The Comsat Angels?

[Jefferson]

Any of you guys familiar with this early 80's post-punk band?

I'm afraid I missed them the first time around. :(

I've heard that their first 3 albums are very good and I have a sneaking suspicion that they may be right in my wheel house.

Anyway before I track any of their stuff down I thought I'd get some input. ;)

Cheers

Rick

[Davey.]

Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones, a collection of the Comsat Angels' BBC sessions from 1979-1984, is an excellent introduction to the band's early work. The performances of many of these songs are at such a high level that the band views them as being better than their studio versions.

Actually, I've heard the name but don't think I've heard their music before. The above paragraph is from AMG, but what really got my interest is the title of this BBC collection, as it is taken from the title of a classic short story by one of my favorite writers, Samuel Delany. It's included along with 9 other excellent stories in the Driftglass collection which was published in 1971, and which I just recently read again for the third or fourth time, at least. Some great stories, mostly on the science fiction fringe with some occasional fantasy elements. Amazing and often brilliant writer. That story also won a lot of awards in 1970, including the Hugo and Nebula and many others.

Anyway, just thought I would mention that as I don't have anything to say about the music, but I am interested in it. The Sound is also listed as similar (and were also touring mates back in the day) so you might want to check out From the Lions Mouth or one of their others that were just reissued a year or so ago. Great stuff! Swish Baby turned me onto them recently. Quite a bit of new stuff along the same lines too.

Keep us posted about what you find and how you like it as I might be following in your footsteps :)

NP: The amazing Electric Fence from Califone's Road Cone EP

[Jim Clark]

Yep, I like the first three quite a bit although I haven't listened to any of them in quite a while. My favorite is Fiction, perhaps because that was my introduction to the band. Agree with Davey's suggestion of listening to The Sound as well. Great tie in band. I could whip up a sampler if you needed a little test listen before diving in head first. Just let me know.

jc

[Jefferson]

Thanks for the input guys, Davey, your literary reference was quite interesting, I would have never been able to make that conection between story title and album, cool.

Jim, what albums by the Comsat Angels do you have?

I'll share with you how I first come across these guys. A friend of mine and I were discussing tunes, current things listened to, you know, anyway I was informing him of the rebirth of early post punk or at least the obvious influence of early post punk on bands like Interpol , And you shall know them by the trail of dead and British Sea Power . He was pretty surprised that this might be or even that I thought I heard such an influence, he didn't and doesn't have the affection for late 70's, early 80's punk, new wave, post punk that I did, do. Anyway I was looking on AMG under Echo & the Bunnymen , Psychedelic Furs and Joy Division and kept running across references to The Comsat Angels and also Jim The Sound . Damn you're ahead of me on this and its my research deal , how many fingers am I holding up? :D Anyway I was going to burn my friend a disc of Echo , Furs and JD , and then another with stuff by T of Dead , Interpol and British Sea Power , so he could see the similarities between then and now.

Deep breath :D

Anyway I think they sound interesting, Jim if I could get you to e-mail me I'd like to discuss them some.

Peace

Rick

[Jim Clark]

Can do on the email. I've got Fiction, Sleep No More, and Waiting for a Miracle as well as From the Lions Mouth from The Sound. Just listened to Fiction and Waiting for a Miracle and can't seem to find Sleep no More but it's around here somewhere.

And if your trying to prove a point, especially with regards to Interpol (I love 'em) be sure to include some Chameleons!

jc

[Dusty Chalk]

Nothing to add, except that I love the Comsat Angels. You may also want to do a search on C.S. Angels and variants, because that was what they had to be known as, in the US, due to the company Comsat suing them (unfairly, I might add/editorialize). My favourite album, though, is kind of a weird choice -- Chasing Shadows. It's just got some fantastic songs.

BTW, don't get distracted by Davey -- they have very little to do with Samuel Delany and science fiction. It's just a really cool title.

[Davey.]

BTW, don't get distracted by Davey -- they have very little to do with Samuel Delany and science fiction. It's just a really cool title.
Well, the band's sound may not have any connection to the sci-fi world of Delany, but the story does have a musical thread weaving its way through the central plot. The narrator is a criminal with some contraband to sell, but one of the people he meets up with on the street in this future city is an old friend who is a member of the elite group of "singers" with the ability to command complete and utter attention when they give voice to their feelings. But, as with most of Delany's work, at least the fictional ones, there are always other stories and images hiding beneath the story, often highly sexual in nature, even though the one on top is perfectly enjoyable on its own merits. I was just looking for a short review of the story that I might post since I have mentioned previously on other occasions how much I enjoy his novels, but instead came across this fascinating recent critique of Time...Helix...Stones by Adam Roberts. I haven't fully digested it yet but it does appear to offer some insights into the mind and writings of Delany that I've missed. Maybe wrapped a little too tightly in intellectualisms for a simple guy like me, though :)

http://www.thealienonline.net/columns/rcsf_delany_dec02.asp?tid=7&scid=55&iid=1264

[Dusty Chalk]

Well, the band's sound may not have any connection to the sci-fi world of Delany, but the story does have a musical thread weaving its way through the central plot.Okay, so the connection is, the story has a musical thread, and the Comsat Angels are all about music...? Well, alrighty, then.

So, since we thread-farted (sort of like thread-crapping, except lighter and no substance) already, what book(s) would you recommend I start with on Delany?

[Davey.]

Okay, so the connection is, the story has a musical thread, and the Comsat Angels are all about music...? Well, alrighty, then.

So, since we thread-farted (sort of like thread-crapping, except lighter and no substance) already, what book(s) would you recommend I start with on Delany?
Well, I didn't mean to imply there was really a connection since I have no idea why they chose to use that title, only that it's not as unlikely as you said :)

<img src="http://members.mailaka.net/davey/delany.jpg" align=left hspace=5>Hey, Delany! Science Fiction! Cool! What else have you been reading? Stars in my Pocket Like Grains of Sand. That's the one for me. I did make a little post one time here about it, but didn't say too much.

http://forums14.consumerreview.com/crforum?14@223.xM1laeSxmma.2@.eeb7424

The Onion page I mentioned in the post is now at http://www.theonionavclub.com/avclub3727/bonusfeature1_3727.html

Anyway, that's my favorite Delany book, and by extension one of my favorite books period. I've read it at least three times and will undoubtedly read it more. It's a very difficult book to describe, but it's one of the most imaginative I've ever read and the imagery is extremely vivid. Read some of the reviews at Amazon for a better idea, except ignore the one or two that just don't get it. It's not in print as far as I know, but definitely worth checking out if you can turn up a copy. It was written in 1984 and originally was envisioned as the first in a diptych of novels, to be concluded the following year with The Splendor and Misery of Bodies, of Cities. But never was. I don't know why. Too bad, as it is really a brilliant novel. It does stand on it's own, though.

His 1968 award winning Nova is also one of my favorites and I just recently read it again. Great book. Of course that's 16 years earlier in his career at the age of 26, but I think he wrote his first novel at 19 so was well on his way at that time and Nova is very well developed and written with his characteristic vision which seems to be, unlike many other scifi writers, nearly timeless. It's widely available since still in print, being somewhat a classic of the genre.

And of course, the book of short stories I mentioned, Driftglass. I'll email you and we can talk about it some more so this thread doesn't keep popping to the top with off topic stuff. Just reread another cool old John Brunner book last week called The Shockwave Rider. I wanted to read his Stand On Zanzibar again, which is really an incredible novel, but I only turned up the jacket and not the actual book. Must have gotten misplaced when I moved and be hiding in one of my boxes still in storage, sans jacket. Oh well. Talk to you more about it later.

[Dusty Chalk]

Hey, Delany! Science Fiction! Cool! What else have you been reading? Been reading a lot of Orson Scott Card, lately, the Ender Quartet and the Bean ...uh... trilogy? (Bean==Ender's Shadow) Also, William Gibson's new one, Pattern Recognition, which is easily his best. Taking a break until I get through a tough time at work and home, then on to Stephen King/Peter Straub, Black House, Stephenson's Quicksilver, and more Card.

[Chris Garrett]

Yeah, I've had some of their LPs going back to the early '80s, but I never saw them in concert. I've got a UK Polydor of Waiting For A Miracle ('80), Jive/Arista LAND ('83) and an '81 4 song EP also on Polydor. They are a bit more melodic/moodier for the period and not a bad band. The song, Another World, from the EP is a favorite of mine with its rolling bass line.

Good luck, Chris

[unleasHell]

I read all the cool stuff about the CS Angels but when I finally bought one of their CD's I did not like it (JC no has it).

I am also thinking about trying a Sound CD or a Crispy Ambulence.

I do have thre CD's form another early Factory type band Section 25 and they are pretty cool...

[Stone]

I've heard that their first 3 albums are very good and I have a sneaking suspicion that they may be right in my wheel house.


Hey, I just picked up a Comsat Angels box set last night that has their first three albums (on separate discs) and 4th CD of bonus material from that era. I haven't listened to it yet, but it was only $30, so I thought I'd mention it if you haven't already got some Comsat Angels stuff.

Stone