Ninetynine fans

There's a new ninetynine best-of compilation out on Strange Ones, a small Spanish label.

It seems to have most of the essential tracks, and a few of their lesser-known gems (like the sublime 180 Degrees). The only major omission I can think of would be Mesopotamia (a staple of their live gigs). (Though, were I making a ninetynine best-of, I might also put The Specialist on; and Popemobile would have been fun too.)

My copy of Receiving the Sounds of Science Fiction from the Dark Beloved Cloud singles club has just come in. It's quite impressive.

The tracks are:

1. Receiving the Sounds of Science Fiction


2. Highway Delights


3. San Pedro de Atacama


4. Worlds Of Space, Worlds Of Population, Worlds Of Robots


5. Tigerlady

Receiving the Sounds was previously performed live as Red Weed; Highway Delights had a number of names, including "My Hobby Is Better Than Your Hobby", "Watch Out For Trams" and "The Aging Process".

The tracks: Receiving the Sounds appears to be in 7/8 time, and starts with a keyboard arpeggio, with guitars and drums coming in shortly afterward, and Laura doing the vocal; it sounds rather angular. Highway Delights is Amy's song, and for some reason makes me think of Ibiza-period New Order, or possibly the Stone Roses. San Pedro was originally a song from Cameron's other band, Baseball, and is probably the best Ninetynine song Cameron has written (with the possible exception of live versions of Baluchistan). It starts off with some rather nice layered keyboard arpeggios. Cameron does most of the vocals (and in a surprisingly understated fashion), with Laura singing a few lines over the top. Worlds of Space (another of Laura's songs) reprises Ninetynine's earlier distorted-guitar-driven sound, with some suitably introspective and angsty lyrics. And the last track, Tigerlady, is a retro surf-rock instrumental. (I'm guessing that this is Iain's song.) It's pretty cool, and it sounds nothing like any other Ninetynine song.

I really like the new directions Ninetynine have been heading in since The Process, the layered, textured intricacy of their arrangements and their stylistic versatility, and this reinforces that. The process of creative growth that showed through in The Process is still going on, and this is the latest product of it. I eagerly await the full album that's coming out next year.

Oh, and the piece of club-member artwork my CD came with was a charcoal drawing of a cowboy on a horse, with "Sex and cigarettes and slow sad says he" written alongside it in blue biro.

Has anybody received the Ninetynine "Receiving the Sounds of Science Fiction" EP that the Dark Beloved Cloud singles club was offering a while ago? I'm still waiting for mine.

i forgot to mention that i have an Unstable Ape Records sampler of 2004 releases and the ninetynine songs sound fab. especially the one called "receiving the sounds of science fiction" .. its got this awesome little keyboard melody (wouldnt expect anything less!). other track titles are "san pedro de alacama" (cool dual vox from laura and cameron who sings like real good!) and "highway delights" (which sounds kinda sleater-kinney indie guitars-ish, with amy on vox).

I went along to the gig tonight. Short version: Ninetynine were back in fine form, and their new material is sounding really good.

First up were two support bands. local terrorcore outfit Jihad Against America were first, and played a number of short, sharp and mostly unintelligble punk songs. Liz, the lead vocalist, donned flashing bunny ears and went into the crowd with a rather long microphone lead, accosting audience members and getting them to sing lines; well, those of them who knew the lines or could fake them.

The second support were Pink Stainless Tail, four very dapper gentlemen with a thing for the classic rock'n'roll idiom. The lead singer was an English chap with a greying quiff, attired in a fancy shirt and a silk scarf, though he certainly could rock out more than his attire would have suggested. They finished their set with an obviously well-rehearsed cover of Ninetynine's Wöekenender, which was interesting and a tad amusing. Especially seeing how the singer's voice sounds not unlike the comedian sampled at the end of the original track.

Then on came Ninetynine, and they were in fine form. They played a fair bit of new material (Red Weed, San Pedro, and Amy's song whose name keeps changing; today it was called something like Highway Delight). No previously-unheard tracks, but the new tracks are sounding very polished and sophisticated. They finished with with a version of The Process with a guest cellist.

Was anybody else here at the gig?

nice looking page. i get the first post yeahhh

amendment: you gotta change the font though. (my vote for = 8pt tahoma bold, or 9 pt trebuchet ms)