#ian masters

[joanofarc]

splinters, esp summer (1995, 2023).

i'm drinking down your laughter i put my ear to a crack in the floor

[lovejustforaday]

Shoegaze Classics - The Comforts of Madness

The Comforts of Madness - Pale Saints (1990)

Main Genres - Shoegaze, Indie Pop, Dream Pop

A decent sampling of: Post-Punk, Jangle Pop, Neo-Psychedelia, Noise Pop

I've already discussed a lot of the bands that either formed during the second half of the first wave of shoegaze, and/or whose most noteworthy albums happened around that time (roughly 1992-1996).

So today I will be looking at one of the true OG shoegaze bands. These guys really don't get enough of the credit that they deserve for being one of the earliest bands to make the blueprint for that signature swirling world of guitars that would come to be known as shoegaze. Let's explore the amorous imagination of Pale Saints and their debut LP.

The Band

Yes, Pale Saints were one of the first true shoegaze bands, forming in Leeds in 1987 and having already begun making music in the early framework of the subgenre's sound as early as 1988, when they released their first EP of demos.

The main lineup of Pale Saints consisted of Ian Masters, the band's bassist and lead vocalist with his gentle, paper-thin high tenor voice, Graeme Naysmith who performed the band's signature gleaming lead guitar, and Chris Cooper on drums (oddly, that's the third "Chris" drummer for a band in this series so far).

There was also Meriel Barham on guitar and vocals, who joined shortly after the debut LP that I will be reviewing shortly. Fun fact: I learned while researching this that she was very briefly the lead vocalist for Lush in its early days, unimaginable as it might be to consider Lush as a band without the chemistry of Miki on lead and Emma doing the harmonies.

As one of the earliest shoegazing bands, you can hear a lot of influence in the music of Pale Saints from the subgenres of indie music that birthed the original scene, particularly on their debut record. There is a lot of jangly indie pop in their sound, hence more upbeat like their contemporaries Lush, as well as a lot of post-punk influence, especially in the drums.

But a big part of what set Pale Saints apart from other first wave bands was the general coziness of their sound. A lot of their melodies and timbres are personally reminiscent to me of small town life, early adolescent crushes, a cup of tea at your grandparents house, and just being a teenager watching clouds go by while sitting in the bleachers on your afternoon free period.

While other bands like Slowdive and Flying Saucer Attack were spacing out into the abyss, capturing intense feelings of longing, melancholy, and isolation, I would describe Pale Saints as having a very down-to-earth sound. And sometimes, though not always, that's all I want in my shoegaze. Just give me a nice melody and a hit of that sweet, sweet guitar textural euphoria.

I feel like Pale Saints legacy can be heard in a lot of 2010s shoegaze-adjacent bands like DIIV and Wild Nothing. More of the feel-good vibes, with a poppy mix of everything indie from the 80s and early 90s.

Pale Saints got their start by releasing a few EPs (I know, shocking) before dropping their debut record, They signed to the 4AD label along with many other dream pop and early shoegaze bands. Similar story in general to a lot of other bands that I've already covered, so I won't go into excruciating detail. Let's just get to the album.

The Record

The Comforts of Madness is a romantic record, in every sense of the word. Its sonic world is idyllic and full of soft-spoken love, expressed through sharp guitars playing tender melodies and creating clouds of dreamy pinks and baby blues. This is a record for you to just kick back and allow your mind to set sail into sweet bliss.

The production and mastering was handled by a small team including Gil Norton, Al Clay, Tim Davis, and John Fryer. Their work on this record is a lot 'airier' than most first wave shoegaze records. This gives the music a lot of of breathing room, which makes the vocals and wall of guitars A little more echo-y. I'm reminded a lot of the production and mastering on the Cocteau Twins' proto-dream pop sophomore record Head Over Heels.

The opening 2 tracks here are pretty straightforward post-punk. Actually, the whole side A is almost as much post-punk and jangle pop as it could be described as dream pop or shoegaze, whereas side B is much more confidently a traditional shoegaze record.

The album's first real taste of shoegaze comes in the form of "Sea of Sound", a redux of a song from the band's demo EP .

I will say this now: as a massive fan of Slowdive, I must acknowledge that this song was probably a huge influence on their early sound. I can't think of anything more proto-Slowdive than this song actually. The gradual guitar waves mixed with crashing, reverberated cymbals over the mid-slow tempo drums of this song can be heard all across Slowdive's first 3 EPs.

Sure, its a bit less sonically busy, and the guitar timbres are pretty different between a song like this and, say, "Morningrise", but I think its pretty safe to say that one way or another this track was formative to Slowdive. It's also, incidentally, a beautiful song, and Ian Masters has a perfect lullaby voice for this kind of track. Important piece of shoegazing history.

"Little Hammer" is a bit of a peculiar inclusion; an acoustic, waltzing indie pop ballad with sonic imagery that evokes a mysterious wandering caravan. Very soothing, nevertheless.

"A Deep Sleep For Steven" is warm and fuzzy shoegaze timbres injected directly to the veins, unlocking some kind of uncharted remote paradise island deep within the recesses of the listener's mind.

This is followed by "Language of Flowers", a jangly dream pop world of rainbows that would fit nicely in the catalogue of a C86 twee band like The Field Mice.

The band covers 4AD label mate Kendra Smith on "Fell From The Sun", taking the original's gently swaying, hypnotic slowcore psychedelia and turning it into a bouncy, earth-shaking kaleidoscope with beat changes and and an ending with a heavenly chorus of Ian's vocals layered a dozen times.

This bleeds into "Sight of You", the definitive best song on the record. This shoegaze pop gem features adorably woeful, melodramatic teenage love, and a series of flashbang-level brightened guitar riffs, echoing hundreds of times in a hall of auditory stained glass, all held together by an absolutely killer bassline. It's almost impossible not to smile from ear to ear while listening to this wondrously golden track. Sheer fucking pop excellence from start to finish.

Most of the tracks I've cared to mention are on the side B. Yes, I'd call it a back-loaded record, since most of the sugary shoegaze goodness happens on the back end, but this is still more than good enough to be one of the definitive standout records of first wave shoegaze. The Comforts of Madness is a true classic in my opinion.

What Came After That?

As I previously mentioned, Meriel joined the band shortly after the first record, and became an essential part of the bands sound from then on.

After that, Pale Saints only released two more records before the project eventually fell through.

The first of those records is 1992's In Ribbons, a more toned down and psychedelic record, which was a little more coherent with the lowkey atmosphere that would come to dominate the 'scene that celebrates itself' in the 90s. A lot of fans of the band hold the sophomore record in higher regard than the debut, but personally I see it as a noticeable step down in terms of songwriting from the gorgeous melodies that made The Comforts of Madness so memorable.

Some time after the second record, Ian departed from his own band after experiencing burnout with Pale Saints. This left Meriel to become the new face of the band for their last record Slow Buildings in 1994, an album of mostly mid-tempo dream pop songs that seems to divide the fanbase. I have not listened to it in full, but it definitely sounds like a different band to me.

Pale Saints disbanded a couple years later, with Meriel Barham's departure leaving the band with no lead vocalist. Meanwhile, Ian Masters had moved on to several other projects. The dude also moved to Japan in the 2000s, so there's that little tidbit.

Even though Pale Saints disbanded and has stopped putting out music for decades now, they are still one of the standout shoegaze bands to me, and one of the most important bands of that scene that directly and inadvertently influenced many others. You should definitely check them out if you haven't already.

9/10

Highlights: "Sight of You", "Sea of Sound", "A Deep Sleep for Steven", "Fell from the Sun", "Little Hammer", "Language of Flowers"

[twinkandwink]

Sad news that Graeme Naysmith of the Pale Saints passed away yesterday 16th April 2024.

Pale Saints - Moles, Bath 30th Sept 1989

[idkaguyorsomething]

the convoluted doctor who lore gets extra funny when you realize that, at two separate points in the past, two different companions to two different doctors ended up running into rasputin but both came to the conclusion that he was a pretty nice and normal guy. which, depending on how you interpret the power of the doctor, is either a nice subversion of a lot of tropes of stories used in pre-soviet russia, or side-splittingly hilarious as you start imagining the master getting roped into various adventures with different versions of the doctor that he can’t fuck with yet or else he’ll destroy the timeline, forcing him to play nice with the humans as part of his 4D Time Chess Master Disguise Plan #3852

[ninoochat]

I like 'em sweet - Mickey I need the shit-talking bitch-slapping piece of South Side trash I fell for - Ian

[whiloww]

[melbush]

[star-wars-forever]

[headcanonsandmore]

Some perfectly normal Doctor Who factoids

The Master is canonically Rasputin.

Time Lords can all levitate and fly. The Doctor seems to forget this.

The Doctor is canonically Merlin.

There are two different explanations for the Loch Ness Monsters.

The Doctor once had a talking penguin as a companion.

Vampires are a canon species.

Tegan and Nyssa have such a strong queer subtext to their friendship that there is a wiki page online dedicated to it.

Speaking of Nyssa, she once got turned into a vampire and became obsessed with eating Tegan.

Ace McShane once fell in love with a cat-girl.

The Doctor is both a semi-mythical figure in the founding of time lord society, as well as also being the reason for the time lords having regenerative abilities. They are also just a run-of-the-mill time lord who ran away from Gallifrey. All of these are equally canon.

The Doctor once broke the fourth wall to wish the viewers a Merry Christmas.

The Third Doctor knows various martial arts.

It's implied that Time Lords cannot get drunk on alcohol unless they drink ginger beer beforehand.

The Eighth Doctor was once sentenced to death and promptly demanded to die in the nude.

The Doctor effectively kidnapped their first companions.

Time Lords reproduce via a technology known as looms.

[dalekofchaos]

Didn't have enough room for it, but the Paternoster Gang, so if you want that, just reply or reblog with that option

Context

U.NI.IT.

the Unified Intelligence Taskforce. The Power of the Doctor set up a new UNIT that recruited some of the Doctor's former companions so it feels like there's fertile ground for a show about who protects modern-day Earth when the Doctor's not available. An episodic structure would fit a UNIT show well, allowing it to shift from espionage thriller, to alien invasion, to weird science, like The X-Files.

An alternative UNIT show could follow in the footsteps of Star Trek: Lower Decks by focusing on a group of lowly officers who are left to pick up the pieces after one of the big exciting Doctor Who alien invasions. The Doctor always leaves a lot of destruction in their wake, so it would provide a lot of opportunities for an affectionate parody of Doctor Who. They could be led by a former UNIT operative like Sergeant Benton (John Levene) who would be an ideal character for an irreverent Doctor Who comedy. There's a lot of potential for UNIT in the new RTD era and hopefully, the Disney+ deal can help to realize it.

For obvious reasons, Jack and Mickey would be recast

Companions united.

Showing everyone who traveled with the Doctor saving the world in their own way. Each episode showing individual companions. From all the alive Classic Companions to all the New Who Companions.

Master Who? Basically The Master's show and showing what happens when The Doctor isn't there to stop The Master's universal conquest. And The Master taking on the worst people imaginable as companions. Could have Michelle Gomez, John Simm, Sascha Dhawan, Derek Jacobi, Geoffrey Beevers, Eric Roberts and Gordon Tipple return as their respective Masters/Missy

Time Lord Academy. The childhood of The Doctor, Master, and Rani during their years at the academy

Eighth Doctor adventures.

Finally giving Eight the run he deserves. Could bring in Charley or Lucie as his companions and lead into Eight in the Time War

Showing Romana and Leela on Gallifrey. During Romana's reign as Time Lady President. Leading to the Time War and how Romana was removed from power and Leela's last stand

[giddyaunt425]

[joanofarc]

city, oneironaut (1996).

in the mirror cold and milky listen to the voice of a city

[sapphoismymuse]

i just found out 8 of the characters from the hobbit (MAIN characters) were played by gay/bi actors and now i’m crying /pos

like they made one of the biggest most anticipated franchises ever, some of them are big names in film… and they’re just like me. so many of them were just like me and they did it. they thrived.

they did it and i can too ;-;

[heymrspatel]

deep breath, big guy... that's right, just like that

artworks inspired by sculptures for @gallavichthings kinktober 2024 prompts: choking + breath play + lingerie inspiration: "the kiss" by gustav vigeland collection on tumblr & ao3

Gustav Vigeland The Kiss (1897) Plaster

[mastersoftheair]

new stills from episode 7!

[gallifreyanhotfive]

Random Doctor Who Facts You Might Not Know, Part 35

When the TARDIS was infested with a Vortex parasite, she uploaded the Eighth Doctor and Izzy to her datascape, and a manifestation of her consciousness helped defeat the parasite.

Time Lords possess a psychic empathy field.

The Seventh Doctor and his companions at one point one teddy bears during a festival. Their names were Jasper and Stewart.

The Second Doctor was able to remotely operate his TARDIS from Koschei's TARDIS.

The Sixth Doctor informed the Celestial Intervention Agency that he ran into the Rani and the Master in 1830s Killingworth, but they didn't believe him due to his "notoriously unstable" nature.

The First Doctor once lost the TARDIS in a bet and used it as an opportunity to take Susan, Ian, and Barbara on a road trip while getting her back.

The Clocksmith was yet another violent renegade Time Lord, but they were also an artist. They had a device that froze people in place, causing them immense pain and could kill them, and was known to encase people in metal.

The Doctor and the Corsair got wasted together on three different occasions we are aware of. Twice, they woke up in jail and once, in the Bank of England vaults.

The Corsair indeed did not like to travel with humans, but they did occasionally take on a parrot or a cat as a companion.

Before leaving Gallifrey, the Doctor was a Scrutationary Archivist in the Bureau of Possible Events.

The Second Doctor was once forced into an arena to fight a dragon. After enthralling it with his recorder, he set the dragon on the audience.

The Time Lords locked Koschei and his "friend" (we all know who this is referring to 👀) in the Tower after a "silly prank gone wrong." His friend would recite him poetry, after which Koschei would feel more in control.

Eventually, they had an argument, after which Koschei's friend escaped and left him behind. At some point before leaving, Koschei's friend wrote the following on the wall:

"Here lies the master of the dirt, the muck, the grime. May that pompous fool sit here until he learns better manners."

Koschei lost track of the time he spent in that Tower after his friend left him. He thought it could have been centuries or millennia. He said that he would get his friend back one day after he got out of the Tower.

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