(Pavillion (sic) Stage)
I have resolved never to go and see Julian Cope live in Ireland again. He always plays Ireland solo (I think his musical associates have some unfinished business with the IRA that makes visits here problematic for them). This can be good, but without a band behind him there is always a danger that Cope will start shiteing on about how mad he is, or about the difference between Celtic and Saxon mindsets, and so on. You don't want that. Instead what we got was Cope playing as part of a power trio (occasionally joined by two Hessians on additional drums), with the musical journey through his backpages lighting on tunes that suited this kind of line-up. Result. I particularly enjoyed hearing some of the rockier tunes from Peggy Suicide; what were also fascinating were the couple of songs from Fried or Teardrop Explodes albums he played. This has led to me exploring further these records and deriving great enjoyment from them. I am also considering putting together an introduction to Julian Cope CD… any takers?
I so enjoyed this set that I bought an album by Cope's new BRAIN DONOR band. They play the kind of forward thinking metallic sounds he could not really get away with as a solo artist. I have not yet fully digested this record.
2 comments:
I think it was called Floored Genius and also Floored Genius 2, both fine introductions to Copey
The problem I have with Floored Genius is that it stops with stuff from Peggy Suicide, which is where I really start with him. I do increasingly like stuff by the Teardrop Explodes or from Fried, but Cope's mid-1980s pop career has no appeal to me, and I basically think of Peggy Suicide as his real solo debut. It is only really with that and afterwards that he gets into all the spacerock stuff.
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