Music : Colossal Youth
Price: $28.60 Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 5413303209844
Format: Import
Label: Rough Trade
Manufacturer: Rough Trade
Number Of Discs: 1
Publication Date: 1994
Publisher: Rough Trade
Release Date: September 11, 2002
Sales Rank: 299193
Studio: Rough Trade
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Editorial Review:
Album Details:
The Highly Influential Trio of Brothers Stuart and Philip Moxham Along with Alison Statton Created One of Music's Most Endearing and Interesting Masterpieces of Modern Recording. Their Approach was Distinctly Minimalistic, the Antithesis of the Clamor of Punk Bands that Thrashed around them at the Time. Instead, the Moxham Brothers Used Guitars to Effect and Affect the Mood of a Song Along with Subtle Keyboards Set Against a Tinkering Beat Box Backbeat. Squarely in Front were Statton's Deadpan, Non-plussed Vocals. Like the Mona Lisa, There is Just Something About her One Simply Can't Put Into Words that is Completely Alluring. They were One of Kurt Cobain's all Time Favorite Groups and Hole Ended Up Covering "Credit in the Straight World". This Disc is a Comprehensive Studio History, Including the Original Album, the Testcard EP and Cakewalking Singles.
Average Rating: 
Rating: -
I've been trying to remember when and how I first heard of Young Marble Giants. My best guess is that it was reading one of the 1980s editions of Ira Robbins Trouser Press Guide. I also can't recall if I first discovered it on LP, cassette, or CD. I do know that I flipped over it on the very first listen. It simply didn't sound like anything else I was listening to. The closest to any other band I could come up with at the time was a few cuts by Wire, but really they don't sound like anyone else either before or since. This makes it difficult music to describe to someone else. I almost want to coin a description and call it Punk Pop Minimalism. That description would do as well as anything.
Musically the songs are structured about bare bones guitar with thumping bass, backed by a drum machine (about the only time a drum machine has not driven me insane). Though to tell the truth, Stuart Moxham plays his guitar most of the time like a percussion instrument while brother Philip plays bass like it is the lead. Allison Statton sings so casually that you aren't convinced she is committed to sticking around until the end of the song. This might not sound like a recipe for an unforgettable album, but it turns out that it is.
The album exists in a number of versions at this point. Originally it consisted 15 songs, later expanded in re-releases. But the version to get now is definitely the 3-disc, 46 cut reissue. It contains just about everything ... Read More
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As a teenager growing up in Cardiff in the 1970's I was privileged enough to see YMG performing live on several occasions. They were extremely important to all of us then and they have remained so for me ever since. Apart from the music, which has never been bettered by a Welsh band (including Super Furry Animals), it was their politics and what they 'stood for' that really mattered to us. At the time when Britain voted Thatcher in and took delivery of cruise missiles, we needed YMG. Their power of delivery belied their understated music.
Incredibly (and tragically) they are now virtually forgotten in their home town. This CD is not on sale in any of the major music outlets and when I have asked about it in Cardiff music stores it is quite obvious that the assistants have never heard of them. This is a disgrace.
It would also appear that the CD is now either deleted or being produced in very low numbers: Virgin Records only had 2 copies available in all their stores in the UK in August!
The time has come to speak out. With the rise of Welsh bands in popular music during the 1990's, these people and their unique contribution to the genre has become completely forgotten. Even the best efforts of various members of REM, Nirvana, Hole etc. have gone unnoticed. Certainly their influence is more widely acknowledged in the US - well done!
I am about to start a one-person crusade - this music must be heard again and especially by the youth of their ... Read More
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I believe....actualy I KNOW this album is one of the BEST albums ever recorded!!!!!! It is extremely addicting, but that is a good thing. Thick, chunky guitar sounds but,quiet and soft sounding at the same time. Allison's vocals are extrordinary......... peaceful, energetic,happy, sad, clever, melodic, harmonic.........blah blah blah............THE'RE GOOD!The songwriting is so so so so good!!!!! The bass fits in there too.......like a glove. The lack of drums means nothing and it just goes to show you the power in the natural beat and groove in the songs and the way they are played. Colossal Youth is a very rich album with much to offer, that never gets boring.I love Colossal Youth with my whole heart and I respect and admire the people who made it. So if you are thinking of buying this album, and I hope that you will,than take my word for it
(I'm just a music fan with nothing better to do.)So buy this album put it on, turn it up and take it for a walk with you.thank you.
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"Colossal Youth" may well be the finest album of the 1970's and the progenitor of legions postmodern electronic groups like Portishead, Everything But The Girl, St. Etienne and Stereolab. This album was orginally released in 1979 when the punk music movement began it's tailspin and morphed into the commercially viable and often insipid New Wave music. "Colossal Youth" has minimalist production values, Eno-like electronic ambience, and dark lyrical grace framed by deceptively sunny melodies. The group represented a 3rd stream that was neither punk or new wave. Allison Statton's cooly detached waif-like vocals provided a exotic counterpoint to Stuart Moxham's cynical, world weary lyrics. Musically, Stuart Moxham alternated between playing a power chorded guitar and a keyboard which sounded like a parody of the inane pipe organ player at a sporting event or a church social. Stuart's brother, Phillip added simple and percussive bass lines which often carried most of the melodic content of the song. There were no drums, except the insistent beat of a drum machine ticking time like a metronome.
The songs like, "Searching For Mr. Right" and "Man Amplifier" contain clever subtexts that expose the transparency of modern sexual relations. "Getting Credit In The Straight World" is a skillful subversion of our conventional understanding of success and warns of the pitfalls our acheivement oriented culture. "The Final Day" may be the most eloquent statement on disarmament ever recorded. ... Read More
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A good friend of mine was the first to introduce me to Young Marble Giants. I got it in my mailbox about a week ago. It has not been turned off since (exept for a couple BLONDIE breaks). Truelly a classic that I wish everyone were able to enjoy.
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