Customer Reviews

That Striped Sunlight Sound (DVD plus audio CD)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The reason robert forster never became a big star, like, say, bryan ferry with a preference for wearing a sweater under his jacket, is that he wouldn't put the guitar down. this nod to mundane craft, and, with his playing style, anti-glamor, however, gave a fullness, mental toughness and far more complex structure to the go-betweens. because robert's guitar was there in the service of his songs, which, fortunately for us, he liked so much, he wanted to actually play rather than front. And that's how this great band grew up. "That striped sunlight sound" is, much more so than the early singles VHS tape, the ultimate go-betweens document. the tour this past summer showcased a wonderfully organic, seriously working band, fully engaged and fully in belief of the goodness of their sound. The kinetic rawboned beauty of their Lindy Morrison days has been traded for a more professionally textured but no less truthful live sound. far better than the stilted, slightly embalmed 'live at the barbican' set for sale at their shows and cherry picked for a bonus CD inside the Oceans Apart album. 'That striped sunlight sound' is exactly how you would want the best go-betweens concert ever to sound.
The acoustic singles section is a nice cubist history of the band, told in the quiet of an empty living room with two guitars. The two, showing their years, do some lovely work in tandem in this part, which shines through despite grant's tight voice and dry mouth. A nice valentine to the hardcore, and it's heartening to see the best songs still have the ability to take their breath away. They sometimes sigh in awe and wonder at their own performances. A small section of garbage that follows best would have been left out, what with talk tangentally equating the go-betweens with god, or something like that. one false move in a veneer of wonder, intelligence and gentleness, the last which Grant says is the future of the band. that and some songs for an upcoming episode of the 'OC.' Honest workers, indeed.

...of wonderful stuff...

First, you have the Tivoli footage, done with their current touring and recording ensemble, featuring (the very evocatively named) Adele Pickvance on bass, and Glenn Thompson on drums - they both sing, as well...They are a quite capable rhythm section and add some great backing vocals. What's more is they add a certain chemistry - you can tell GM and RF are having a blast with them up on stage. As a rhythm section, they handle all the GB's catalog quite well, with the lone exception of "Spring Rain" - they don't quite get the Creedence-y swing of the original, it's a little off...

Highlights of the Tivoli set include "Clouds", done as a simple duet, with the added treat of a verse from Dylan's "Love minus zero" neatly folded in..."Streets of your town", beautiful and heartfelt, with a nifty solo by RF and GM counting down in German (unlike Bono, Grant is able to count correctly in a foreign language)..."Boundary Rider", the best song from "Oceans Apart", simply and lovingly reproduced, with lovely backing vocals from Ms. Pickvance....and, "Surfing Magazines", maybe a slight song, but a real concert highlight - you'll find yourself humming the chorus for days after watching this....An Audio CD reprises all the performances of the DVD - nice to have for the car, etc...

But the biggest treat of all in the package is the "Acoustic Stories" segment, wherein Grant and Robert assay many classics from their catalog in acoustic format, and along the way, provide all kinds of juicy background detail about them. No band, no "voltage enhancement" - just two voices and guitars.
It's all sublimely wonderful, but my favorites from this set are the achingly beautiful, hymn-like "Bachelor Kisses" and the epic, majestic "Dive for Your Memory"...the heights of awe-inspiring, jangly beauty these two reach here have been attained by very few, if indeed, any....

If you're a stone, hardcore fan, like me, or just getting into the GBs, this is pretty indispensable either way.

I bought this DVD yesterday, inspired to do so by the untimely death on May 6th of Grant McLennan. The DVD of concert material recorded last year is great - as mentioned by the other reviewers. The extra material of Grant and Robert playing their guitars and singing quietly in the front room of a house, is very nice, interesting to hear the stories behind each album and each song that they perform, but with added poignancy now that McLennan has passed away so young. He will be remembered for the bitter sweet lyrics and the wistful tunes that he gave us. Buy this DVD and you will have a lovely tribute to the band and a live recording captured recently (and they were in fine form).

Just the title "That Striped Sunlight Sound" provides a tip-off that this CD/DVD combo from Australia's Go-Betweens is going to cover a lot of ground (as this notion was alluded to in much earlier interviews) and is going offer a bright, unfiltered snap shop of this late, great band in performance.

It's great having the DVD, especially of the concert footage, but I prefer hearing rather than watching this session. Co-leaders Robert Forster and Grant McLennan bring that sort of telepathic interplay that comes from years of working together in this set of songs reaching from the band's early material, incorporating songs from each of their solo recordings (while the band took a decade-plus hiatus), and topped off with some of the better tracks from their "Oceans Apart" CD.

This is pop-rock full of bright energy, nothing weird or edgy here. The Go-Betweens sound happy to be playing before this crowd, and Forster in particular encourages the audience and keeps things at a brisk tempo.

If you want a good show, this is not your band. If you want excellent, inspiring, fun, clear, intelligent music, then this is your band. If you haven't heard of them (which is unlikely if you're reading this), start your collection with "Oceans Apart", then "16 Lover's Lane", then this DVD. Once you have those, you will want all the rest. The order you buy the rest in is not important, they are all excellent in their own right. All but the most ardent fans should stay away from any rarities album, or "Send Me a Lullaby", as they can be difficult to listen to as they hadn't really formed their sound yet.

This DVD is excellent, and just makes the loss of McLennan that more heart-wrenching. The acoustic performance where he is so upbeat for the future makes you want to cry. Also, the difficulty he had singing a few of the songs is foreboding in hindsight. Forster seems to have developed a wierd lip-licking tick for some reason. But the music is top-notch. I will always thank the unnamed record store dude who turned me on to these guys.