In brief, Elastica put out a great album in 1995, simply called "Elastica." But then they struggled to come up with a worthy follow up. It turns out they were overwhelmed by success, and put partying and drugs above making more music. The lyrics to one of their songs ("Waking Up") on that 1995 album was a clue: "I'd work very hard, but I'm lazy. I can't take the pressure and it's starting to show. ... If I can't be a star I won't get out of bed." Anyway, they did come out with a second album in 2000, "The Menace." But it was a critical and commercial disappointment compared to their first album. They broke up in 2001. Lead singer Justine Frischmann then quit the music business altogether and became a painter.
So that's the context of the music for this album, as they struggled to match the expectations set by their great debut album. The songs are a mix of A- and B-sides (tracks 6, 7, 12, and 13), EP tracks (3 and 4), bonus tracks (8 and 9), and songs from soundtracks (1, 2, and 14). Three more songs (tracks 5, 10, and 11) are unreleased, with "Operate" being a studio outtake and "12XU" and "Moody" coming from a concert bootleg.
Given these stray tracks were probably considered not strong enough for the band's second album, I find it a surprisingly good listen. In fact, I actually prefer this to that second album. That album dabbled in electronica, trying to find a new second for the band. Whereas many of the songs here stick with the successful punk-pop sound of the debut album.
There was one odd problem with the songs here, however. After listening to it a couple of times, I suspected the lead vocals were low for most of the songs. I used the X-Minus audio editing program to split the vocal and instrumental parts into separate tracks. Looking at the results, I saw that indeed the vocals were usually well below what one would typically expect. So I boosted the vocals for nearly every song, even though I haven't marked them with "[Edit]" as I usually do. (There were a couple that were okay, and a couple are instrumentals.)
This album is 36 minutes long.
01 In the City (Elastica)
02 Unheard Music (Elastica with Stephen Malkmus)
03 Miami Nice [Instrumental] [Demo] (Elastica)
04 Nothing Stays the Same [Demo] (Elastica)
05 Operate (Elastica)
06 Suicide (Elastica)
07 Bush Baby [Instrumental] (Elastica)
08 Faking [Demo] (Elastica)
09 You're OK (Elastica)
10 12XU (Elastica)
11 Moody (Elastica)
12 The Bitch Don't Work (Elastica)
13 No Good (Elastica)
14 Too Old to Die Young (British Meat Scene & Justine Frischmann)
https://www.upload.ee/files/15111393/Elastca_1997-2001_UnhrdMusic_atse.zip.html
I couldn't find any picture of the whole band from the time period here that I really liked. So I went with this one, which is from 1995.
Thanks, I was familiar only with their first album, they really kind of disappeared after that
ReplyDeleteAwesome. Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteplease repost please
ReplyDeleteAll three of the albums you mentioned seem to have fine links. Here's my standard advice:
Deletef you're having trouble downloading things from my blog, for instance you click on a ZippyShare link and get an annoying ad, I have a few recommendations.
1) Try right clicking on the link, and opening it in a new window. People say that helps.
2) Use an ad blocker add on or extension for your browser. That's what I do, and it leaves Zippyshare free of all the crud. Plus, it's a good thing that helps you avoid ads when browsing on the Internet in general. There's a bunch to choose from, and they're generally free.
3) Use a VPN. That stands for Virtual Private Network. Zippyshare is banned in a few European countries, so this is a way to hide what country you're in. Actually, it's a good (and perfectly legal) thing to do when browsing the Internet in general.
4) Use the Tor browser. This is a modified Firefox browser with extra privacy features. This is said to work particularly well for people in countries where Zippyshare is blocked.
5) If all else fails, I also share everything I post on my blog through the music file-sharing program SoulseekQT. It's free, no strings attached, and super easy to use. Just search for the artist and album title, plus "atse" (which stands for "Albums That Should Exist").
in the city actually pre-dates the debut album release, and is from a BBC session in 1994, they officially released it on the Nowhere soundtrack in 1997 right? but i've always believed this to be the same BBC recording
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the mp3 tags for any of the albums I post, you'll see the sourcing for every song. I just checked this one, and it says it's from the Nowhere soundtrack in 1997. But you could be right that it's from an earlier BBC session.
DeleteBy the way, since your name is Elastica Archive Project, I assume you're a big fan. Do you see any rarities by the band that I've missed? And would you have their complete 2000 Glastonbury performance?