It Bites playlist for Frost*Bites

[JimD]

Hello

I expect I could find this on an IB forum, but I feel at home here and amongst fiends  , so wondered if anyone could help.

My mate Lozza and I are going to be at Frost*Bites but neither of us is very together with the more-recent IB. In fact I only really know "Calling All The Heroes" and the "Once Around The World" LP (which I kinda like but it's rather "D50").  I want to make the most of the gig and get some IB listening under my belt, so my questions are...

1. has anyone who has seen IB of late got any idea of what their set might be like?  Will there be lots of Tall Ships and Map Of The Past?  Should I get the other earlier Dunnery LPs as well (bearing in mind I already have OATW)?

2. Where's the best place to get these - is there an online shop where the band get more cash as opposed to the usual outlets?

Now I know I could have a good old sift through this forum to find out more but I am convalescing at the moment from a nasty chest infection.  Spent Saturday night in A&E after some rather nasty chest pains being stuck with needles and pumped with antibiotics and manhandled onto X-Ray plates.  Glad to say it's not my ticker but it's been a sure-fire wipeout for me and I have got very bored!  I'm not really up to using the computer much as my concentration is shot and I feel dizzy half the time.

So, off for a bath now; let me know what you all think about the impeding IB part of Frost*Bites (or just where else to go looking on the internet)!

Jim D

[D S]

Jim,

The most recent IB setlist last weekend was:-
Ghosts
Oh My God
The Big Machine
Send No Flowers
Meadow and the Stream
Cartoon Graveyard
The Last Escape
Old man and the Angel
Kiss Like Judas

So the last 2 were from OATW, tracks 1 & 2 were from the Tall Ships and the rest were from Map of the Past, their most recent offering.  As time goes by, they are becoming more and more focussed on the JM era and the FD tracks are becoming fewer.  So for your Frost*bites learning (and also because they're damned fine albums 8-) ), I'd get the latter 2 albums.

As ever, the lovely Nellie at the Merch Desk is the best place to go - not only do you get excellent service, but you know more of your cash is going into the pockets of the musicians who created it.

http://themerchdesk.com/shop/index.php? ... path=87_25

Enjoy! (and get well soon)

[Pedro]

I agree 100% with DS.
Snag The Tall Ships and Map Of The Past from Nellie and give each of them at least 3 listens.
OATW is THE old album to have. A classic but, as you say, very much of the time.
You will hear some of the same keys sounds from John Beck in the new stuff occasionally but it's very much the right sound for the moment in each song.
I hope you enjoy them but first, get better!!

Frost*Bites is nearly sold-out, apparently, so it's going to be a special night.

[JimD]

Thanks for the replies and good wishes!  I knew I'd get expert advice here, now all I need to do is get paid and I can get the records!  

V.much looking forward to the gig - cheers again!

[FANJACKPOT]

Get better guy to be in good condition for the event of teh century !
Cheers

[JimD]

Hey FanJack,

I am improving, and hope to be on tip-top form for the Scala.

Meanwhile Tall Ships and MOTP arrived today from the Merch Desk (ordered on the evening of the 13th, so speedy service I'd say).  I was having rather a naff day work-wise so this has cheered me hugely.  Time to rip, convert to OGG and load into the J-Pod for a weekend's immersion.

Will post some thoughts here next week.

[JimD]

Well, I have had some good listens to both LPs as I whizzed up and down the M1 the weekend before last and throughout last week, and whilst I anticipate many more hours of listening I thought I would share my first impressions.

So, very first listens, well, due to...somethingorother...I had the J-pod set up so that MOTP came on first and was then followed by TS. It was a rainy friday as I set off up the M40/M69/M1. Having listened a lot to OATW and the Kino LP (plus of course Frost*) I was not immune to the past work of Mitchell and Beck and to a lesser extent Dalton, but I have to confess I was finding MOTP quite hard going.  I couldn't grasp the concept that was touted on the front cover sticker, and the LP wasn't sounding "right" at all.  I knew of "Wallflower" and the title track from various promotional efforts but by the time I got to "Flag" I was ready to abandon both MOTP and the as-yet-unheard Tall Ships!

However I pressed on (wanting to hear "Cartoon Graveyard" at least) and eventually got to Tall Ships - WOW, this was more like it.  Straight away I knew what wasn't "right" for me about MOTP - the vocalics, that background blend of John Beck stuff, and the type of keyboard sounds. That's not to say MOTP was lacking in keys, but Tall Ships seemed to sound "more like It Bites ought to" - the drums sounded a lot more exciting for example.

As Tall Ships progressed I was knocked out by how good it was, although the last track sounded a bit far out in the darkness of the M1 on a rainy night!

I gave both LPs another run through, this time starting with Tall Ships, during the return journey on a sunny Sunday afternoon.  TS did not disappoint, but MOTP was still hard going, although maybe I was overdoing it by listening to both in succession under the heavy concentration of motorway driving.

Anyway, Pedro, you were right about giving them each a listen at least 3 times; I continued listening to them on my (much shorter) bus commute to work and during work last week, as well as reading fan reviews of them, and on Friday MOTP finally started to grow on me, with "Meadow And The Stream" starting to make a lot of inroads. That said, some tracks remain fodder for the skip button - I will see if protracted listening helps in that regard.

Any other Frostie thoughts on the two LPs?

[DueyC]

I'd say the car isn't the best place to start listening to Map of the Past, as there are so many subtleties you won't catch while driving.
My first listen was on the hifi at home and I thought it was mindblowing throughout. Tiring though, as there's so much going on. I definitely prefer it to The Tall Ships (and both trump anything that's gone before).

[JimD]

You are probably right about the car - especially my car. I mean I love it but it's rather noisy so the music has to be up loud and that can be quite fatiguing.  It is however one of the rare places in my life at the moment where I can hear things for myself whilst concentrating on a single task  

Anyway, "Meadow and the Stream" is a good example of the car vs other listening environments.  In the car it came across as very proggy sounding in a 70's sort of way and it wasn't at all appealing.  When I got "a closer listen" on my headphones I heard the story in the lyrics and that made it much more endearing.  I'm really looking forward to hearing IB in a live context now.

Always worth noting the difference between hearing and listening - there's that Frippicism(?) "What we hear is the quality of our listening"