Thursday, December 17, 2009

The Dice - s/t ep (1983, NARDEM)

When I picked this one up at a Canadian record show this summer, I assumed I had stumbled upon a complete and utter obscurity, due in no small part to it's daft cover art. With a turn of the wrist however, I learned from the meager credits on the back sleeve that the Ontario-based The Dice were in cahoots with Daniel Lanois, who had a hand in engineering this introductory slab of wax. In fact, the Dice went onto bigger things, namely a brief tenure on Polygram that resulted in a 1984 self-titled album. Here's a primer regarding the LP:

Their self-titled debut album was recorded at the Hit Factory in New York and was produced by Rolling Stones' producer Chris Kimsey; released in 1984, it featured performances by Peter Frampton and Chuck Leavell (Rolling Stones, Allman Brothers, Black Crowes), and also boasted a dancing performance by Mick Jagger on one song. The first two singles, "Chayla" and "Calling In The Rain", achieved heavy rotation on a number of radio stations across Canada and the video for "Chayla" was added to the rotation lists of both MuchMusic and MTV. (from Canoe.ca)

As for the ep, which preceded said full length by a year, the material here is borderline AOR, a la the Payolas, with a smidge of Stonesy swagger informing it's choicest track, "Typical Lies." I should note that this track and "Ain't Gonna Lose (No More)" are listed in the wrong order on the back cover. Enjoy, and check out the remainder of the Dice's bio per the link above.
 
01. Holding On to the Night
02. Tony
03. Typical Lies
04. Ain't Gonna Lose (No More)
 

4 comments:

tony party said...

Awesome post! I came about this record much the same way. To me "terrible lies" is the real hit. Keep knocking 'em out. Oh yeah, the Figgs have a new 7 in out.

Unknown said...

I bought this off the rack and plyed typical lies and aint gonna lose no mre till i wore it out. I even taped it on cassette. Saw the band at the beverley and larry's hideaway. They should have gone a lot further, but ... Sadly they dudn't get good press on the album... Over produced imho. They should have been allowed to punch it a bit and get that raw sound across. Saw them a couple months after the album was released and gary said they weren't too happy with the sound. I was disappointed that "lose your soul" sounded so much like sympathy for the devil. Live, it was awesome... There's just a hint of what it sounded like live in there. I want this recording. Can someone post it to youtube please????

Unknown said...

I bought this off the rack and plyed typical lies and aint gonna lose no mre till i wore it out. I even taped it on cassette. Saw the band at the beverley and larry's hideaway. They should have gone a lot further, but ... Sadly they dudn't get good press on the album... Over produced imho. They should have been allowed to punch it a bit and get that raw sound across. Saw them a couple months after the album was released and gary said they weren't too happy with the sound. I was disappointed that "lose your soul" sounded so much like sympathy for the devil. Live, it was awesome... There's just a hint of what it sounded like live in there. I want this recording. Can someone post it to youtube please????

harleytexas said...

Please re-up if possible