Curve

[Shinmaru]

Yeah, I've been on a [i]massive[/i] Curve kick lately. I listen to them every so often, probably more than most bands I listen to, but right now Curve has been dominating my computer. I remember when Tony sent me a few CDs a while ago...I liked a lot of the bands he exposed me to, but I think that Curve is the band I got into most (well, maybe Curve and Marilyn Manson about the same). They just wowed the hell out of me when I first heard them.

I'm not very good at musical description in terms of genres and whatnot, so I'll leave that to Tony or James or someone else...but I must say that Curve's sound is simply fantastic. And Toni Halliday might just be my favorite vocalist ever. I mean, damn - she's incredible lol. I prefer a good female vocalist to a good male vocalist, and Toni Halliday beats out pretty much everyone else I've ever heard in my life.

I have two of Curve's albums, [i]Cuckoo[/i] and [i]Doppleganger[/i], and of the two I prefer [i]Cuckoo[/i]. The title track, "Turkey Crossing", and "Left of Mother" being my favorite tracks off of the album, though they're all great.

Is it okay to link to a song of their's so that people can download it, by the way? Curve has it up on their official site, so I figured that it would be fine to include it on here lol. It's a more recently recorded song, called "Weekend". It's pretty good.

EDIT: Eh, I figure that putting the MP3 on here is cool, since Curve has it available on their official site. [url=http://www.curve.co.uk/mp3/weekend.mp3]Weekend (4.97 MB)[/url] - Right click, and save as to download it. Good song.

[James]

[color=#334366]Tony also introduced me to this group, as we were having a pretty lengthy discussion about music (I think Tony was trying to find stuff he knew about that he felt would appeal to me, based on my description of what kind of music I like).

So Tony sent me a few MP3s. Well, two. The first was Horror Head, which I loved...and the second was Lillies Dying. Horror Head just sounded highly refreshing to me. It was almost like 80's pop, with some rock elements thrown in. A pretty unique track and I was definitely intrigued.

I also love Lillies Dying, because the lyrics are just so wonderful. It's a song I'd listen to on the way to school, to make me feel positive before entering class. Fantastic track.

Other than that, I have a few other tracks by the group, some of which I really like (uh...*thinks*...You Don't Know comes to mind). And then there are some on other albums that I don't like too much.

But I'm not really familiar with Cuckoo. I'll have to check that out.[/color]

[Guest Sean]

[SIZE=1][COLOR=DarkRed]I haven't actually heard of 'Curve'. I just listened to Weekend there, and it is a face paced song to say the least. But I have to say I am enjoying it. I'm currently listening to Unreadables, which is also very good. I have to say that I'm going to hunt for a few of there CD's now.

I haven't really be interested in the Electronic type of music, but this is doing something with me. The second group to do this aswell. Well I hope to listen to more of there songs. But they are quite unique.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Heaven's Cloud]

[color=indigo]I was sixteen or seventeen and absolutely stoned when I first heard Curve. I was visiting a friend at Chapel Hill and her roommate had ?Doppelganger? playing on her radio. High and talkative, the conversation fell upon music. My friend?s roommate asked if I liked the album we were listening to and I guess I said yes (I don?t remember, I was stoned). Then my friend and I went and ate at a local pizza place.

When I got back to her dorm room there were two tapes (this was a little before CD burners were common place, yes I know I am old) that said Charlie, DOPPELGANGER (yes, in caps). I thought this was very cool, but you have to realize I was a dorky sixteen/seventeen year old getting a gift from a college girl I barely knew. I mean, the next step had to be gratuitous sex?right?

Anyway, I loved ?Doppelganger?, I must have rewound and replayed Fait Accompli a million times, but I lost the tape sometime between finishing high school and starting college. However, I was at a record store a few years back and I saw both ?Cuckoo? and ?Doppelganger? on a special display marked ?Employee?s Favorites? so I purchased both albums.

As good as Cuckoo is I think I prefer Doppelganger, if just for nostalgic purposes. Doppelganger was a bit softer and more melodic than Cuckoo, and it tends to remind me of a fun time in my life.

If you like Shin?s posting of ?Weekend? I definitely would recommend buying either of the above mentioned CD?s. I also heard that their album, Pubic Fruit, is pretty good as well, though I never purchased it.[/color]

[Semjaza]

Every Curve album is worth buying, even those they have available only on their website (there's a few of them, I believe).

Pubic Fruit is excellent and I fully recommend it. Come Clean is also quite good, as is Gift. Gift actually had a song on it that was used in various commercials and the original Spider-Man film (at least in the commercials anyway). "Hell Above Water" was the title. Gift is probably the easiest of these to find, next to Doppelganger. Gift is, however, a bit more "rock" in a sense... more similar to Garbage than other Curve albums.

I think the most amazing thing about Curve is that it's really only just two people. That and Toni Halliday is as attractive as her voice leads you to believe. I'd have to agree that it's probably the best female voice I've heard in any genre similar to this.

The sad thing about Curve is that they never really got the commercial acclaim they deserved. I don't know if it's still an issue (may be, I've never seen them hit Chicago since), but their label couldn't even afford to send them on tour years back.

It's kind of strange when groups like Garbage have hit the big time, which is probably one of the better direct comparisons to Curve in many senses. Garbage mainly exists because of Butch Vig, who visited with Curve before Garbage was even created. In many senses, it's almost as though he ripped off Curve, sound, voice and all, although twisting it to be a bit more market and radio friendly. Shirley Manson certainly tries to attempt the ability of Halliday, although I don't think she comes close at all.

Oh well. I'm glad more people like them now. The first time I posted about Curve, I don't think anyone really responded on here lol.