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#76
11-04-2020, 22:39
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That was an enjoyable listen, poor lucas though is a lost cause i think. But have we claimed a new fan in steve? I think so! One of us, one of us, one of us...
 The intense humming of evil has always been my least favourite track on there but i am glad it is on there. It feels dismissive to call it a song but it's a powerful statement and sounds immense when played live and for someone like lucas, who doesn't bother with lyrics, to have a new appreciation for it because of the lyrics is a win i'd say.
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Please, he prayed, now - A gray disk, the colour of Chiba sky. Now - Disk beginning to rotate, faster, becoming a sphere of paler gray. Expanding - And flowed, flowered for him, fluid neon origami trick, the unfolding of his distanceless home, his country, transparent 3D chessboard extending to infinity. Inner eye opening to the stepped scarlet pyramid of the Eastern Seaboard Fission Authority burning beyond the green cubes of Mitsubishi Bank of America, and high and very far away he saw the spiral arms of military systems, forever beyond his reach. And somewhere he was laughing, in a white-painted loft, distant fingers caressing the deck, tears of release streaking his face. 
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#77
20-04-2020, 16:29
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Our first episode on the monster that is Everything Must Go came out today!
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#78
20-04-2020, 16:36
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Listening now... Mike Hedges and Little Russell...
 Edit: If it was my earlier complaint about the ‘yeahyeahyeah’s you referred to on this one I feel it was beautifully poetic you brought it up as you discussed my fave song on my fave album... lol. Another great episode, really enjoyed it. 
__________________
 'Those Manics are great mun ent'it!' | Miyazaki-San, Arigato | POPCORN!  | PorcoTunes: SC=fdporco YT=PorcoForever | Time is remembered and time will be regained | | I know our time has come and gone / At least we blazed a trail and shone | Yes I knew this thing would end / I did not know where or when | | Take the nihilist out of the desert / Take the flag from the sea of tranquility | But then you showed me the colour of your soul / A communication of your love | Last edited by Porco; 20-04-2020 at 18:01.
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#79
22-04-2020, 12:17
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Another great episode! I've always felt that no matter how good a subsequent Manic's album is it won't be able to touch this or The Holy Bible because of the context surrounding them. I only really thought about this through listening to the podcast and you guys talking about the difference between enjoying an album and appreciating it as art. I think in this case, you have to take the journey into account too. Why you clearly do.
On a side note, with all the music biopic's being churned out in recent years the Manic's story, leading up to the release of Everything Must Go seems like a given. Let's hope not.
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#81
22-04-2020, 19:18
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It makes for fascinating listening to play the holy bible and everything must go back to back...
After the holy bible plays out to "pass the prozac, designer amnesiac" and albert finney we open to waves gently lapping at the shore. It's like you can't quite reconcile this is the same band yet your discussion of design for life points out it is still undeniably the manics in there and i agree with james that they never were britpop. I'm glad you brought up the 'libraries gave us power' line and how it relates to 'knowledge is power' being engraved on pillgwenlly library as that's that library miners paid for so they could give themselves the education they would have been denied at the time. There's also a sort of dedication to tower colliery in the cynon valley as it's listed in the credits at the back of the booklet as inspiration. And no, it's not a working class anthem, it was usually referred to as "that drinking song" but when have the public ever given a fuck about lyrics (sorry, lucas)? I've read nicky in interviews often talking about essentially middle class bands like blur affecting the cliched look of the working class with burberry flat caps and owning greyhounds, there was definitely a bit of that going on. All the while the london press constantly denigrates those with working class upbringings, same as it ever was. Speaking of design for life and it's comparison to summer wind, i like it when james sings a bit of that in the bridge before the last chorus and it works quite beautifully i think. The parentheses... it's that there pregnant pause! Caesuric... "Is that like caesar?" If you can find it then there's an amazing clip of james being backed into a corner by an over eager canadian (i think) music journalist asking him that very question when he's trying to explain what caesuric means. It's what's left unsaid ("do not listen to a word i say, just listen to what i can keep silent"), the absence of something fundamental to the manics and why i think it's such an understated and moving dedication to richey. I'll say it again since you're all bringing it up in a roundabout way - one of the best things about the manics is they have lyrics full of doubt with music full of hope. Oh, that and no bleedin' encores. Happy podding. ETA: I knew there was something i forgot to post - the bizarre car crash of an interview between davina mccall and a possibly inebriated james on mtv... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4M_Bniy0Dg
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Please, he prayed, now - A gray disk, the colour of Chiba sky. Now - Disk beginning to rotate, faster, becoming a sphere of paler gray. Expanding - And flowed, flowered for him, fluid neon origami trick, the unfolding of his distanceless home, his country, transparent 3D chessboard extending to infinity. Inner eye opening to the stepped scarlet pyramid of the Eastern Seaboard Fission Authority burning beyond the green cubes of Mitsubishi Bank of America, and high and very far away he saw the spiral arms of military systems, forever beyond his reach. And somewhere he was laughing, in a white-painted loft, distant fingers caressing the deck, tears of release streaking his face. Last edited by Tim; 25-04-2020 at 19:57.
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#82
27-04-2020, 15:08
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The first ever single I bought was Lost in Space by Lighthouse Family...
__________________
I am a little man and this is a little town but there must be a spark in a little man that can burst into a flame. -John Steinbeck
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#83
29-04-2020, 23:19
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Thank so much for listening and all the thoughtful responses! We're gonna try to get more bonus stuff out. We'd love to go weekly properly, but just can't I'm afraid. Not right now anyway!
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#84
04-05-2020, 20:01
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Listened to the new on today and enjoyed. But something is bugging me. I’m sure I read a website which broke down Manics songs that said the title/line “small black flowers that grow in the sky” might have come from a really old film where they are describing bombs falling in the sky as small black flowers. But for the life of me I can find it now! Was I dreaming or does anyone else know where this site is or recall this?
__________________
 Were you crushed, Did I rush you, All my time is yours, My twisted heart is yours, The faithless shit is yours, The shameless fits of love that only smother you for moments, Until I fold them up and leave, All yours. Logic will break your
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#85
05-05-2020, 17:33
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Really enjoyed the latest episode too.
Re: Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky I've always found the lyrics in this song incredibly heartbreaking and powerful as a comment on depression, using the perspective of an animal trapped in a cage to express despair. I've always interpreted the "sky" to be the roof of the cage, with the "black flowers" being the gaps in between the bars at night. The gaps in the cage at night is what the animal (I've always pictured a dejected lion) is looking at while he/she's missing (and given up hope up of ever again being) outside. I just thought I'd put that there as I love this song and really enjoy hearing others' interpretations of it.
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#86
05-05-2020, 18:59
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IIRC small black flowers refers to the barbed wire topped fences surrounding the concentration camps. That always stuck in my memory when i read it in some long forgotten interview.
I was a bit surprised that the cult of richey and mondeo man didn't come up in this pod since manics fandom is, or was, probably as big a part of the band's identity as the music and this is where the split occurred. I think it would be worth bringing the fandom more into the conversation though, the band and the fandom was once deeply entwined to the extent that few other bands have inspired fans to read, write dissertations, poetry, create art... That's a worthy legacy the manics have left rather than serving as an influence on any bands that arrived since, of which there are few of note. The girl who wanted to be god - i don't understand the general dislike of this track on twitter, i always thought it was a fan favourite. The music between the break and last chorus especially is glorious but the whole track just breathes after the claustrophobia of THB. Completely agree about removables though, it's a great track with the penultimate chorus having some excellent shouty james to enjoy. Well done, shouty james. Further away - trying to ignore the coldplay comparison as best i can... is it a love song though? I thought this was considered more of a longing for richey. I would argue they're still in the 'no fan clubs, no encores, no love songs' mindset during this era so it could be read as nicky moving further away from richey being around. The simplest answers, that he committed suicide, being the hardest to deal with.
__________________
Please, he prayed, now - A gray disk, the colour of Chiba sky. Now - Disk beginning to rotate, faster, becoming a sphere of paler gray. Expanding - And flowed, flowered for him, fluid neon origami trick, the unfolding of his distanceless home, his country, transparent 3D chessboard extending to infinity. Inner eye opening to the stepped scarlet pyramid of the Eastern Seaboard Fission Authority burning beyond the green cubes of Mitsubishi Bank of America, and high and very far away he saw the spiral arms of military systems, forever beyond his reach. And somewhere he was laughing, in a white-painted loft, distant fingers caressing the deck, tears of release streaking his face.
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#87
06-05-2020, 10:54
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iirc Nicky said further away was written for his wife, it's always been one of my favourites on the record, I just love the drums at the intro.
__________________
Nothing is secure but life, transition, the energizing spirit. No love can be bound by oath or covenant to secure it against a higher love. No truth so sublime but it may be trivial tomorrow in the light of new thoughts. People wish to be settled; only as far as they are unsettled is there any hope for them.
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#88
08-05-2020, 18:46
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I've been listening to some of their later stuff and i am both anticipating and dreading the reactions to the forthcoming albums. Don't get me wrong, i think the manics became a far more interesting and versatile band after richey disappeared but there are some huge missteps and outright stinkers.
I'm also thinking about what non-fans make of nicky on lead vocals, the first being wattsville blues ('wtf is this?'); the introduction of instrumentals; james taking a backseat to guest vocalists etc. Not that these are bad things, i'm just curious what on earth a non-fan will make of it. Listening to lifeblood currently and again feeling baffled as to why the band hates this album so much. Such a reactionary and confusing band to their own work.
__________________
Please, he prayed, now - A gray disk, the colour of Chiba sky. Now - Disk beginning to rotate, faster, becoming a sphere of paler gray. Expanding - And flowed, flowered for him, fluid neon origami trick, the unfolding of his distanceless home, his country, transparent 3D chessboard extending to infinity. Inner eye opening to the stepped scarlet pyramid of the Eastern Seaboard Fission Authority burning beyond the green cubes of Mitsubishi Bank of America, and high and very far away he saw the spiral arms of military systems, forever beyond his reach. And somewhere he was laughing, in a white-painted loft, distant fingers caressing the deck, tears of release streaking his face.
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#89
11-05-2020, 15:24
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Enjoyed the Everything Live episode, although I was (unfairly) hoping for a detailed analysis of every segment and song performance. I appreciate its not really feasible when conducting a live commentary via conference call.
Perhaps someone can clear up an unanswered question for me? I've watched it 100 times but still unsure who messes up on Everything Must Go. Is it James? Oh and was that mistake magically edited out of the video release as I only noticed it when I watched the full anniversary release in more recent years. I always thought it was a bit awkward and weird when the interviewer (in the concert film) asks the female fans if they think the band are sexy. After listening to the podcast I realise that he could have framed the question better by simply asking "shag, marry, avoid?"
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#90
12-05-2020, 00:20
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Thanks everybody for listening and feeding back. It's so nice to see it opening up discussion! I could have rattled on for a while about the nuances of their live set in Everything Live, but it probably would have been pretty tedious for Lucas and Steve and the listeners!
If any of you listen to the Welsh Music Podcast, we have Neil on to talk about This Is My Truth next week!
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