get a hold of the original albums or the Japanese CD reissues. Even if you did own either of those, Coals is still worth seeking out for all the extras. The six-CD/one-DVD set contains all of the band’s recorded output: the early singles, the three studio albums, the Texas Fever EP, a full complement of B-sides, a handful of demos and different mixes, a disc of BBC sessions, two videos, live footage from the Old Grey Whistle Test, and a very 80s concert video (Dada with the Juice) that the final incarnation of the band made. The Glasgow School is included as the first disc, and it’s still amazing to hear all the singles and demos cut in that short period of time (between 1980 and 1981) all strung together. Songs like "Blue Boy," "Falling and Laughing," and "Lovesick" bubble and pop in a brilliant mix of wise-ass punk and off-kilter disco, at once creating and defining a new kind of pop. The joy and energy that radiate from these tracks is life-affirming. While common wisdom states that the Postcard singles were the artistic high point of the band, the three albums and EP that the revamped (and shifting) band produced are perfectly good, even sometimes great. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find a better early-80s pop album that their debut, You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever. Hearing the discs one after the other with all the assorted B-sides, live cuts, and spare tracks, you can see that the progression the band makes from lo-fi kids thrashing about in the studio to polished pros working with esteemed reggae producer Dennis Bovell does nothing to detract from the humanity and soul in the songs, and especially in the voice and vision of Edwyn Collins. Add to these discs the uniformly excellent BBC sessions, and you have a full picture of one of the most important -- and enjoyable -- groups of the modern pop era. …Coals to Newcastle is everything an Orange Juice fan could have hoped for and a simply thrilling example of how to put together a box set. | ||