The Walrus - Music With Big Fuckin' Teeth!

02/27/2008

Young Marble Giants are Masters of Minimalism

Every so often I am caught off guard by how comprehensive Youtube is as a music resource. More than a couple Young Marble Giants videos from the early 80s can be found on the site. For those unfamiliar with YMG, this ragtag bunch of musicians are the best thing to come out of Wales since Tom Jones.

Masters of minimalism, this trio aimed to "make music sound like a radio playing quietly late at night, in between channels, so that the songs were indistinct and all that could be heard were stray sounds and noises." Their outcome, in the form of the 1980 Rough Trade album Colossal Youth, is in fact quiet and somewhat introverted, however it is much more accessible than their original intentions. Here is a live performance of "New Life," taken from the BBC program Something Else.

Colossal Youth is an album you would be happy to own, especially after hearing this wonderfully small, perfectly produced song "N.I.T.A." Add this one to your collection!