We're now putting the finishing touches to a new Oob release, provisionally called 'The Lost Tapes' featuring a lot of rediscovered and unreleased stuff from 1991-2007.
A fascinating insight into
Ooberman's beginnings, these
rediscovered old gems from as far back
as 1991 are supplemented by recent
rarities including one truly outstanding
new track 'You're Too Beautiful'.
As eclectic and unfocused as ever, Pet
Shop Boys-influenced synth pop sits
happily alongside acoustic, prog, punk
and folk experiments, all wrapped in a
familiar melodic and wistful
romanticism - a collection no one fond
of Ooberman should miss.
Running in date order, most of the
tracks were recovered and restored from
old cassette and DAT tapes, many of
which were thought to have been lost
forever in a burglary.
The earlier recordings chart
Ooberman's pre-indie band days as
home recordists when founders Dan
Popplewell and Andy Flett would post
cassettes and lengthy critiques back
and forth between Liverpool and
Birmingham.
Many tracks come from 1994, a
big recording year for frontman Dan
- he'd finished university, was on the
dole with a lot of time on his hands
and found himself with a bunch of
new recording gear paid for by
being a medical research guinea pig.
Most music recorded before then
was too rough for release, while the
following years marked the
beginnings of Ooberman's ascent to
minor indie fame with most
subsequent recordings therefore
released on albums and B-sides.
Old gems are supplemented by a
glorious 2007 track "You're Too
Beautiful" - a dramatic Sophia fronted
pop symphony due for the
forthcoming 'Magic Theatre'
project.
While much has been done to
clean up audio problems on the
earliest tracks, be prepared for a few
tape drop outs amongst the wistful
folk leanings and sparkling synth
pop monsters.
1991
1. Growing Old
1994
2. Loveshit Ricochet
3. Time Hurts
4. I Know What You're Saying
5. Don't We Make A Pair
6. Ride Me Home
7. Blossoms Buds
8. Bubbles Bursting
1999
9. Brave Men And Beautiful Women
10. Drum Song Without Hat (live)
11. Come What May
12. Rebels For A Day
2000
13. Rosie Mel
14. Heavy Duty
15. Pills For Popplewell
I'm hopeful that "Tune For Ash" will raise it's beautiful head on a commercial release, in some form or another. Most hopefully with the same name. That'd make my day.
Well there's definitely 10 I don't have. Which 2 of the following have you already got Wayne?:
3. Time Hurts
4. I Know What You're Saying
5. Don't We Make A Pair
6. Ride Me Home
7. Blossoms Buds
8. Bubbles Bursting
9. Brave Men And Beautiful Women
10. Drum Song Without Hat (live)
11. Come What May
13. Rosie Mel
Ah! I never got round to buying Radio Oob The only one of those I've got is Rare Oob - I could only really afford one at the time and thought that was the only one with unheard songs on it. I always meant to buy the others on Townsend but then they disappeared - doh! They never appear on Ebay either - tis annoying as I'm a completist really.
Was there just the 3 of them - Rare, Radio and B-Sides? Or am I forgetting a 4th?
I don't have them either. Does that make me a bad fan? I don't think so. It's not about how much I have, it's about how much I like what I have. Hey Petrunko is the best album on my hard drive, without any doubt. I just praised y'all up on the Midget forum.
"It'd be unfair to compare Ooberman to Midget in terms of musical quality"
...no need to ask why.