As a fellow composer I wish you would give more attention to their use of harmony-Tim Smith has one of the most distinctive harmonic languages in rock music, achieving chromaticism through triads (chromatic mediants are an example of this.) This song is a perfect example of this, the chorus having a repeating chord progression of C, G, A, C#, G#, B, Eb, Bb. No other band would write something like this and in my opinion this harmonic language is one of the best qualities of their music!
"Dirty Boy" "The Everso Closely Guarded Line" "Mare's Nest" "The Stench of Honey" "In a City Lining" "Dive" "Icing on the World" "Loosefish Scapegrace" "Big Ship" "Bodysbad" Top shelf tunes right there. There are SOOOO many more too.
Catchy Pop Tune ... Love It !! The "choir" type vocals are reminiscent of English football chants. Hope you're revving up for "Fiery Gun Hand" and "Dirty Boy"
Yeah, I have a feeling Tim was a Bad Manners fan (Theres a few areas where you can see that influence) and definately the football chant thing turns up in a few of his songs
To me, the chaotic, unpredictable, jarring sound of Cardiacs was a breath of fresh air for me. Especially after hearing all of the uniform, straight sounding music for so long. But to each their own I guess.
I first discovered them this past Spring. I read a comment that went along the lines of: once you hear Cardiacs, music is never quite the same again. I have dived deep down the rabbit hole of Cardiacs, and Cardiacs-related bands (Knifeworld, Spratley Japs, Oceansize). An amazing journey, and I'm thankful for Tim Smith(RIP) for all of this.
Restrained Cardiacs? Head directly to "All Spectacular," "Stoneage Dinosaurs," "A Little Man and a House" (Seaside version is my fav), "Wireless," or a "Gina Lolla Brigida" if you want the energy but with a little more focus. Tim Smith's "Swimming with the Snake" is also a real moment.
For me it would be the icing of the world, the whole world window, arnald, the leader of the starry skyes, Helen and heaven, fairy Mary mag, odd even, no gold, foundling
There's so much "restrained cardiacs", and it's all just as good. I wish people wouldn't immediately go for shock value when recommending songs. I've been guilty of it myself, but it really does them a disservice.
Like all the Cardiacs we've heard this is super original and very postmodern in its "throw genres into a blender and see what colorful mess comes out." The one thing I really enjoyed here was how much it reminded me of late-60s/early-70s psychedelic rock/pop when bands were still trying to do their own take on The Beatles, but before prog fully took over and those psychedelic bands died out. The one thing I love about about that era is the combination of the pop approach to vocals with a very, shall we say, "colorful" take on instrumentation, harmony, and melody. Like, one common complaint about modern pop music is how so many melodies are relegated to one or two notes, but on tracks like and older psychedelic pop/rock bands/artists weren't afraid to use the entire scale to construct these elongated melodic lines, and you hear a lot of that here. Plus, I found this track (in general) so much fun, much more so than yesterday's. I'm definitely going to have to check out their discography on my own.
So similar to the first time I heard this. I just sat there, bit baffled and amused. Then listened to it again and again and again Everytime spotting more and more things. It's just a joyous bundle of superbly written music. R.i.p Tim.
I remember listening to Sing to God the first time and just feeling completely overwhelmed by what I was hearing. Took me another listen or two for it to click, but then I was hooked.
Big Cardiacs fan. There are definitely "more conventional" Cardiacs songs. This album with "Dog Like Sparky" is a double album that runs the gamut of songs and compositional approaches.
Glad you noticed the excellent bass playing by Jim Smith (brother of frontman Tim). I would still say Dirty Boy would be a good example of a different structural style. You could also try Fairy Mary Mag, which is quite trippy, or the more poppy Flap Off You Beak or Day Is Gone.
And my second request is here! You had a couple questions so here's some answers to them. Oh wow, no I didn't choose these songs based on their similarities, but now that you point it out it's really clear to see. Thinking through their discography there are a *lot* of other songs that use that extra beat technique. Not all of them but quite a few. The person who wrote RES and Dog-Like Sparky was Tim Smith. He wrote almost everything for the band. I don't think he's done an interview about that topic specifically but there are several interviews with him on youtube and various other sites. There were four people in the core band when this song came out, but there are several very frequent contributors that also show up here. There are *plenty* Cardiacs songs that are *way* more restrained, and now that you say that I think I do want to hear your thoughts on some of those. It's a side of the band you've barely heard and I think it would be a disservice to you and to them if the wackiest ones were all you heard. (edited for formatting)
Oooo yeah, I'm quite interested in a different side of Cardiacs. I'm thinking these song need time, repeat listens and such so I can begin to really get a feel for the control and layers underneath the chaos. But with something a little more structured I'd be able to see what's going on beneath that chaos and it might help me appreciate these more wild tracks.
@@CriticalReactions The chaos that you're hearing isn't intrinsic to them; it's intrinsic to specific songs that you've been recommended. I think people keep on recommending you the most chaotic and eccentric compositions because they make for more entertaining reaction videos. As a composer, Tim Smith was actually capable of showing quite a bit of restraint. Many of their songs are more straightforward rock songs. After digesting their whole catalog, it becomes more apparent that these chaotic songs aren't meant to show off Tim's compositional skills or to be complex for complexity's sake, rather, they were simply the type of stuff he genuinely wanted to write in that given moment; it's just him having fun. I implore you to investigate some of their more restrained compositions! They really are just as mindblowing and gorgeous. Some specific recommendations: Lilly White's Party - from Smith's side-project, "The Sea Nymphs" Sleep All Eyes Open -- From Guns Heaven and Helen, Core, and Day Is Gone --From the album Heaven Born and Ever Bright. Swimming with the Snake, Savour, Veronica in Ecstasy, and Bug from Heaven --From Tim Smith's solo album, OceanLandWorld. (Just as good if not better than any Cardiacs album) Odd Even, Bellyeye, Flap Off You Beak, and Nurses Whispering Verses --Sing to God. A Little Man and A House --From the album of the same name (almost) Gina Lollabridgida --From The Special Garage Concerts or The Seaside And that's just the beginning.
Cardiacs: Pull the marrow out through your bones sadness - Squeeze your soul sadness. The vastness of reality, the entire universe elbowing its way into your eyes. Leibnitz monadology inside and outside of you. As one.
It is worth pointing out also that there are a handful of Cardiacs related side-projects, all of which capture the softer side of Tim's writing. There are three albums by Sea Nymphs (although the first one is under the name Mr. And Mrs. Smith and Mr. Drake. Which is three members of Cardiacs, Tim (guitar and vocals), Sarah (sax and vocals), and Bill (keyboards and vocals). It's sort of the softer pastoral acoustic side of Cardiacs. Tim had one solo record called Tim Smith's Extra Special OceanLandWorld. It is very much like Cardiacs, but slightly more restrained. Sort of a psychedelic pop album. Then there is Spratleys Japs, with Tim Smith and Joanne Spratley. One album, again more of a psychedelic pop record, but a little bit wonkier. As the lore behind it goes the genesis point of the songs was Tim being allowed to borrow a broken Mellotron, which he wrote the songs around. All definitely worth checking out to delve into the more varied parts of the Cardiacs catalog.
As usual, a very insightful commentary. I'm sure there will be Cardiacs songs you grow to love. It took me several years to become fully immersed in Tim Smith's compositional genius and you are already half way there. Try 'Big Ship', a big anthem for Cardiacs which is perhaps more immediately engaging and coherent.
Please react to the Cardiacs track “Spinney”. You’ll find out why, soon enough. ;-). Also, more seriously, Stoneage Dinosaurs should be on your Cardiacs list, for sure. It’s a really special one.
It's funny because you got it right the first time-the "flourish" in the extra beat in the verse isn't chromatic but a diatonic run up the scale, 5, 6, 7, 8, like the Adam's Family theme song 8)
Great video, really enjoying your analyses of Cardiacs - it’s a bit like listening with refreshed ears. If I may, please consider Dirty Boy your next Cardiacs track - the bristling frenzy in the previous songs is here exchanged for a lava-flow of Godly chord progressions. It’s pretty special, I hope you enjoy :-)
It's interesting you say these last two tracks don't come together as a complete package for you. I don't think you can get on board with one listen. Dirty Boy is the track you need. It's not as wacky.. but it's epic!
Completely agree, I think this is a band that really benefits from repeat listen. They're a growing band, the music gets better every time you listen and it grows on ya.
@@CriticalReactions Yeah... it goes without saying, but with repeat listens, what once felt a bit disjointed becomes totally familiar and therefore starts to feel more cohesive (in a Cardiacs kind of way). In fact, I think the bits that originally felt slightly disjointed on first listen, become the bits you look forward to once you internalise the songs through repeated listens.
+1 for Dirty Boy! Definitely a more cohesive track, easier to listen to than most of their stuff; the one that stood out to me when I was initially discovering their music, and still my favourite. Stunning climax, too!
Tim Smith wrote a song for his friends at the North Sea Radio Orchestra ("chamber pop", some call it - clarinets, oboe, that kind of thing) that shows his more restrained side. It's called *Morpheus Miracle Maker* (you might recognize some of the voices) th-cam.com/video/9Hp3yViKCLo/w-d-xo.html (He was very much the core of Cardiacs. Other band members made contributions, but it was "a Tim Smith band", creatively. They were all happy with things being that way. If you get more into the music, look for Markus Reuter - one of the Stick Men - and his interview with Kavus Torabi, if you want in inside perspective of the band. One of the things Kavus says is that Tim was e.g. one of those guys who read the instruction manual for equipment, looked after it well, and figured out how to repair it himself when necessary. The wacky side was largely for entertainment purposes - a way of escaping from any pressure to take themselves too seriously.)
A song that was meant for the album they were working on when Tim had his stroke which is restrained is *Ditzy Scene* (with lyrics by Kavus, and quite a lot of input musically, too - it was also not a dictatorship). I like the "atom bomb fan video" for that one (in spite of a bit of a glitch near the end). th-cam.com/video/yP6nEQyP6uA/w-d-xo.html (Kavus was "appointed" by the late Daevid Allen to take his place in Gong - which still goes on, I think. You might get interested in the many variants of Gong one day. They are all sorts of bands. Once there were three different Gongs in action all at the same time, for instance.)
If you want with more other contributors mainly piano based (heavy, and with some bass you might find interesting, too - as well as lots of sax) try *Sea Ritual* by the *Sea Nymphs* - which someone managed to sneak past a radio station manager who had declared a ban on anything Cardiacs on that station. th-cam.com/video/fsF-gy_vRxw/w-d-xo.html Sound is probably not good enough for a reaction, but fine for hearing what's going on. It's a bit wacky in its own way, but with its own sound. They were "We Three" in that band (said in strange voices all the time to each other, apparently). It was a certain kind of music that emerged when they were together, and everyone had some say in it. You can find the entire radio session on TH-cam, too, if you want to hear more.
For something Tim contributed to, with more strings, and lots more choir, you might want to at least bookmark a link to *The End of Chimes* for one day. th-cam.com/video/tR6axzyFX-k/w-d-xo.html (by NSRO again) The choir is mainly made up of people from the Cardiacs world.
Have to correct that - Tim didn't write "Morpheus Miracle Maker", or any other NSRO material. It was written *about* him, in fact the whole album "I, A Moon" is their tribute to him after his collapse.
@@KenPurchase Thanks I thought I heard "a song writtem by our beautiful friend, Tim Smith" in the live version, but listening now, hear it's "about" him, then. A love song, then. Maybe I like it even more, now. What a beautiful tribute *I, A Moon* is!
So all this was done a year ago. I you want to revisit them I would recommend songs from the album Stone age Dinosaurs. And the last tune is instrumental. All his geese are swans. If you haven't done it before.
One thing I want to mention, the majority of work done by Cardiacs has always been written by Tim Smith, so if you want to get into the mentality behind it you kinda have to look for some of the quite rare serious interviews with Tim. There's also an interesting history section on the official Cardiacs webpage, although some details there require a pinch of salt. This goes quite in detail about the early years, but one overal thing to note is that the band has gone through big changes about twice in their history. You have the early work, where Tim and Jim is mostly playing with local friends, then there's the 80's where the 'classic' lineup stabilizes. In the classic lineup, you have some serious folk influence from the likes of William D Drake and Sahara Smith. In the early 90s however, most of the classic lineup quits, being replaced by people who are more in favour of the harder all-out intense style you see a lot of on the "Heaven Born..." and "Sing to God" albums. At this time, William and Sahra still collaborates with Tim for a few calmer albums with an even stronger folk/trad.-inspiration, under the name "The Sea Nymphs". So if you want calmer stuff but still very much in the style, then I will actually suggest some of their mid-early stuff. A few names: Stoneage Dinosaurs, Blind In Safety And Leafy In Love, All His Geese Are Swans, Victory Egg, The Whole World Window. Also, one you should totally check out is Vermin Mangle. It's surprisingly calm for being a late Cardiacs track, serving very much as an anticlimax given it's the last song which they ever released. It was made available on their bandcamp page just after Tim passed in 2020.
Love that you’re exploring Cardiacs. If you’re looking for a more casual track, try “Stoneage Dinosaurs”; covered by Steven Wilson as it was the simplest track he could think of to cover, but the composition blew his mind.
Been loving the cardiacs reactions! While most of their songs are pretty strange, the requests you've gotten so far have been some of the weirdest ones. If you really want to dive into them I'd recommend listening to a full album, also definitely read their wiki. They had a whole fictional backstory surrounding their label and a bunch of lore that doesn't tie directly in with their lyrical themes but does give more context to some of the insanity. If you want cardiacs at their most restrained, I'd reccomend the album A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window, it's still got pleanty of odd moments that benefit from repeat listening but it's a pretty cohesive album overall.
Next month I'll be looking at A Little Man and a House ad Odd Even (or Even Odd...I forget the title name). I'm ready to explore a bit of the tamer side of Cardiacs.
You said you were curious as to what fans have to say about Cardiacs, so I'll give my perspective, as trite as it may be. See, I'm not knowledgeable at all about music theory, & I have a hard time noticing all the tricks they pull, which is a major draw of the band. No, I just find them super fun, & they REALLY know how to write good hooks lol.
Greetings from Ireland, Brian! I would wager that Dirty Boy off of the Sing to God album is the closest thing to a restrained compositional approach (not that's not an otherworldly treat ... because it's brimming with childlike wonder). But in terms of composition it develops more so in steady linear fashion - gradually unfurling itself to reveal its treasures. If you find the "choral"/gang-vocal aspect of Cardiacs' work interesting, you'll especially be in for a treat with Dirty Boy.
Longtime Cardiacs fan here. You definitely picked up on the 'beer hall' vocal styling. They share that similarity with the mighty Kinks. Not all Cardiacs songs have this feature, but it does pop up here and there. As far as a little ascending motif on the tagged on beats: that's not something that gets used too much. However, the rhythmic ' hiccup' gets used fairly regularly. 4/4/4/5 or 6/6/6/4, that type of thing. The Pixies used this idea often as well. Not all Cardiacs songs are like this, but a lot are. As far as more 'songy' tunes, check out: No Bright Side, Is This The Life?, Day Is Gone, Manhoo, etc. And when discussing Cardiacs songs, in general, I have to mention the pinnacle, in my opinion, Dirty Boy. I understand that this stuff isn't for everyone and like you said, that's ok. Tim Smith was the driving force and principal songwriter of Cardiacs. We sadly lost him in 2020. I am profoundly thankful for discovering his music. I love the stuff to the moon and back...For me, he made a whole lot of music redundant.
Considering this was the early 90s, there was clearly no click track (pretty sure no click track or drum machine would have handled all those accelerandos and stuff, hell even today it'd be a tall order without a full daw) so this band was tight as hell.
Come on - you're getting this and I'm loving watching you listen to the greatest band. I'd love to see what you make of Dirty Boy or Ever so Closely Guarded Line. I think you could become a big fan of theirs (if you're not already)
Wonderful track, just like R.E.S. from yesterday. Except the ones you mentioned you also got to react to Loosefish Scapegoat but I'm so impressed with your song-memory all the same! There"s certainly much more cohesive tracks from them and the top popular one at Spotify (they've only been featured there a year or so though) "Is This The Life?" is actually one of them. Just maybe, you could really benefit from some relistening to tracks since all the surprise moments (however entertaining they may be) might get in the way of one's full enjoyment of the total. Once you know exactly what to expect, a track gets kinda "called": Does it last or was it just the entertainment in the surprises that enthralleda bit?... To me (and so many Cardiacs fans) the answer is obvious. These "wacky tracks" last as well as with the more pensive and/or cohesive ones.
"Is This The Life?" indeed a classic. Australian highly renowned musicians have argued and mostly agreed with OS musos for years over their music. I could name drop but assure you the overseas bands are in plenty and famous. 🇦🇺
"Once you know exactly what to expect, a track gets kinda "called": Does it last or was it just the entertainment in the surprises that enthralleda bit?" Could not have said it better myself! The jarring and wacky elements are what hooked my attention when I first heard them, but that aspect of it very quickly wears off and you're left with something that really sticks with you.
This dude talks too much. This is the best song ever. My previous fave was Pink Floyd Echoes. That last sentence is worth more than everything said in this video.
Yes! Loads! Plane Plane Against The Grain... Blind In Safety and Leafy In Love... Stoneage Dinosaurs... A Little Man and a House... Foundling... all of Sea Nymphs and Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake
Not true at all! Core, day is gone, no bright side, flap off you beak, no gold, sleep all eyes open, Gina, all of tims solo album and the sea nymphs. And much more. People should recommend more of these conventional songs because they’re equally great, instead of always going for shock value.
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As a fellow composer I wish you would give more attention to their use of harmony-Tim Smith has one of the most distinctive harmonic languages in rock music, achieving chromaticism through triads (chromatic mediants are an example of this.) This song is a perfect example of this, the chorus having a repeating chord progression of C, G, A, C#, G#, B, Eb, Bb. No other band would write something like this and in my opinion this harmonic language is one of the best qualities of their music!
Very well put
pick 4 notes at random, make major chords out of them, that makes a nirvana riff. Do the same song with 9 notes, that's a cardiacs riff :p
Jim’s baselines are insanely good too.
"Dirty Boy"
"The Everso Closely Guarded Line"
"Mare's Nest"
"The Stench of Honey"
"In a City Lining"
"Dive"
"Icing on the World"
"Loosefish Scapegrace"
"Big Ship"
"Bodysbad"
Top shelf tunes right there. There are SOOOO many more too.
He did Loosefish Scapegrace - a "special selection" of mine 😊
Dirty Boy’s gonna melt his brain!
Where is RES??
Catchy Pop Tune ... Love It !! The "choir" type vocals are reminiscent of English football chants. Hope you're revving up for "Fiery Gun Hand" and "Dirty Boy"
Yeah these are the two I feel are must-listens from Sing to God.
and "The Everso Closely Guarded Line"......possibly tied for their greatest tune along with "Dirty Boy"
@@fcamiola I couldn't agree more, I love that song so much it makes my tummy hurt!
@@White1Tiger2Dan belly eye and wireless
Yeah, I have a feeling Tim was a Bad Manners fan (Theres a few areas where you can see that influence) and definately the football chant thing turns up in a few of his songs
To me, the chaotic, unpredictable, jarring sound of Cardiacs was a breath of fresh air for me. Especially after hearing all of the uniform, straight sounding music for so long. But to each their own I guess.
I first discovered them this past Spring. I read a comment that went along the lines of: once you hear Cardiacs, music is never quite the same again. I have dived deep down the rabbit hole of Cardiacs, and Cardiacs-related bands (Knifeworld, Spratley Japs, Oceansize). An amazing journey, and I'm thankful for Tim Smith(RIP) for all of this.
Restrained Cardiacs? Head directly to "All Spectacular," "Stoneage Dinosaurs," "A Little Man and a House" (Seaside version is my fav), "Wireless," or a "Gina Lolla Brigida" if you want the energy but with a little more focus. Tim Smith's "Swimming with the Snake" is also a real moment.
For me it would be the icing of the world, the whole world window, arnald, the leader of the starry skyes, Helen and heaven, fairy Mary mag, odd even, no gold, foundling
Check out The Sea Nymphs...."mellow" Cardiacs. Just as amazing too.
There's so much "restrained cardiacs", and it's all just as good. I wish people wouldn't immediately go for shock value when recommending songs. I've been guilty of it myself, but it really does them a disservice.
Like all the Cardiacs we've heard this is super original and very postmodern in its "throw genres into a blender and see what colorful mess comes out." The one thing I really enjoyed here was how much it reminded me of late-60s/early-70s psychedelic rock/pop when bands were still trying to do their own take on The Beatles, but before prog fully took over and those psychedelic bands died out. The one thing I love about about that era is the combination of the pop approach to vocals with a very, shall we say, "colorful" take on instrumentation, harmony, and melody. Like, one common complaint about modern pop music is how so many melodies are relegated to one or two notes, but on tracks like and older psychedelic pop/rock bands/artists weren't afraid to use the entire scale to construct these elongated melodic lines, and you hear a lot of that here. Plus, I found this track (in general) so much fun, much more so than yesterday's. I'm definitely going to have to check out their discography on my own.
I was once like you.....then this band became my favourite music EVER. Brilliant doesn't even begin to cover it.
So similar to the first time I heard this. I just sat there, bit baffled and amused. Then listened to it again and again and again Everytime spotting more and more things. It's just a joyous bundle of superbly written music. R.i.p Tim.
And live ... oh my! It was very heaven.
I remember listening to Sing to God the first time and just feeling completely overwhelmed by what I was hearing. Took me another listen or two for it to click, but then I was hooked.
Big Cardiacs fan. There are definitely "more conventional" Cardiacs songs. This album with "Dog Like Sparky" is a double album that runs the gamut of songs and compositional approaches.
Amazing and highly underrated band. #RIP Tim Smith aged 59
Glad you noticed the excellent bass playing by Jim Smith (brother of frontman Tim). I would still say Dirty Boy would be a good example of a different structural style. You could also try Fairy Mary Mag, which is quite trippy, or the more poppy Flap Off You Beak or Day Is Gone.
And my second request is here! You had a couple questions so here's some answers to them.
Oh wow, no I didn't choose these songs based on their similarities, but now that you point it out it's really clear to see. Thinking through their discography there are a *lot* of other songs that use that extra beat technique. Not all of them but quite a few.
The person who wrote RES and Dog-Like Sparky was Tim Smith. He wrote almost everything for the band. I don't think he's done an interview about that topic specifically but there are several interviews with him on youtube and various other sites.
There were four people in the core band when this song came out, but there are several very frequent contributors that also show up here.
There are *plenty* Cardiacs songs that are *way* more restrained, and now that you say that I think I do want to hear your thoughts on some of those. It's a side of the band you've barely heard and I think it would be a disservice to you and to them if the wackiest ones were all you heard.
(edited for formatting)
Oooo yeah, I'm quite interested in a different side of Cardiacs. I'm thinking these song need time, repeat listens and such so I can begin to really get a feel for the control and layers underneath the chaos. But with something a little more structured I'd be able to see what's going on beneath that chaos and it might help me appreciate these more wild tracks.
@@CriticalReactions The chaos that you're hearing isn't intrinsic to them; it's intrinsic to specific songs that you've been recommended. I think people keep on recommending you the most chaotic and eccentric compositions because they make for more entertaining reaction videos. As a composer, Tim Smith was actually capable of showing quite a bit of restraint. Many of their songs are more straightforward rock songs. After digesting their whole catalog, it becomes more apparent that these chaotic songs aren't meant to show off Tim's compositional skills or to be complex for complexity's sake, rather, they were simply the type of stuff he genuinely wanted to write in that given moment; it's just him having fun.
I implore you to investigate some of their more restrained compositions! They really are just as mindblowing and gorgeous. Some specific recommendations:
Lilly White's Party - from Smith's side-project, "The Sea Nymphs"
Sleep All Eyes Open -- From Guns
Heaven and Helen, Core, and Day Is Gone --From the album Heaven Born and Ever Bright.
Swimming with the Snake, Savour, Veronica in Ecstasy, and Bug from Heaven --From Tim Smith's solo album, OceanLandWorld. (Just as good if not better than any Cardiacs album)
Odd Even, Bellyeye, Flap Off You Beak, and Nurses Whispering Verses --Sing to God.
A Little Man and A House --From the album of the same name (almost)
Gina Lollabridgida --From The Special Garage Concerts or The Seaside
And that's just the beginning.
Loving these cardiacs reviews, such an amazing band
Cardiacs: Pull the marrow out through your bones sadness - Squeeze your soul sadness. The vastness of reality, the entire universe elbowing its way into your eyes. Leibnitz monadology inside and outside of you. As one.
It is worth pointing out also that there are a handful of Cardiacs related side-projects, all of which capture the softer side of Tim's writing.
There are three albums by Sea Nymphs (although the first one is under the name Mr. And Mrs. Smith and Mr. Drake. Which is three members of Cardiacs, Tim (guitar and vocals), Sarah (sax and vocals), and Bill (keyboards and vocals). It's sort of the softer pastoral acoustic side of Cardiacs.
Tim had one solo record called Tim Smith's Extra Special OceanLandWorld. It is very much like Cardiacs, but slightly more restrained. Sort of a psychedelic pop album.
Then there is Spratleys Japs, with Tim Smith and Joanne Spratley. One album, again more of a psychedelic pop record, but a little bit wonkier. As the lore behind it goes the genesis point of the songs was Tim being allowed to borrow a broken Mellotron, which he wrote the songs around.
All definitely worth checking out to delve into the more varied parts of the Cardiacs catalog.
Probably time to check out the track Dirty Boy
As usual, a very insightful commentary. I'm sure there will be Cardiacs songs you grow to love. It took me several years to become fully immersed in Tim Smith's compositional genius and you are already half way there. Try 'Big Ship', a big anthem for Cardiacs which is perhaps more immediately engaging and coherent.
A very good suggestion - more coherent, still some wackiness in style in it but less restless.
Please react to the Cardiacs track “Spinney”. You’ll find out why, soon enough. ;-). Also, more seriously, Stoneage Dinosaurs should be on your Cardiacs list, for sure. It’s a really special one.
Dr Tim was a genius and greatly loved in Uk
It's funny because you got it right the first time-the "flourish" in the extra beat in the verse isn't chromatic but a diatonic run up the scale, 5, 6, 7, 8, like the Adam's Family theme song 8)
Great video, really enjoying your analyses of Cardiacs - it’s a bit like listening with refreshed ears. If I may, please consider Dirty Boy your next Cardiacs track - the bristling frenzy in the previous songs is here exchanged for a lava-flow of Godly chord progressions. It’s pretty special, I hope you enjoy :-)
It's interesting you say these last two tracks don't come together as a complete package for you. I don't think you can get on board with one listen.
Dirty Boy is the track you need. It's not as wacky.. but it's epic!
Completely agree, I think this is a band that really benefits from repeat listen. They're a growing band, the music gets better every time you listen and it grows on ya.
@@CriticalReactions Yeah... it goes without saying, but with repeat listens, what once felt a bit disjointed becomes totally familiar and therefore starts to feel more cohesive (in a Cardiacs kind of way).
In fact, I think the bits that originally felt slightly disjointed on first listen, become the bits you look forward to once you internalise the songs through repeated listens.
Dirty Boy is the track that I heard first, and I'm not the same :D
@@CriticalReactions Most addictive music I have ever heard.....maybe along with Zappa and Opeth. And Magma.
@@fcamiola Excellent taste good sir!
+1 for Dirty Boy! Definitely a more cohesive track, easier to listen to than most of their stuff; the one that stood out to me when I was initially discovering their music, and still my favourite. Stunning climax, too!
Tim Smith wrote a song for his friends at the North Sea Radio Orchestra ("chamber pop", some call it - clarinets, oboe, that kind of thing) that shows his more restrained side. It's called *Morpheus Miracle Maker* (you might recognize some of the voices) th-cam.com/video/9Hp3yViKCLo/w-d-xo.html
(He was very much the core of Cardiacs. Other band members made contributions, but it was "a Tim Smith band", creatively. They were all happy with things being that way. If you get more into the music, look for Markus Reuter - one of the Stick Men - and his interview with Kavus Torabi, if you want in inside perspective of the band. One of the things Kavus says is that Tim was e.g. one of those guys who read the instruction manual for equipment, looked after it well, and figured out how to repair it himself when necessary. The wacky side was largely for entertainment purposes - a way of escaping from any pressure to take themselves too seriously.)
A song that was meant for the album they were working on when Tim had his stroke which is restrained is *Ditzy Scene* (with lyrics by Kavus, and quite a lot of input musically, too - it was also not a dictatorship). I like the "atom bomb fan video" for that one (in spite of a bit of a glitch near the end). th-cam.com/video/yP6nEQyP6uA/w-d-xo.html
(Kavus was "appointed" by the late Daevid Allen to take his place in Gong - which still goes on, I think. You might get interested in the many variants of Gong one day. They are all sorts of bands. Once there were three different Gongs in action all at the same time, for instance.)
If you want with more other contributors mainly piano based (heavy, and with some bass you might find interesting, too - as well as lots of sax) try *Sea Ritual* by the *Sea Nymphs* - which someone managed to sneak past a radio station manager who had declared a ban on anything Cardiacs on that station. th-cam.com/video/fsF-gy_vRxw/w-d-xo.html
Sound is probably not good enough for a reaction, but fine for hearing what's going on.
It's a bit wacky in its own way, but with its own sound. They were "We Three" in that band (said in strange voices all the time to each other, apparently). It was a certain kind of music that emerged when they were together, and everyone had some say in it.
You can find the entire radio session on TH-cam, too, if you want to hear more.
For something Tim contributed to, with more strings, and lots more choir, you might want to at least bookmark a link to *The End of Chimes* for one day. th-cam.com/video/tR6axzyFX-k/w-d-xo.html (by NSRO again)
The choir is mainly made up of people from the Cardiacs world.
Have to correct that - Tim didn't write "Morpheus Miracle Maker", or any other NSRO material. It was written *about* him, in fact the whole album "I, A Moon" is their tribute to him after his collapse.
@@KenPurchase Thanks I thought I heard "a song writtem by our beautiful friend, Tim Smith" in the live version, but listening now, hear it's "about" him, then.
A love song, then. Maybe I like it even more, now.
What a beautiful tribute *I, A Moon* is!
One of my favourite Cardiacs tracks. Just love the pace and vocals on this track.
You HAVE to do Dirty Boy at some point!
Bass shoutout to Jim!!
WHO IS HIM????????????
I love this tune. So off the wall. These guys were insane
So all this was done a year ago. I you want to revisit them I would recommend songs from the album Stone age Dinosaurs. And the last tune is instrumental. All his geese are swans. If you haven't done it before.
One thing I want to mention, the majority of work done by Cardiacs has always been written by Tim Smith, so if you want to get into the mentality behind it you kinda have to look for some of the quite rare serious interviews with Tim.
There's also an interesting history section on the official Cardiacs webpage, although some details there require a pinch of salt. This goes quite in detail about the early years, but one overal thing to note is that the band has gone through big changes about twice in their history. You have the early work, where Tim and Jim is mostly playing with local friends, then there's the 80's where the 'classic' lineup stabilizes. In the classic lineup, you have some serious folk influence from the likes of William D Drake and Sahara Smith. In the early 90s however, most of the classic lineup quits, being replaced by people who are more in favour of the harder all-out intense style you see a lot of on the "Heaven Born..." and "Sing to God" albums. At this time, William and Sahra still collaborates with Tim for a few calmer albums with an even stronger folk/trad.-inspiration, under the name "The Sea Nymphs".
So if you want calmer stuff but still very much in the style, then I will actually suggest some of their mid-early stuff. A few names: Stoneage Dinosaurs, Blind In Safety And Leafy In Love, All His Geese Are Swans, Victory Egg, The Whole World Window.
Also, one you should totally check out is Vermin Mangle. It's surprisingly calm for being a late Cardiacs track, serving very much as an anticlimax given it's the last song which they ever released. It was made available on their bandcamp page just after Tim passed in 2020.
Amazing bass tone
Love that you’re exploring Cardiacs. If you’re looking for a more casual track, try “Stoneage Dinosaurs”; covered by Steven Wilson as it was the simplest track he could think of to cover, but the composition blew his mind.
If you're looking for a more restrained tune, try Stoneage Dinosaurs.
It's a beauty. Foundling from Sing to God is another more restrained song and a great closer.
Been loving the cardiacs reactions! While most of their songs are pretty strange, the requests you've gotten so far have been some of the weirdest ones. If you really want to dive into them I'd recommend listening to a full album, also definitely read their wiki. They had a whole fictional backstory surrounding their label and a bunch of lore that doesn't tie directly in with their lyrical themes but does give more context to some of the insanity. If you want cardiacs at their most restrained, I'd reccomend the album A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window, it's still got pleanty of odd moments that benefit from repeat listening but it's a pretty cohesive album overall.
Next month I'll be looking at A Little Man and a House ad Odd Even (or Even Odd...I forget the title name). I'm ready to explore a bit of the tamer side of Cardiacs.
You said you were curious as to what fans have to say about Cardiacs, so I'll give my perspective, as trite as it may be. See, I'm not knowledgeable at all about music theory, & I have a hard time noticing all the tricks they pull, which is a major draw of the band. No, I just find them super fun, & they REALLY know how to write good hooks lol.
Greetings from Ireland, Brian! I would wager that Dirty Boy off of the Sing to God album is the closest thing to a restrained compositional approach (not that's not an otherworldly treat ... because it's brimming with childlike wonder). But in terms of composition it develops more so in steady linear fashion - gradually unfurling itself to reveal its treasures. If you find the "choral"/gang-vocal aspect of Cardiacs' work interesting, you'll especially be in for a treat with Dirty Boy.
Love Cardiacs, enjoyed your analysis very much!
My all time favorite Cardiacs song as a bassist Jim is masterful !
Cardiacs pure genius
Longtime Cardiacs fan here.
You definitely picked up on the 'beer hall' vocal styling. They share that similarity with the mighty Kinks. Not all Cardiacs songs have this feature, but it does pop up here and there.
As far as a little ascending motif on the tagged on beats: that's not something that gets used too much. However, the rhythmic ' hiccup' gets used fairly regularly. 4/4/4/5 or 6/6/6/4, that type of thing. The Pixies used this idea often as well.
Not all Cardiacs songs are like this, but a lot are. As far as more 'songy' tunes, check out: No Bright Side, Is This The Life?, Day Is Gone, Manhoo, etc.
And when discussing Cardiacs songs, in general, I have to mention the pinnacle, in my opinion, Dirty Boy.
I understand that this stuff isn't for everyone and like you said, that's ok.
Tim Smith was the driving force and principal songwriter of Cardiacs. We sadly lost him in 2020. I am profoundly thankful for discovering his music. I love the stuff to the moon and back...For me, he made a whole lot of music redundant.
Considering this was the early 90s, there was clearly no click track (pretty sure no click track or drum machine would have handled all those accelerandos and stuff, hell even today it'd be a tall order without a full daw) so this band was tight as hell.
Come on - you're getting this and I'm loving watching you listen to the greatest band. I'd love to see what you make of Dirty Boy or Ever so Closely Guarded Line. I think you could become a big fan of theirs (if you're not already)
Looks like you may be getting addicted to Cardiacs! Greatest band ever!
May I suggest you react to Cardiacs "Jibber and Twitch", if only because I just want to know what you make of it and it's just a great kick-ass song.
Love Cardiacs, check out "Signs" for another great one.
Also, a band that needs more reacts is Sybreed!!! Check out "Rusted"!
Wonderful track, just like R.E.S. from yesterday. Except the ones you mentioned you also got to react to Loosefish Scapegoat but I'm so impressed with your song-memory all the same!
There"s certainly much more cohesive tracks from them and the top popular one at Spotify (they've only been featured there a year or so though) "Is This The Life?" is actually one of them.
Just maybe, you could really benefit from some relistening to tracks since all the surprise moments (however entertaining they may be) might get in the way of one's full enjoyment of the total. Once you know exactly what to expect, a track gets kinda "called": Does it last or was it just the entertainment in the surprises that enthralleda bit?... To me (and so many Cardiacs fans) the answer is obvious. These "wacky tracks" last as well as with the more pensive and/or cohesive ones.
"Is This The Life?" indeed a classic. Australian highly renowned musicians have argued and mostly agreed with OS musos for years over their music. I could name drop but assure you the overseas bands are in plenty and famous. 🇦🇺
"Once you know exactly what to expect, a track gets kinda "called": Does it last or was it just the entertainment in the surprises that enthralleda bit?" Could not have said it better myself! The jarring and wacky elements are what hooked my attention when I first heard them, but that aspect of it very quickly wears off and you're left with something that really sticks with you.
god is just Dog miss-spelled, I know which one I have faith in.
This dude talks too much. This is the best song ever. My previous fave was Pink Floyd Echoes. That last sentence is worth more than everything said in this video.
Is there a cardiacs a little bit more restrained!? :) NO!
Yes! Loads! Plane Plane Against The Grain... Blind In Safety and Leafy In Love... Stoneage Dinosaurs... A Little Man and a House... Foundling... all of Sea Nymphs and Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake
Not true at all! Core, day is gone, no bright side, flap off you beak, no gold, sleep all eyes open, Gina, all of tims solo album and the sea nymphs. And much more. People should recommend more of these conventional songs because they’re equally great, instead of always going for shock value.