1. petefield
   Member
   Posted 1 year ago #
   

   I wonder how people first got interested in Kristin's music. I know for me it was seeing Throwing Muses support The Cocteau Twins at Kentish Town and Country Club in 1987, I'm sure it was 87, either that or my mid life crisis and shrivelled brain are making things up. I didn't know what to expect, but I know it was a fantastic night and I bought the first album asap. I got kind of caught in an era and with work and life getting in the way, in the early 90s I lost track of what Throwing Muses were putting out. I was and still am a loyal fan of other groups, Cocteau Twins, Lush, The Sundays, Sugarcubes, Pixies, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and lots more as well. In the last year I got rid of my vinyl records (with a few exceptions) to replace with cds, and it was when doing this I thought, I wonder if Throwing Muses did anything more than I already had in my collection.....oh what a can of worms that opened, and solo career, when did that happen? I then sat and realised it was over 20 years since I'd seen Throwing Muses, where had the time gone? I've now got pretty much everything up to date and it's great to catch up on what I've missed. I've no doubt that Kristin and her music is the best thing to come across the pond, I am and will always be a grateful listener, I'm a bit annoyed that 20 years passed in a blink of an eye, but the catching up has been fun. It'd be nice to hear how other people got involved, sorry for waffling on but it's my mid life crisis and waffling seems to come naturally.

2. rugan
   Member
   Posted 1 year ago #
   

   I came in through the "Your Ghost"-door. I was already a fan of Belly, and knew of Kristin, but hadn't heard any of her stuff before '94. A friend of mine played me University a while later, and i was intrigued. Got Hips and Makers and the Not too Soon 12". By now i was hooked.

   With all that's happened these past years (CASH, 50foot, TM playing again, Crooked, Strange Angels), i feel so PROUD to be a fan of K (sounds corny, i know). I'm eternally humbled by the fact that my all time musical hero is so infinitely generous with her wisdom and art. Crooked is STUNNING, even if i've followed the CASH-output since 2008, the songs sound fresher, fuller and better when they're sequenced "for real".

   I'm waffling too! And i haven't even reached my 30's! ;)

3. petefield
   Member
   Posted 1 year ago #
   

   Proud to be a fan is right. I think anyone who hasn't heard Kristin's music is missing out. I'm a fan of a lot of different groups but I can't imagine music without Kristin's input and luckily I got involved by going to a Cocteau Twin's gig. I would have heard Throwing Muses on compilation albums put out by 4AD as well, so 4AD and the independent charts of the 1980s really saved my musical soul. I've been listening to Murder, Misery and then Goodnight in the car this morning, Sky Motel last night, the solo stuff is really new to me, but it's great. Not reached your 30s Rugan, it seemed to take forever to get to 21 then 30 just hit like a brick wall, I just got used to being 30 then 40 came out of nowhere, so I'm now looking forward to growling at things for no apparent reason. That's the best thing about being English, the ability to have a really good moan about stuff and a good queue. Ce la vie, waffle over.

4. tony
   Member
   Posted 1 year ago #
   

   I am facing the half century next year. Similarly to you, I was listening and buying a lot of 4AD in the early to mid eighties and the Muses/Pixies releases were going to get bought one way or another.
   Nearly sold Come On Pilgrim after a couple of listens. Guy at a record fair persuaded me to give it another go, raving about the mental lyrics. Now it is a part of my psyche.
   The Muses debut initially faired better. I was quickly hooked on the elaborate song structures and the off kilter guitar, bass and drums interplay. Completely unlike anything else around at the time.
   By the time House Tornado hit the shelves I was ready to sell my soul.

   My tastes have been pretty eclectic over the years, even going through a major dance phase in the nineties, but I always end up back with the Muses.

   Quality is timeless.

   Actually, if you have not heard them before, or even if you have, check out the new School of Seven Bells album, Disconnect from Desire, a beautiful take on the 4AD/MBV sound. My new favourite album.

5. Egan
   Member
   Posted 1 year ago #
   

   I'm probably one of the newest and youngest Kristin fans. In the summer of 2008, when I was 16, my friend Wojtek sent me "Sunny Border Blue", and I'll always be grateful to him for that. At first, I wasn't crazy about it (the first time I listened to it, I was actually bored, something unthinkable to me now!) but the more I listened, the more intrigued I was. Then I got "The Grotto", became hooked instantly, and before long I had all her solo stuff. I didn't even get into Throwing Muses until the past year, and it has been such a thrill going through the catalogue album by album; just when I think it can't get any better, I discover another old gem that makes me wish I was born 20 years earlier! However, with CASH and "Crooked" and 50FootWave, this is such an exciting and rewarding time to be following Kristin and I'm glad to be able to contribute. I've gone through phases of cheap infatuation with other artists, but at this point I'm sure that as long as I can hear, I'll be listening to whatever Kristin has to say.

6. Murgatroyd
   Member
   Posted 1 year ago #
   

   This makes me feel old, but it was way back in 1986 when the Muses first album came out. I was already a huge fan of several other 4AD bands, and I remember reading the (very positive) review in Melody Maker and thinking I must buy that. It went on to finish (something like) 3rd in their albums of the year. I might still have that very copy of MM somewhere in my attic, I'll have to fish it out one day.

7. Alistair
   Member
   Posted 1 year ago #
   

   I remember reading the (very positive) review in Melody Maker and thinking I must buy that

   Hang on, that's my story! :o)

8. petefield
   Member
   Posted 1 year ago #
   

   Murgatroyd, you've got me thinking now, I'm sure it was 87 when I saw them. Now I'm wondering if I bought the album before.........this is a good test for the grey matter, I must have one or two brain cells that still funtion reasonably.

9. Altfish
   Member
   Posted 1 year ago #
   

   I first came across TM on the famous UK show "The Old Grey Whistle Test", not a clue when it was, my gut feeling is late 80s. I've not a clue which tracks they played and have never seen archive footage of that show; it must be in the BBC's vaults somewhere!?

   I shortly afterwards bought House Tornado, then the rest of their back catalogue.

   At this stage I had two young children and gig going was limited, but I finally saw them live at Manchester University (now the Academy) in September 1992; I seem to remember seeing Belly at the same venue not that long afterwards.

   The rest as they say, is history. The website, CASH Music, etc has confirmed my addiction.

10. angelordevil
    Member
    Posted 1 year ago #
    

    MTV, February 1994 - video for Your Ghost :-)

11. vikki_FME
    Member
    Posted 1 year ago #
    

    Great thread, I've enjoyed reading this.

    I met my boyfriend - "H" in 1993 and we found we had a lot of music taste in common, although mine was more mainstream. H introduced me to the BBC Radio 1 Evening Session with Jo Whiley and Steve Lamacq and I started getting into a lot of stuff I'd never heard before, and H made me lots of tapes of albums he already had - a lot of 4AD stuff as you guys have already said!

    Incidentally I went to Art School and at the beginning of one of my Surrealism Lectures, the Lecturer played "Debaser" by the Pixies - H was very impressed when I told him I'd recognised the track, I think he accepted me as a fully fledged 4AD fan then, ha ha!

    One of the tapes H made for me was a mixture of stuff from The Curse, Hunkpapa, The Real Ramona and Red Heaven. I LOVED it! Something about Kristin's lyrics talks to me - even though I may not be able to fully interpret them sometimes, I can relate to them - if that makes sense?

    H and I are still together and we have 3 kids age 6 and 4 (last 2 are twins) - the kids have been singing along to Mississippi Kite in the car this week - I am training them well :)

    Between myself and H we now have the full back catalogue of Kristin, Muses and 50' ~, I'm a Strangel, I've seen Kristin twice recently and met her this weekend!

    And very happy I am too :)

12. makmak
    Member
    Posted 1 year ago #
    

    A friend lent me 4AD's Lonely Is An Eyesore in 1989, and Fish lodged itself immediately in my brain. I think Hunkpapa had just come out at that stage, so I bought it, played it, read the lyrics, and my mind was blown. Since then Kristin's music has seen me through the highs and lows. I envy anyone who is only just discovering her back catalogue, total headrush!

13. ericlered
    Member
    Posted 1 year ago #
    

    A very good friend of mine lent me copies of Hunkpapa, The Real Ramona and Red Heaven in our university days of the early nineties. I first had tickets to see the Muses in 1998 here in the UK, unfortunately the tour (and the band) were canned! I have remained an avid fan of Kristin's work since though and have been lucky enough over the last few years to see Kristin perform solo several times as well as with 50footwave. Looking forward to new 50footwave and Throwing Muses records, and live in the vain hope that somehow i will get to see the latter live eventually! I can honestly say that Crooked is possibly my favourite solo album yet, some statement! Long may Kristin run :)

14. skooter888
    Member
    Posted 1 year ago #
    

    I think it was in the summer of '94. I was real into Belly and read that Tanya was a band called Throwing Muses. The first CD I could find was "Red Heaven" and I remember thinking how different Tanya sounded on it (it took me a couple days to read the liner notes). A few weeks later I came across Hips and Makers and picked it up - I got food poisoning that day and listened to it all night while I had a hideous fever, it was a very surreal experience. After that I was totally hooked and hunted down every Kristin think I could find. She could make an album where she burped the alphebet and I would buy it because nobody could burp the alphabet better.

15. piratepoet
    Member
    Posted 1 year ago #
    

    I was living in Providence, RI when I first truly "discovered" Kristin - coincidence or universal plot?

16. rugan
    Member
    Posted 1 year ago #
    

    She could make an album where she burped the alphebet and I would buy it because nobody could burp the alphabet better.

    Didn't you hear about next year's project "Burp Girl"? "Paradoxical Exhaling" for non-US markets. :)

17. rubabbel
    Member
    Posted 1 year ago #
    

    I got introduced to her through Your Ghost, me and two friends used to sit in one of our bedrooms and listen to a pirate radio station called Alice's Restaurant. There was an American dj that we listened to religiously, I can't remember her name, but she introduced us all - and me particularly - to so much good music. Then one day she played Your Ghost, and we were all hooked. I must've been 15 back when that was released. I've seen her I think four times now (including last night), and have all her solo stuff and am slowly working my way back threw the Throwing Muses back catalogue.

18. ska4me
    Member
    Posted 1 year ago #
    

    People have been asking this question online for years, and I never tire of reading the responses. Rarely are music fans as passionate about the "hows" and "whys" of their appreciation for an artist as they are when recalling how they discovered Kristin's music.

    For me (with apologies to those who've read my account numerous times before), it was a friend insisting that if I was a fan of the Pixies, as I was RABIDLY circa 1989, then it was, by his logic, only natural that I'd like Throwing Muses too. So at his insistence, I picked up "House Tornado"...and it did nothing for me.

    Flash forward a short while, and I'm on four month's bed rest with a back injury. Lying there with LA's KROQ to keep me company, a song came on the air that blocked out everything else from my consciousness. As soon as it ended, I called the station to find out who and what I'd just heard, and I was told it was "Counting Backwards" by--to my complete surprise--Throwing Muses, of course. Ignoring my pain and near inability to walk, I rushed down to my local Tower Records, bought the CD, and flew back home, where I listened to it on repeat for the next day and through most of that night. It rarely left my CD player for months afterward.

    Sadly, I'd turned down a request from my friend to see Throwing Muses on that tour, and it wasn't until I'd agonized through the group's temporary breakup and reformation that I would finally see them, at the warm up shows for the "Red Heaven" tour--and then numerous times on the tour proper. I met Kristin the first night, and from that point on, my fanboy geekdom was a done deal...

19. Fuseball
    Member
    Posted 1 year ago #
    

    Very similar story to petefield. I think we went to the same Cocteau Twins gig at the Town and Country Club in Kentish Town. It was definitely autumn 1986 (the Cocteau's Loves Easy Tears EP and Harold Budd collaboration were the reason behind the tour). My mates stopped in the pub just across from the venue while I went in and fell in love with Throwing muses. DIf Juz also played that night, which makes it, in retrospect, probably the best gig I ever saw. This was definitely the point that my 4AD obsession kicked in.

    I generally preferred the Muses to Kristin's solo records, but Crooked is magnificent, and I love her whole approach to making music and involving us all in that. It's something really quite special.

20. Silverfrown
    Member
    Posted 1 year ago #
    

    i was thirteen, and Kristin came to Spain on a promo tour to do some interviews for "Strange Angels" (it was January 1998), and there was this excellent radio show called Diario Pop that i would listen to every night before falling asleep. The host announced Kristin's presence and he played "Shake" from the album, and that was the first time i heard a song by her. i had that recording on tape for a long time, i don't know where it must be.

    i slowly became fascinated by her work, and started buying all the records and discovering Throwing Muses. the rest is history: favourite band and favourite songwriter ever.

21. mikel
    Member
    Posted 1 year ago #
    

    I'd heard a bit of Hunkpapa in '89 at a record store in Portland, OR, and was intrigued...so I bought it (on cassette!)and was actually not too into it, though I'd occasionally listen to "Devil's Roof" (easy to do...first song, first side). Then I picked up "The Real Ramona" before I drove cross-country alone in summer of '91 to go to college and I was hooked, especially by "Counting Backwards" and "Hook in Her Head" (good memories of long, empty stretches of highway and that at top volume). Nearly simultaneously, I heard "Fish" and "Vicky's Box" for the first time. Hearing a woman who seemed sweet and shy sing a line about blowjobs and being a queer pretty much endeared me for life. :)

22. petefield
    Member
    Posted 1 year ago #
    

    Fuseball, you got it, I was trying to remember the other day when I saw Dif Juz. Oh well I was a year out, but you've stirred the memory bank. That was one hell of a night. I was playing Extractions by Dif Juz the other day. 4AD really opened my eyes to some fantastic music and that all came about because The Cocteau Twins, brilliant times.

23. skooter888
    Member
    Posted 1 year ago #
    

    I need to learn how to use spell check before I post :-)

24. TurboC
    Member
    Posted 1 year ago #
    

    Belly 'Star' -> Belly 'King' -> Tanya solo stuff -> Throwing Muses 'In A Doghouse'

    Was looking for more Tanya stuff. Didn't want to buy a TM CD unless it had Tanya specifically listed on it. Passed up University a bunch of times at a used cd shop, since it didn't list Tanya. Finally saw her listed on IAD and grabbed that at Waves music when it was going out of business. Quite a weird pair of discs; thought they were interesting but they had to sit around my CD collection for over a year before I really got into them. When I finally thought it was genius I then grabbed University. Then soon after, in preparation for Rock in Rockingham I grabbed K's entire collection. As a lowly Kristin initiate I met her on the train ride, wasted 5 minutes of her time and pretended like I liked her more than I did, only because I knew I would soon like her more than I did. And I did. :)

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