Music Arcades: James: One Man Clapping

Last time one of James' albums from the late 1980s featured here, I concluded by saying, "I'd give anything for recordings of that period of James live, towards their last days as a four-piece band." Judging by the Amazon listing for this album (see below), others would give upwards of £80 for this recording. Wikipedia tells us that only 10,000 copies were pressed, but happily I bought one the week the album was released, so didn't have to pay a premium. But I would still pay a premium (not £80) for more recordings like this. I really wish I'd got some of those bootleg cassettes they used to sell on trestle tables at Sheffield University Students Union on a Thursday lunchtime.

For this album only partly scratches my itch, and thus it makes it itch more. Yes, we get six new tracks unavailable elsewhere, alongside live versions of songs from albums one and two. And many of them are great, showcasing Tim Booth's knack of conjuring psychosexual metaphors that manage to be original and archly clichéd at the same time (example from the first song, punningly titled Chain Mail: "You put your lips to helmet slits / Try to suck me out the tin / I can't get out / I'm welded in").

It's true, you get a feel for how James were brimming with musical ideas, and how accomplished they were in their execution. I enjoy the more angular, more dramatic playing of James' first drummer Gavan Whelan (allegedly a Neil Peart fan, and thus less funky/baggy than his successor).

But on the downside, the mix of the album has always sounded a little 'bright' and trebly to me, so it doesn't pack the full James punch that I remember from some of the most thrilling, frenetic and desperate live shows I've ever seen.

Secondly, it should be longer! I'm sure there are more songs from this period that have never been released. Whether they're on live recordings, Peel Sessions like this and this, or in the vaults of Sire/Blanco Y Negro/Warners — presumably the band now have control over most, if not all, of these. So my guess is that the reason they're not available on the market is that the band are somehow ashamed of this early work and don't want it to be widely heard. I hope they'll relent on this before they are too much older.