Loop
 

I only have Gilded Eternity and Fade Out- but I've come to the conclusion that I don't find them all that interesting. If I'm not really closely listening and sort of in a daze they are good, but if I'm paying attention, all of their songs are boring.

Although I guess you could say that about most Shoegaze, couldn't you?

Loop were no shoegaze band.

Wikipedia says they were.

But skipping the technicalities. . . I think they are kind of boring when I pay attention and kind of awesome when I'm not. Good background music?

To me they are very engaging. Indeed they are one of the bands that have meant the most to my perception of music and the beauty of a maximal sound from a minimal structure. To me, they use repetition and saturation to break through "boring" and arrive at "transcendent."
They were my very favorite band at that time and have remained one of my favorites since. I don't think they are boring merely because they utilize a minimal/repetitious style; for me, it's more than that.

just for the record, wikipedia is not an official nor reliable source of information regarding anything on this planet.

I know Terminal Pharmacy, I'm "jux sayin'" as the saying goes.

I understand your argument Savage Clone, there are a few songs that to me achieve that. The song Blood off Gilded Eternity is really cool.

It is entirely possible that I've just not been in the mood for them the past few weeks or that I'm not listening to them right. (Fugazi is a much more interesting band to listen to while I am doing dishes than when I am idle at the computer for example.)

Their first album, Heavens End, is due for a reissue some time later this year. Get that, and your opinion on Loop will be turned upside down within minutes, I guarantee you.

Loop were one of the great 80's UK bands. Their singles are definitely worth picking up, especially "Collision".

this is true

Spot on!

A fantastic album by a great band. For me, 'Straight to Your Heart' is the stand out track of the album, and probably of Loop's total output.

They are one of my absolute favourite bands ever. I never find them boring and never will.

I can't remember how I first came to hear about Loop, but I bought their first 12" (Head On) because I liked Spacemen 3 and JAMC and they were being mentioned as comparisons. I remember being lliterally stopped in my tracks the first time I put that record on, I had never heard anything that "far-out" ever before. Spacemen 3 with balls.

I used to love Loop. Saw them a few times during their existence including their last ever show at Kilburn National. The first time was at a pub in Brighton called the Richmond around '87 and they blew me away (I taped the gig actually, I must go up in the attic and hunt it out!).

They were a really good head-fuck band both live and on record. Not one to listen to whilst doing the dishes though! I really got into their later stuff, which was longer, took time to build and had a much deeper, heavier bass sound. Arc-lite 12", Black Sun 12" and the Guilded album.

Has anyone heard the new Main stuff? The times have changed a lot, it's not really good stuff, very isolationist electronic stuff.

I have a few MAIN bits n pieces. Some of it I really like, others are a bit meh.
It's extremely minimal, doesn't really lend itself to vinyl releases.

All the early eps and albums are great, though. Dry Stone Feed, Hydra etc plus Firmament and Ligature are worth a listen too. It's just that he went into way too abstract territory and it's difficult listening to his music without thinking that it is a lot of meaningless laptop noise.

I'll have to give Heaven's End a try.

When I started to listening to them I was like "wow, these guys are really cool, they have a sense of rock and roll to this sort of music," but lately I don't know if I've been in the mood for them.

the only thing i might find dull about loop is their production/mastering, it doesn't translate very well to cds and mp3s.

but, my god, such a great band; try to look for the one known as "italian bootleg" (edizione limitata di 1000 copie), it's a live bootleg album, as you might have guessed, so good. i agree heaven's end is fantastic too.

I'll have to give that a try Everyneurotic. I think I know what you mean about the production/mastering. That is probably what is getting me.

Heaven's End is an incredible album, it makes my mind spin. For some reason though, i still haven't heard any other albums by Loop :/

CDs remastered in the early 90's--like most early Loop was--downgraded the sound of a lot of powerful bands. Mp3's....I never judge a band by what I hear on an mp3, unless they tell me that they intended for their cymbals to sound like radio static.

I was a fan of Loop from "Fade Out" onward and went back to pick up all the earlier stuff. And I still find "A Gilded Eternity" to be really good, even if a bit more like robots playing psych. I actually imagined them doing the Kraftwerk mannequin thing on stage for that stuff. Maybe it's a bit stylized, but I still liked it.

Yep, I can confirm that they weren't reknown for animated rocking out. Body-popping style dance routines were not a regular staple of the Loop live experience. Shame really...

I guess I'm a latecomer for this band... but anyways, I recently bought the a gilded eternity and eternal vinyls and they're both great music, stuff that fits very well to the process of getting drunk.
In fact, I might put a gilded eternity on as I still have bottles left.

My bandmates and I will be mixing our cover of "This Is Where You End" on Tuesday evening. I'll share with any interested parties. It was fun to do, and provided a welcome distraction from recording our album. This one is just for fun and internet purposes.

What's their split with Godflesh like?

It's the two bands covering each other. Loop does "Like Rats," Godflesh does "Straight To Your Heart." The Godflesh side completely slays in a major way. Loop did a great job too, but hearing Godflesh do their own take on what was already one of Loop's great tunes is undeniable, and that's the side I play more often.

Share it with me, baby! (Please)

A band I was in back in the late 80's recorded a few tracks at the 'House in the Woods' studio that Loop used, and used the same engineer as them. We asked him about Loop's recording techniques.
The production on Loop's recordings was a deliberate attempt by Robert Hampson to recreate the early 'stereo' sound used in the late 60's. It sounds a bit weird and basic nowadays when you can do so much in the production process, but they wanted it to sound like it had been recorded in the 60's

02.01.08. Loop reissues (non-update)
I have not received any word from Robert about the status of the Loop reissues in quite some time. As soon as I know something more, I'll post it here. The 20th anniversary of 'Heaven's End was last June or July I beleive. One thing I can tell you is that these reissues will not include lyrics. Here is what Robert told me:

...I've always regarded lyrics/ vocals as a equal part to the music...an instrument that's no more or less important to the rest. As with Main, I also like puzzles/mystery in the work, so I always thought it's for others to try and work them out, see what they find.
http://www.roberthampson.com/news/index.html

This concept is part of Loop's fundamental greatness to me, and I believe it also helped them to be viewed as a musical unit rather than a vehicle for a "frontman." Their style of washing out the vocals and putting them in the mix rather than over it made a huge influence on me that carries on to this day.

They've been on my wishlist for some time.

The more I listen to them, the more I love em.

If I'm ever to end up in a band in some distant future, I want it to be like Loop meets Part Chimp.
But first I need a tremolo pedal.

I have been a big loop fan since high school. One of my absolute favorites. Still listen to them regularly, fifteen years on....

Yes, the 'voice as just another component of the instrumental milieu' thing always struck me like one of their strong points as a band. Bands like MBV and Cocteau Twins did similar things with it, but with Loop it becomes like such an indistinguishable part of what's playing that I imagine it would make it a little more difficult to cover most of their songs.

weren't domino or rough trade already doing something about the reissues?

I've never heard mention of a particular label.

then it was neighborhood gossip...

om
 

Mr. Savage Clone turned me on to this band awhile ago. oh i just luv em and try to find whatver work they do now.

loop were great
i love that i've never seen a single photograph of them

I've never heard any Loop track.