I haven't mentioned them much, or quite possibly at all in the past, but I've always had a soft spot for
Game Theory, even if I acquainted myself with their records long after the fact. I'm not what you would call a
Scott Miller obsessive or completest by any stretch, though I can justify the profound fandom of others. Much to the chagrin of all of you that believe
Lolita Nation was G/T's finest hour,
Big Shot Chronicles is the album that did it for me, so I jumped at the chance to hear these rough sketches. "Never Mind?" "Crash Into June?" "Erica's Word?" "Like a Girl Jesus?" So much pure, 14-karat pop gold abounds on Big Shot, making these demos such a precious find, even if they don't differ that drastically from the finished product. One exception might be the aforementioned "Like a Girl Jesus," which strikes me as doubly subdued as the already spare album incarnation. "Seattle" and "Come Home With Me" sound like the same versions as the bonus tracks padded onto the
BSC CD reissue on Alias from the '90s. "Couldn't I Just Tell You" is an excellent rendering of the Todd Rundgren classic, that IMO could have probably fit on the album. If anyone can help in identifying the final track please leave a comment. A big thanks to Danny for sending me these files!
01. I've Tried Subtlety
02. Here It is Tomorrow
03. Erica's Word
04. Regenisraen
05. Never Mind
06. Book of Millionaires
07. Make Any Vows
08. Where You Going Northern
09. Like a Girl Jesus
10. Crash Into June
11. The Only Lesson Learned
12. Too Closely
13. Linus and Lucy
14. Couldn't I Just Tell You
15. Seattle
16. Come Home With Me
17. Last Day That We're Young (Demo)
Hear
8 comments:
Hi
Compliments for the great work. I just got back to blogging myself, following a couple of years of web silence after ending previous site TOTALLY WIRED. You can now find me at www.obabylon.blogspot.com, and I'll be linking your blog there.
Cheers
17. Last Day That We're Young (Demo)
Couldn't I Just Tell You was a bonus track on the Alias cd edition of Real Nighttime
Glad to hear you're back in the blogosphere ELT! I'll make sure to link you as well.
Thanks for providing us with that title Angelo. Always appreciated.
Hey Spavid,
Sorry about that. I should have checked before sending.
I thought I had retitled that untitled song file long before I sent it to you. I just looked and it's titled on my files here. How odd. Oh, well.... no biggie. Nice to see that Angelo is on the ball, as usual.
And to ELT, welcome back!
I also came to Game Theory after the fact. After seeing the Loud Family's "Plants and Birds and Rocks and Things" on many year-end best-of lists (including I recall being given the nod even by some who were not generally indie or rock critics, such as a jazz critic), I was holding the CD in Newbury Comics (the former location near Boston City Hall) considering a purchase when one of the clerks told me it was really good, but "Game Theory is even better". A year or so later I stumbled on an overflowing used music store that had clearly recently bought out the vinyl from a college radio station, and by digging through unsorted piles came up with a few Game Theory LP's. Loved 'em, and at a time when I could really use a boost.
Anyway, that's my life story!
Anyway, thanks for the great blog.
Ace K.
No problem Oxy! This post wouldn't exist without you.
Sounds like you made some nice vinyl finds Ace. For better or worse, it looks like a lot of college radio stations are purging thier vinyl archives.
any chance anyone might have just Big Shot Chronicles, non demos? i had all of their albums, and Loud Family's... but lost everything with a broken external HD. my fault, didn't have it properly backed up. but in time i've slowly been putting the pieces of my collection back together, and certain reminders really show me how these things are sorely missed.
The link has been updated.
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