Fat Hippy Comp - anyone got it yet?

[malloty]

That's by accident rather than design. This forum is supposed to be inclusive' date=' not exclusive and personally I think it's a better site for having bands like Girl Said No and Eskimo Blonde posting on it.

Can we get back on topic please? The sampler contains many bands who aren't called Girl Said No

I'm going to pick up a copy today when I head into town. Will give my thoughts later on.[/quote']

good shout the point should be that the sampler is a great vehicle for a lot of bands and hopefully with the national press being received it will open a few doors for some of the bands featured - if one band gets something from it then it is a big success. As the bands played for free and accept nothing for the sales and due to the fact that Tom has paid for all recording, marketing etc it really is a quality achievement by a lot of different folk and should be supported by all.

obviously there are people who will always find something bad to say about anything but regular viewers of the site will know who these people are and thus the people who post these remarks become parodies of themselves and lose any of the credibility they crave.

Everyone should go out and grab a copy of the sampler as if it does well it could open up oppurtunities to more bands to play on future cds and thus get their music out to a wider audience... 3 not much to help support the local music scene and possibly increase oppurtunities for yourselves and others in the future

[GraemeC]

Of course' date=' "Mr Onz" get Phil Spector in to do their stuff.....[/quote']

Mr Onz have recorded a couple of times.....we have done so as cheaply as we possibly could....and the recordings are for that very reason "shit" we would never in a million years even think about unleashing those recordings on anyone other than our most tolerant (and tone deaf) of friends and family.

G...

[GraemeC]

what band im in is of no interest here. my comments are my own comments therefore not tied to my band (hence why its not listed in my name). also' date=' i accept that this is your personal opinion on the tracks and that is fair enough. you are entitled to your opinion and i have no beef with whether you like/dislike certain bands.

what does annoy me slightly is that if the recordings were ALL top notch and then you (and me) punters were then asked to shell out say 10 quid to help cover the costs do you think fat hippy would sell so many?? do you think a 3 quid door charge (at the drummonds release gig) would have entitled people to a free copy? would scotland and the uk at large have been exposed to so many bands from the NE if it wasnt for this cd? i doubt it.

your comment about approaching a "bigger" label to release this is, frankly, stupid. if there are any bands on this cd that "bigger" labels liked in any way they should be big enough to not have their view on the music blighted by the fact that they consider some of the recordings to be sub standard. they would come along to a live show and check them out (i would hope) and move on from there. whether that leads anywhere is up to the label and the quality of the band.

i just feel you were being overly critical of the quality rather than the music on it. not many people put so much time and effort in to doing something like this for the local music scene as Tom does and it grates me a little to see it so cackhandedly slated as much as you did. sure, slag of the bands if you feel they deserve it, mention that overall you weren`t happy with the recording quality, but DONT slag off the the work put in by Fat Hippy because, realistically, they are about the only people in the NE who really try to get newer music out there for the punters to (hopefully) enjoy. and for the mega cheap price of 3 quid - show me the last cd you bought with 20 tracks on it for under a tenner (not including NOW XX...).

ps. no flame wars please. thats not my intent.[/quote']

Your comments confuse me more than a little......you have used the term "slag off" a few times now, my interpretation of that term may differ from yours but I believe I have at no time slagged off any of the bands nor Cptn Tom, I have known the fat hippy for many years now and have a very good relationship with him and his staff, and I agree he has done a sterling job of getting some local bands work out there....well done Tom!!

You obviously didnt understand my comments about getting another label to record stuff (I at no time used the term "bigger") I cant be arsed explaining it so go read it again.

I obviously didnt like your bands track on the cd....but rather than have a go at me for having an opinion....go and do a better recording or learn to accept critiscism.

G...

[Michael MacLennan]

I can honestly remember never reading derogatory comments made about bands as you can flick through and see now and to be honest it makes me not want to take part in the board at all. I met a heap of folk through the AUBL (between about 99 to 2004) who I would gladly talk to now but some of the people on here just make themselves look like stirrers not folks who want to be involved in the music scene.

I remember that before the first gig of my band Subsist in '99 there was a survey asking if people liked us or not, such was the ferocity of insults aimed at us on the messageboard by an errant member of Seven Stone Under. I actually think, if anything, things seem more civilised nowadays, mainly as people aren't posting anonymously in the way that was commonplace with the AUBL board.

Oh, and in relation to G's comment, I'm in agreement. There's little point of trying to get publicity for a sampler if the recording quality makes it a poor representation of the bands involved. It'll just make everybody involved seem amateurish, I'm afraid to say, and decreases the likelihood of anyone repeatedly listening to it.

[Chris]

Right, back from the shops here's my first impressions:

Eddison - Quality is good and I can see it would appeal to some people but they've never done it for me as Clocker or Eddison.

Ross Nicoll - Sounds like David Gray singing over Toploader. Don't like it.

Amy Sawers - Ooh. Nice voice. I like this one.

Girl Said No - Don't like the guitar at the start. Thankfully it shuts the fuck up during the verse and things get a bit better. The vocal hooks are good. Again it's not something I'd usually listen to but it's done very well. Ah, hand claps. Always a winner.

Badge - Sound like The Music. I really hate The Music.

Red Man Walking - Don't remember them being this heavy before. Love Greig's vocals. Slightly dodgy mix. Like it a lot though.

The X-Certs - Little bastards. Predictably, this is ace.

Hot Mangu - Dirty as fuck metal. Superb.

Karloff - Worst recoridng so far. Which is a shame as it sounds like it would've been good.

Double Jack - One of the guitars sounds absolutely honking. Yuck. It distracted me so much I skipped to the next track just as the vocals started.

Radio Lucifer - More dirty rock Have to say I prefer this to when I saw them live (although that was an earlier line up). Another of my favourites so far.

My Minds Weapon - Very, very good at what they do. Love the guitars. This is a superb song.

We Shall Blessed - Nasty drum sound but otherwise great. Mental guitar playing and another band doing a specific style very very well (Seems to be the one constant so far. There are some fantastic examples of genres here).

Black Atom - Never liked Maiden-esque metal. Another good at what they do but it's not for me moment.

Captain Face - Bit strange this one. Loads of bits that sound like other things mashed together. The twangy guitar annoyed me after a while.

Funktree - Don't like it. Nice guitar tone. Vocals are good enough, as is the rest. But it leaves me feeling empty. Does nothing for me basically.

Five-Fifteen - I can't stand this. Really really hate it. For the same reason I disliked the Badge song.

Floored - Seems very very average. Left me feeling completely indifferent.

Q - Like the music. Not too fond of the vocals. The sound of the plectrum scraping on the strings really got to me after a while.

Red Dawg - I really like this. It's not original in any shape or form. But it's a solid blues song played well. Made me smile.

Phew. Right, that's enough of that. Have to say after hearing all the songs I don't think any of the recordings were awful. Some were a little dodgy but all of them sounded a lot better than most of the pish that gets posted in the feedback forum.

Highlights for me were Amy Sawyers, Red Man Walking, X-Certs, Hot Mangu, Radio Lucifer and My Minds Weapon. It's a good snapshot of what goes on up here though, and is a very blanced comp. And for 3 quid a bargain.

[Darth Elvis]

Alternate Endings

Cheers Chris,

If you like that track you'll love our new E.P. "Alternate Endings". If you look inside you'll see some of Dave's handy work as well.

Greig Anyway

[Guest bluesxman]

Got one yesterday, thought the mixture of styles was a bit limited, too much rock/metal overall. Nothing struck me as being bad as such, some stuff I wouldn't choose to listen to particularly but most tracks well executed overall.

My favourites were Karloff, Red Man Walking, Captain Face, Floored.

A few bands I will try and catch live now. Good value for 3 quid.