Beneath the Skin

Beneath the Skin

Track Listings

1. Violet's Dance

2. Beneath the Skin

3. Falling Up

4. Deep

5. Black

6. Strange

7. Dreams and Illusions

8. Have Faith

9. Pandora's Box

10. 95 & 7

11. Deep [Christ Analogue Remix]

12. Beneath the Skin [Subconscious Remix]

Tracks:

Warthog, The (The Hog Beneath The Skin)
The Sea Horse
The Chameleon
Whale, The (Mopy Dick)
Je Suis Le Tenebreux
Songs For Our Time
A Song Of The Weather - Flanders & Swann
The Reluctant Cannibal
Greensleeves
Misalliance
Kokoraki
Madeira M'Dear?
Too Many Cookers
Built Up Area
In The Bath (From 'At The Drop Of A Hat')
Sea Fever
The Hippopotamus Song

Tracks:

The Gas Man Cometh
Sounding Brass
Los Olividados
In The Desert
The Sloth
The Rhinoceros
Kangaroo Tango
Jaguar
Dead Ducks
The Elephant
By Air
Slow Train
A Song Of Patriotic Prejudice - Flanders & Swann
The Humming Bird
The Portuguese Man-Of-War
Sea Fever
The Hippopotamus Song

Tracks:

The Gas Man Cometh
Sounding Brass
Los Olividados
In The Desert
The Sloth
The Rhinoceros
Kangaroo Tango
Jaguar
Dead Ducks
The Elephant
By Air
Slow Train
A Song Of Patriotic Prejudice - Flanders & Swann
The Humming Bird
The Portuguese Man-Of-War
The Wild Boar
The Ostrich
The Wompom
Twice Shy
Commonwealth Fair
P** P* B**** B** D******
Paris
Eine Kleine Nacht Musik Cha Cha Cha
The Hundred Song
Food For Thought

Album Details

Fantastic Triple CD Box Set of the Recorded Works of One of Britain's Most Popular Comedy Duos. Their Keen Observations of Everyday British Life and Abilities to Exemplify them in Song Made them the Darlings of the UK. Cleverness, Wit and Absoute Hilarity were the Order of the Day, in Just About Any Style of Music. Pure Comic Genius on Three Discs!

Customer Reviews:

Return to Sanity.......2005-07-27

Before Monty Python, before the Beatles, before "'Enery the Aigth Oi Am" there was the subtle, sweet, insdious humor of Flanders and Swann, and their lyrics remain part of the recognition rituals of Ivy Leaguers of the sixties. For any aging hippies or yuppies who find life WAY more stressful than we ever expected, and for whom the down side of alcohol, sex, and drugs has become apparent, I recommend listening several times to "In the Bath". It raises a cry for peace among the nations by inviting all the leaders to sit congenially steaming in a communal bathtub. And they reminding us of our essential self-interest when they add the proviso "as long as Swann and Flanders get the end without the taps." On those nights when we suspect that there isn't any point to it all, reach for the Flanders and Swann. They won't convince you there is any meaning to life, but they'll make it a lot easier to bear. Don't even try to do without it.

Have Some Madeira.......2005-07-06

Not every line in Flanders and Swann has become part of our 37-year marriage, but many have. As our turntables fail, we are pleased that we can relive all the fun stuff we used to collect. Nothing is like this duo, especially what you usually hear as French horn by Mozart converted into "I found that horn go(r)ne." And, of course,
"Have some Madeira, m'dear" is an all-time favorite.

British humour at its best.......2003-03-15

When I started out as a teacher of English, I had the most wonderful colleague as a mentor -- when she retired she gave me three LPs with much of what is on these CDs, and it must be one of the best gifts I have ever been given. Practically all of it makes me smile or laugh out loud (although I must admit that some, like The Armadillo and Slow Train, make me so melancholy that I can just feel my lower lip tremble and my eyes fill up). How can you beat lines like "Hail to thee, blithe Wompom", or "The English are moral, the English are good / And clever, and modest, and misunderstood"? I find they make great listening exercises for my teenaged students as well -- they consider it ancient, but incredibly funny!

If you haven't heard this..........2003-01-16

The great comedic pairing of the late Michael Flanders (vocals) and Donald Swann (piano and occasional vocals) must surely rank among the hall of fame of comic singers and songwriters. Descended from the British music hall tradition, these two men wrote and performed music which still sparkles with wit today, some 40 or more years since it was recorded.

After being told to take up singing as a means of strengthening his polio-weakened lungs, the wheelchair-bound Flanders teamed up with pianist Swann and proceeded to write such classic songs as "The Hippo Song (Mud Mud Glorious Mud)", "The Gasman Cometh", "The Gnu Song", "A Transport of Delight" and many others. As well as a gently satirical spirit, all these songs feature the sublime wordplay and interplay of both men.

The first two discs of this box set are actual concerts - "At The Drop Of A Hat" and its successor "At The Drop Of Another Hat". Recorded at the height of the duo's popularity and form, the sound quality is surprisingly good for recordings this old.

"At The Drop Of A Hat" opens with three of the Flanders and Swann classics. "Transport Of Delight", a song in praise of the "97 horsepower omnibus" features the wonderful harmonies of the duo on lines like "any more fares" and Flanders' dead-on impression of a London busdriver "Geddardait, we're full right up inside". "Song of Reproduction" deals with the new, as it was then, stereo technology and features Flanders delivering an incredible monologue using every conceivable piece of audiophile jargon. "The Gnu Song" (in which "gnu" is pronounced phonetically) is a real treat. The audience's reaction to the reappearance of the gnu is superb.
As well as this opening trio, the disc features Flanders' snippets of "Songs For Our Time" (in which he experiments with conventions of hit songs), "Song of the Weather" (a rundown of English weather throughout the year), "The Reluctant Cannibal" (featuring Swann in the tititular role and the chorus "I can't eat people/I won't eat people/eatin' people is wrong"), Swann's foray into Greek folksong "Kokraki" and the justifiably famous "Madeira M'Dear". The performance ends with a rousing version of "The Hippo Song".
Flanders is in fine voice throughout and his comments introducing each song are delivered with deadpan accuracy. The story behind "The Gnu Song" is an absolute masterpiece. Flanders' monologue about the creation of "Greensleeves" is also superb - "'Greenfleeves'. That's an interesting name for a fong" (referencing old English script) being just a taste.

"Another Hat" begins in equally fine form with "Gasman Cometh" and "Ill Wind". "Gasman", presaged as "a tale of unending domestic upheaval", is sure to have most people who've ever dealt with unreliable tradesmen nodding in agreement, while "Ill Wind" is Flanders' attempt at setting words to a French horn concerto featuring the immortal lines "I lost that horn/lost that horn/lost that horn/found that horn/gorn". The performance continues with Swann's Russian/English song "In The Desert", the ending of which is truly side-splitting. "All Gall" (a reinterpretation of "This Old Man" to fit then-French President Charles de Gaulle) is a little dated but very cleverly done. "Song of Patriotic Prejudice", with its introduction and opening lines grabbing the audience's attention is another triumph, while the "Hippo Encore" is a great end to the performance.
Again Flanders is at his peak. His loving description of the Spanish olive-stuffers ("Olividados") and his superb story about flying ("By Air") are both brilliant examples of the shaggy dog story.
My favourite from both of these discs would have to be "First and Second Law". Flanders decides to educate Swann in elementary science and picks on the first and second laws of thermodynamics ("heat is work and work is heat" and "heat cannot of itself pass from one body to a hotter body") and the repetition of these phrases in time to Swann's barely-there piano accompaniment is one of the finest moments in British comedy.

The third disc is largely forgettable. It begins with a series of animal-related songs performed in a studio and without much of Flanders' rambling introductions. "Warthog" has its moments, while the others were clearly not performed in front of an audience for a reason. "Wompom" is also mildly diverting, presenting a story about a made-up substance which is the answer to everything.
The rest of the disc is then filled out with much earlier material in a rather poorly-recorded concert. "20 Tons of TNT" (related to the calculation the pair had done which gave that as the amount of TNT per person on the planet at the time) provides food for thought, but little more.

Is this box set for everyone? No. Much of the humour both within and without the songs does require a bit of background knowledge to what was going on in Britain and Europe at the time (1960s), John Profumo is referenced a few times as well as Charles de Gaulle and the Common Market, while a smattering of classical music knowledge can help out a bit with Swann's work and "Ill Wind". The fact that my grandfather (who's in his late 70s) recalls hearing these songs and laughing may give an indication as to the age of some of the subject matter. Equally the fact that "First and Second Law" references an awful lot of physics might do the same.

Nevertheless, for anyone who loves British humour done in a gentle manner or who is interested in the source of "mud mud glorious mud/nothing quite like it for cooling the blood", give these CDs some serious consideration.

Gentle Satire.......2002-04-03

I've been singing Flanders and Swann every day In the Bath since I first heard them in 1964. If you don't know them, think Gilbert and Sullivan by way of English music hall and Noel Coward, with a bit of Tom Lehrer musical satire and classic Bob Newhart or Charlie Manna monologues. F&S commented gently on their times: "The purpose of satire, it has been rightly said, is to strip away the veneer of comfortable illusion and cozy half-truth. And our job, as I see it, is to put it back again." Quite simply the best comic songs and patter of the 20th century. Michael died in 1975, Donald in 1994. Goodnight, Mabel Figworthy, wherever you are.

Here are some samples of Michael's verbal wit.

Wordplay:
- "A Transport of Delight," their song of the pleasures of the double-decker bus "has recently been adopted as the theme song of the Underground resistance movement."
- Speculating that Henry VIII wrote Greensleeves: "and the royalties go to royalty."
- About a tennis referee late in the day: "the umpire upon whom the sun never sets."
- Explaining how he was hoisted in his wheelchair onto airliners by a fork lift: "Why they need a great machine like that to lift forks I do not know. Well, they're only plastic, now, aren't they?"
- On status symbols: "The object is to Gunga Din your neighbor: 'I'm a better man than you' is the acid test," and, "let's bang our status cymbals with the best."
- To a disenchanted cannibal: "You used to be a regular anthropophagi."
- Of a lecher: "And he said as he hastened to put out the cat, the wine, his cigar, and the lamps," while the girl "lowered her standards by raising her glass, her courage, her eyes, and his hopes."
- At the corrida d'olivas (the Andorran festival of olive stuffing, not to be confused with the Spanish corrida de toros, or bullfight): "And a great cry goes up of Ole! He has made an 'ol."
- "It's no good going up to a scientist and saying to him like you would to anybody else, 'Good morning, how are you, lend me a quid, and so on.' He'll just glare at you, or make a rude retort."

Throw-aways
- During the height of the cold war the Soviet Union sent the Moscow Ballet on a world tour. Donald sang one chorus of the Hippopotamus Song "mud, mud, glorious mud - nothing quite like it for cooling the blood" in Russian. Michael: "That should improve our cultural relations."
- During the 1963 Mandy Rice-Davies and Christine Keeler scandal: "None of that going around saying no smoke without fire. Nil cumbustibus, Profumo." Also, from "Friendly Duet," "such models of friendship are precious and rare, while the friendship of models is not."
- "Now if you're writing a musical, as I'm sure practically all of you are, . . ."
- Of Donald: "You know that no one has a higher regard for your music . . . than you do yourself. I merely meant that you are not great because you are not dead. If you wish to be great you must stop composing and start decomposing."
- "We never found a rhyme for (Soviet Premier Nikita) "Kruschev" until he was dead: Did he die or was he "pushed off"?"
- "We spent two dreadful, uh, delightful years, entertaining the Americans whose need, let's face it, is greater even than yours. Of course, when we're over there we say that the other way 'round."
- "No matter what you may say about the Germans, and who doesn't . . ."
- "Some of the songs that have made our names a household word, like slop-bucket . . ."
- "They've started testing cars now. They started at 10 years, then 5, now three. There's even some talk of having them tested before they leave the factory."

Absurdities
- "I'm delirious about our new oven fitted with the eye-level grill. This means that without my having to bend down the hot fat can squirt straight into my eye."
- A spectator during the construction of Stonehenge: "So, it's not going to be lived in. Well, that's something anyway. So what is it, then? It's a what?! A calendar?! A bit big for a calendar isn't it? You'd look pretty foolish with that on your desk."
- "Donald knocked himself out this morning. Got one of those new pop-up toasters. Nasty things."

Incredible multiple rhymes:
- "The fair hippoptama he aimed to entice from her seat on her hilltop above, as she hadn't got a ma to give her advice, went tip-toeing down to her love."
- Of Josephine: "Nonsense, said Bonaparte. She lives on her own, apart, in her own apartment."
- "Oh let us be married if our parents don't mind. We'd be happy and inseparable. Inextricably entwined. We'd live happily every after, said the Honeysuckle to the Bindweed."
- "And you'll always see a single lace-less left-hand leather boot. A bootless British river bank's a shock. We leave them there at midnight, you can track a member's route by the alternating print of boot and sock."

Average customer rating:

Beneath the Skin : Lovely surpise

Settled Beneath My Skin Very Well

Distort is very similar to Vortex

beneath the skin

Dark Poetry Set To Music!

Beneath The Skin
Collide
Manufacturer: Reconstriction
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Some Kind of Strange

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ASIN: B000001WY4
Release Date: 2007-07-16

Tracks:

Violet's Dance
Beneath the Skin
Falling Up
Deep
Black
Strange
Dreams and Illusions
Have Faith
Pandora's Box
95 & 7
Deep [Christ Analogue Remix]
Beneath the Skin [Subconscious Remix]

Customer Reviews:

Beneath the Skin : Lovely surpise.......2007-04-13

Beneath the Skin was a lovely surprise for me.. something comparitively different that the others, and yet... brimming with that same luxurious dark sound I was used to. I bought Collide's cds out of order, and if I remember correctly, this one was the third I purchased. Of course, none of us know exactly what to expect from any band from one cd to the next, but that's half the fun! And when it came to this cd.. I was thrilled to find that this awesome band had once again captured my attention in a HUGE way.

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times.... brilliant!!

Settled Beneath My Skin Very Well .......2005-10-25

After hearing more recent and very appealing work by Collide, I wanted to start at the beginning (Beneath the Skin) and move my way up. Something about the contrast of sugar-sweet female vocals with whipping electronica drew me in. First off, don't be fooled by their over-the-top gothy cover art and webpage design. Though the music has a haunting quality to it, it's certainly not over-the-top in any sense.

Collide's sound is a mixture of darkwave and industrial--some songs with a dance quality, others with more of a swaying feel. The production production approach by Static is something softer than VNV Nation or Apoptygma Berzerk, but harder-hitting than Depeche Mode, with Karen's vocals comparable to Love Spirals Downwards or Miranda Sex Garden.

A couple of my favorite tracks on here are "Falling Up" and "Dreams and Illusions." "Falling Up" gives you the feeling of having a heart attack amidst a crowded church, with it's fast-paced, choir-like background and the sense of being carried away. "Dreams and Illusions" has a mysterious quality to it, as the title conveys. "Beneath the Skin" and "Violet's Dance" put you inside a torture chamber. "Deep" sounds like industrial and more metal with a light sexual quality to it, with the buzzing guitar background serving like a voice. I'm not sure that the last two remixes contribute much to the album, though.

Karin's vocals, throughout much of this album, are basically and elevated whisper. I'm wondering if maybe they weren't too downplayed--sometimes the lyrics are too indistinctive to understand. I don't like the words feeling masked like these; it makes them seem unimportant. It tends to be to much "beneath the skin" when it could be surfaced. Another small critique is the over-repitition of background patterns, but that tends to be my critique with a lot of music, including music I love. After this album I can say I'm a new fan of Collide.

Distort is very similar to Vortex.......2005-04-07

If you were considering Collide and never heard them before, don't expect something that is going to fit in with everything else but expect something that is going to knock your socks off. The only music I'll listen to round the clock is Collide, a pair of headphones and a moderate volume level in a dimly lit room will set a wonderful mood for you to listen to Collide. All their albums have a similar feel and I would suggest Some kind of Strange Chasing the Ghost and Beneath the skin for someone who has the more open mind, Vortex is an Album I believe anyone can love its not as abstract as the others and is wonderful for dancing and I can guarantee once you hear vortex you'll want to hear everything else. Though I'm glad to have heard their original music first. Collide is probably the first of a new breed of music not rock nor techno. Abstract music is not something you come by often and this is THE BEST.

beneath the skin.......2004-12-01

Beneath the skin is a great follow up to Chasing the Ghost. The best song is Crushed.

Dark Poetry Set To Music!.......2003-01-04

"Spiral revelation, morphis of change
What a sensation
Growing in form.
Imagination, opens the door
In-between spaces
Oh dear she explodes..."

I honestly can't imagine a single soul not enjoying the music of Collide but for those who don't like them, or for those who haven't had the opportunity to hear them yet, well I pity you for you're truly missing out! I've been buying a lot of industrial/goth-related music lately but none have affected me the way that Collide has. Statik (producer/mixer) and kaRIN (vocals/lyrics) are simply brilliant when it comes to getting beneath the skin for the music they create is sure to send delicious chills down the spines of all who listen!

The lyrics are like dark poetry set to music but when kaRIN lends her lush, breathy vocals to the haunting words she concocts, a sensation unlike any other is sure to close around you as she weaves her delicate spell around her attentive follower... Of course it is very important to have an equal balance between the voice AND the instrumentations so, unleashing their intricate magic, Collide adds some grinding guitars to the mix which dance around leaping flames of industrial/electronic beats!

Now, because of poor sound quality, I am sadly obliged to give this album a star below what it probably deserves. The songs in themselves are all amazing as they showcase the potential that Collide is known for but the production (which is probably due to a low budget) kills the whole experience! And while it angers me to know that Collide will most-likely never gain the recognition or the following in which they rightfully deserve, I consider Collide to be one of my all-time favorite bands and am looking forward to all future releases!

I also recommend the fabulous 'Chasing The Ghost', which has better sound quality than this, as well as 'Distort' which features some incredible remixes from 'Beneath the Skin'.

Average customer rating:
Beneath the Skin

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Truth Serum
Average customer rating:
Truth Serum
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Release Date: 2005-09-27

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Head On
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P.D. James: The Skull Beneath the Skin
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Come, Violent Death!
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How Do They Arrive?
I'll Take These, And Probably..
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To Be Quite Honest, I'm Not...
Darling! Darling Ivo!
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Hello, I Don't Expect To See...
Bring Me The Casket Hither...
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Who Was The Child's Father?
But It's So Odd Of Him...
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Oh, Here You Are
What Is It Your Really...
Ah! Good Morning, Miss Gray
Oh,Oh, What Sort Of A Day?
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Poor Ralston
Lady Ralston, It's Nearly...
Will You All Come On Stage...
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Do You Not Weep?
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Well? What Do You Think?
Munter, The Most Dreadful...
You'd Known Lady Ralston...
It Would Be Accurate To Say...
Oh, Of Course The Wood-Cut's Mine
It's All Over The Sunday Papers
Tell Me About Clarissa
I Wonder What Mrs. Beeton...
It's No Good, Simon He's Dead
And, By Heaven, It Is!
Come In. Do You Mind If...
Miss Lisle! Miss Lisle!
They're All Arranged By Years...
Need Some Legal Advise
Good Evening, Cordelia
When I Was Sixteen, And First...
And After That?
Simon! Simon!
I Missed You Last Night
Oh, Miss Gray, I Do Hope It's...

Album Details

When Leading Actress Clarissa Lake Receives Theats, the Young Detective is Hired to Go with her to an Island Where She is Going to Star in the Dutchess of Malfi. Triple CD

Average customer rating:

Beneath This Skin
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Release Date: 2005-10-04

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Average customer rating:

Stellar, Absolutely Stellar ...
I LOVE THESE GUYS

Please.Quiet.Recording.
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23 Miles
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Parcel

Customer Reviews:

Stellar, Absolutely Stellar ..........2003-08-07

Guys who write and perform their own music, it doesn't get any better than this. The stellar song writing efforts by Aaron Adelsperger and Tim Wilsbach are brought to a clear, clean sound on "Please. Quiet. Recording" through great guitar, mandolin, bass and percussion performances by three guys who grew up together in "the Region" under the industrial shadows of Northwest Indiana. Paging Raymond's lyrics don't leave your subconscious very easily, especially after hearing them vocalized through the sharp harmonies of Adelsperger and Wilsbach. The emotion illustrated by this music, shows young men, who have already lived far beyond their years .... No gimmicks or electronic magic tricks here, just great performances by guys whose passion for playing music becomes ever more clear when listing to each cut. This is the kind of music, where other song writers sit back and say ... "I wish I would have written that !!!" and other musicians put down their instruments just to hear these guys play. Their follow up CD effort "Bridges Left to Burn" further clarifies the evolution of this great band. If you love song writing and music performed by guys who "share their own stories" ... you can't go wrong here.

I LOVE THESE GUYS.......2002-09-18

Paging Raymond come from my neighborhood. I had never heard of them until I went to see my favorite band in the world, Mabel Mabel...check out www.mabelmabel.com...in concert. They opened up. The two singers are incredible. One sounds like Pat from Train and the other sounds like Angie Aparo...who EVERYONE needs to check out!...and neither of those are bad things. They're a lot of fun and this album is great. Songs like 23 Miles and Ghosts really make this album great. I recommend this band to everyone. Alt-country really rocks anyway!