Saint Etienne- "This is tomorrow"

[Carol Baynes]

I have a long established habit of flogging the Saints to anyone who will listen on here! The greatest pop band who never really made it perhaps; but I expect that's how they manage to continue to produce their perfect bittersweet '60s tainted pop with it's techno and House influence.
Anyway, enough of that...some of you migh tbe interested in this, especially thos eof you who live in London...



Saint Etienne This is Tomorrow - Friday 29 June 2007

The cult indy pop group Saint Etienne, working with Pilgrim Films, has been resident at Southbank Centre throughout the 06/07 season. Throughout the year, they have been filming at Southbank Centre, documenting the transformation of the Royal Festival Hall and capturing the spirit of the revitalised site. They have created an hour-long film and music project and will perform the score live, with special guests and an ensemble of young people from the local community."

Re tickets, the site says "See below for previews of events which are coming up. These events aren't on sale yet, so register with us and opt in to receiving emails so we can inform you when you can buy tickets - make sure you choose the art forms you're interested in when you sign up or update your details. You can also book tickets for some of the events in our new season."

[Dave Tudor]

Funnily enough, I was looking at their greatest hits CD in HMV today - it was only 4, but I couldn't afford it (yes, I really am that skint!).

Might get it when I get paid - it's worth it for 'You're In A Bad Way' alone.

[Carol Baynes]

MY life sadly resembles that song tonight. No one is going out (or inviting me- either way Saturday is looking grim! )

As for the CD, was it the 'neoplitan ice cream' cover one or the green stripy one?

[Dave Tudor]

I think they had both versions, but it was the green one which was only 4. Does the other one include remixes or something? I don't really bother with remixes.

[Carol Baynes]

They're both called "Smash the system" but the green one is a single CD re-issue and has lass tracks (it's more top 40 hit-heavy though).

I discovered this release from their discography site...

So it really does exist. The Saint Etienne track "There There My Brigadier" which was to be part of a Doctor Who compilation called Resistance is Futile: Doctor Who Remixed but was unfortunately never released. There was a very limited 3 track promotional release that was given to attendees at the 40th anniversary Doctor Who event in Nov 2003. The details for the promo release have been added to the remixes page of this website.

Saint Etienne had to be Dr. Who fans...I just knew it!

[Captain Tancredi]

I've been vaguely meaning to buy one of their records for years now (in fact ever since I discovered that the incomparable Pat Nevin was a fan) and I think Fox Base Alpha is in my book...

[Carol Baynes]

"Foxbase Alpha" is a personal favourite of mine. So many good memories of it...It's very much a 'London album', abeit in a romanticised way (which is never a bad thing). "Nothing can stop us" And "Spring" always cheer me up.

[buglass]

I do loves the Etienne. Like A Motorway and He's On the Phone are faves.

Milk Bottle Symphony is also rather good. Relocate is quite peculiar, but then so is David Essex!

[Carol Baynes]

"Tales from Turnpike house" was a fabulous album, I thought. It only came out in 2005 didn't it, but i think it sold quite poorly despite good reviews and high placings in end of year polls.

Interesting trivia I've recently found out- Sarah Cracknell was the original choice to sing on Spiller's 2000 no.1 single "Groovejet (if this ain't love)" but she turned it down, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor got the gig.

[Carol Baynes]

Milk Bottle Symphony is also rather good. Relocate is quite peculiar, but then so is David Essex!

Yes, "Tales from Turnpike house" is a fabulous album, I think. It only came out in 2005 didn't it, but i think it sold quite poorly despite good reviews and high placings in end of year polls.

Interesting trivia I've recently found out- Sarah Cracknell was the original choice to sing on Spiller's 2000 no.1 single "Groovejet (if this ain't love)" but she turned it down, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor got the gig.

[Paul Monk]

I am an enormous Etienne fan. I love them to pieces but I haven't really heard the last two albums. I must try to pick them up sometime.
I talk ramble on about them for ages.
I once got asked to move on at an album signing of theirs because I was talking to Bob for too long. He's also from South Park, the place where I am from and we were talking about teachers at the first and middle schools there.
Reading that back, that story sounds quite dull.

[Carol Baynes]

Hooray! Someone else loves them! Come on Aunty, we'll miss the bus!

[Captain Tancredi]

I may or may not be listening to 'Foxbase Alpha' at the moment. It may or may not be the next album I add to my thread (which is my way of saying that it wasn't what I meant to do next but I might have a rethink because my intended next album is only a few years away in time so it doesn't change the pattern too much). But I certainly don't know what to think of it.

[Carol Baynes]

It's Swinging '60s London meets raving '90s dance (or something). Either way, it's a very spring/summer type album in my opinion, and a very London album.

[Carol Baynes]

How come you don't know if you're listening to "Foxbase Alpha"??

[Captain Tancredi]

My attempt at being coy- I'll leave it to you in future because you're so much better at it. I know I'm not listening to it now because the CD's stopped.

Something I'll probably have to overcome (which is why this might be a good one to do now rather than the one I'd planned) is an instinctive dislike of early 90s dance music with an ethereal female voice repeating one or two lines of lyrics over a repetitive beat- yes, 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart', I'm looking at you...I so used to hate that kind of sound when I was at university. But I can tell there's more to it. Like Richard Whiteley, for a start...

[Paul Monk]

Did you ever hear the rumour that Gary Oldman was on the single of Nothing Can Stop Us?

Or something....

[Captain Tancredi]

'Foxbase Alpha' will almost certainly be my next album under consideration and I have a feeling it's going to be an interesting one- there's some interesting stuff going on there, plus I can bring a bit of autobiography to it. Won't say any more so as not to detract from it- and in any case I need to live inside an album for a good week or so before I write about it.

[Matthew T]

"Avenue" came up on random earlier, a track I've always ignored because of it's length, but it's really rather good!

[Paul Monk]

Avenue is a classic. It even has an overture at the beginning.
Never been quite sure of the lyrics though especially the "Oooooooooooooooooh Oooooooooooooh, you hurrrrr!" or whatever it is.

[Carol Baynes]

"Avenue" has got quite a piognant bittersweet quality, like a lot of Saint Etienne's output (and good pop music in general, I think)

[Captain Tancredi]

It's weird- I can't help feeling that when I do finally write about this one, I'm going to be asking some fairly big questions about what music is and what it does. And at the same time addressing some of my feelings about music in the early 1990s (of which, it has to be said, I'm exceptionally ignorant as the early 90s were the one time I really cut myself off from music for three years)- plenty of people have written autobiographies shaped around the records they were listening to at the time, but is it possible to write an autobiography based on the music you never heard- about the void you didn't know was there?

[Carol Baynes]

I'm not sure you're 'getting' Saint Etienne. They were very much informed by the club and dance music scene of the late '80s and early 90s, but they were not (and are still not) a purely club orientated group. Largely, they qualify as an alternative pop group (although no one tag suits them). They're heavily influenced by the likes of Sandie Shaw and other '60s pop, and the addition of dialogue samples from '60s Brit cinema adds to their 'timewarp' appeal. Many of their songs wallow in a bittersweet nostalgia and sense of loss or just a pure idealistic elation; either which suits me quite well. Yet the drum machines and loops are the modern influence....I've found that quite an odd but pleasing mix.
If you don't feel elevated by "Spring" and "Nothing can stop us" (from "Foxbase Alpha") there is no hope!

Apart from "Alpha", I think their best albums are "tiger bay" (1994), "Good humor" (1998) and "Tales from Turnpike house" (2005)

You're in a bad way if you don't like this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7CyU...elated&search=

[Captain Tancredi]

I don't want to pre-empt myself by saying much more now, but I hope you'll be interested by what i eventually have to say- I suspect the difference between our approaches is that you're processing what the music leads you to feel and I'm working out what it makes me think and ask. Like what effect does repeating a phrase to the point of meaninglessness have? Does it make the phrase more profound or reduce it to the basic sounds and rhythms?

Oh, and about three minutes into 'People Get Real', there's what sounds like a vaguely familiar Who sound effect- just can't place it at the moment...

Eureka! It sounds remarkably like the sound effect in 'The Ambassadors of Death' when one of the aliens first takes his helmet off and Liz sees what they look like.

[Carol Baynes]

Like what effect does repeating a phrase to the point of meaninglessness have? Does it make the phrase more profound or reduce it to the basic sounds and rhythms?

If that was a feature of most Saint Etienne songs I'd understand where you're coming from, but as it isn't, I'm not too sure how you mean....which repeated phrases are you fretting about?

Here's an interesting live performance (with hippies )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_O4z3RksnM