Josef K rehearsing

[imomus]

Maybe the world doesn't need more Josef K memorabilia -- the LTM and Domino labels have already flooded the world with unreleased albums, rarities and live sets from the short-lived Edinburgh post-punk pioneers, bearing titles like Entomology, Young And Stupid and Crazy to Exist. But, at the bottom of some box, I found this tape of the band rehearsing at Malcolm Ross's family home on the Colinton Road in 1980 and thought perhaps you might like to hear it.



That room is where my indie music career starts; when Josef K split up in 1981 I became the band's new singer, or rather, Malcolm (who joined Orange Juice shortly afterwards) put me together with the rhythm section and their roadie, Paul Mason, who soon replaced Malcolm on guitar. (Read James Nice's account of the band's mutations here.) The first few rehearsals of The Happy Family happened in the same room where Josef K used to practice. I felt like I'd been hoisted up onto -- well, if not Mount Parnassus, at least the summit of Calton Hill.

Josef K in rehearsal (stereo mp3 file, 24 mins. 27 secs. 22.4 MB)

Comments

[sakuraamplifier.livejournal.com]

...and thought perhaps you might like to hear it.

That is a great understatement. I hope you keep finding amazing tapes in boxes forever. Thanks again for taking the time to post these.

[imomus.livejournal.com]

There's actually some great stuff coming up -- Click Opera is turning into an mp3 blog in August!

[(Anonymous)]

You don't by any chance have any tapes of Echo and the Bunnymen rehearsing? Or The Crucial Three, even?

[imomus.livejournal.com]

If I'd joined some kind of post-Bunnymen group and been resident in Liverpool I would no doubt have just what you want! As it is, I could probably knock you off some quite convincing parodies...

[gothikfaerie.livejournal.com]

[olamina.livejournal.com]

Hurray! Thanks for this!

[(Anonymous)]

So very stylish!

[niddrie-edge.livejournal.com]

Is that second track some aleatoric take on I Wish I could Be Like Davy Watts?
Its interesting to try and recall where it all came from that sound. The Art College obviously but there was a Lou Reed/Cale crowd in the mid 70s trying to jemmy their way into the incestuous local pub scene pre punk.
One could say the best houses had Shiny Beast and Dub Housing side by side and they all wept when John Foxx left Ultravox.
Theres also the proto-Edwyn voice which seemed prevalent.
Barry McV of Hey Elastica! had it. Paul Haig had it.
Theres something real edgy about demos by good bands
I love how there is no 'tween song banter or mum walking in with the tea and biscuits.

[imomus.livejournal.com]

It's mostly Malcolm telling Ronnie to stop bashing the drums between songs!

[niddrie-edge.livejournal.com]

I feel like I have just used a really good old sonic toothpaste!

[thuggery.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Awesome

[(Anonymous)]

Totally awesome...Too bad Franz Ferdinand's 2nd album wasn't as much as a Josef K tribute as the first (what, did they decide "no more high-pitched trebly disco chords"??? That definitely worked to their disadvantage.)

I also really liked the Happy Family album--how soon before or after the first Smiths did that come out BTW?

Have you ever thought about making a song with PWRFL Power?
http://trickledown.wordpress.com/2007/08/02/from-japan-to-seattle-pwrfl-powers-21st-century-folk-pop/

Re: Awesome

[microworlds.livejournal.com]

Oh God, I totally hated Franz Ferdinand's second album! I was once a huge Franz fangirl and bought the album and was disappointed, but brushed off my disappointment because of my love for the first album. I really couldn't accept that my (once) favorite band had embraced a more raw, rock 'n roll approach, totally sounding different than their dance-able disco beats. To me it just sounded like they wanted their songs to reach number 1 on the radio, and failed quite horrifically, to me at least.

But I still hold on to one shred of hope that they will produce another album that goes back to their "roots" per se. I still haven't erased the pictures I saved of them in 2004-2006. :(

Re: Awesome

[microworlds.livejournal.com]

Scratch that, 2003-2006. How pathetic!

[(Anonymous)]

Too bad Franz Ferdinand were an idea-free, totally conservative, post-punk-lite facsimile of bands like Josef K, Orange Juice and Gang of Four in the first place. Their next album will probably sound like U2.

[microworlds.livejournal.com]

Conservative, eh? Have you heard "Michael" or "Do You Want To"? But I agree with the rest of what you said. Although I will disagree with them being "post-punk," mostly because that would be too flattering of a term for them. More pseudo-post-punk to me, mostly because I think they ripped off their influences. The term probably is self-referential at best.