Felt - Discography

Oh my CHRIST. This took a long effing time to complete. I ended up having to buy The Pictorial Jackson Review and Train Above the City from Amazon because I couldn't find them anywhere. But at least it's complete now... I feel accomplished.


"Felt was the project of Britain's enigmatic Lawrence Hayward, a singer/songwriter who transformed his long-standing obsession with the music of Tom Verlaine and Television into an impressive catalog of minimalist pop gems and, ultimately, cult stardom. The first Felt single, "Index," was produced by Hayward alone in his bedroom on a portable cassette player; released in 1979, its primitive, impressionistic sound stood in stark contrast to the sleek solemnity of the new wave (as did Hayward's much-discussed "new puritan" stance, a rejection of alcohol, smoking and drugs), and as a result the record became the subject of lavish critical praise, leading to a contract with the Cherry Red label.

Hayward then set about assembling a band, although Felt was clearly his project and his alone; in fact, his control was so absolute that according to legend, original drummer Tony Race was fired primarily because he had curly hair. After a series of roster shuffles, a steady group including guitarist Maurice Deebank and drummer Gary Ainge began to take shape in time to record 1981's Crumbling the Antiseptic Beauty allowed EP. The addition of the classically-trained DeebankHayward to realize a level of guitar interplay similar to the twin attack of Television's Verlaine and Richard Lloyd; Hayward's understated vocals brought comparison to another downtown New York icon, however -- Lou Reed.

After one more EP, 1984's The Splendour of Fear, Felt issued its long-awaited full-length LP The Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories, in 1984. The group's ranks swelled to include keyboardist Martin Duffy prior to recording 1985's Ignite the Seven Cannons with producer Robin Guthrie, whose fellow Cocteau Twin Liz Fraser guested on the single "Primitive Painters," a major British indie chart hit. Despite their success, internal friction plagued the group -- Hayward and Ainge were once forced to mount an infamously disastrous two-man improvisational festival performance after Deebank and Duffy abruptly walked out -- and finally Deebank left for good prior to the release of 1986's Ballad of the Band EP, Felt's first effort for the Creation label.

In the wake of the guitarist's exit, the group's next album, 1986's Let the Snakes Crinkle Their Heads, became a brief instrumental outing, but its follow-up, Forever Breathes the Lonely Word, was acclaimed as Felt's masterpiece. Mayo Thompson produced 1987's Poem of the River EP, while Guthrie returned to man the spartan mini-album The Final Resting of the Ark. Two dramatically different LPs, The Pictorial Jackson Review and Train Above the City -- the latter of which did not even include Hayward -- followed in 1988, and upon issuing 1989's Me and a Monkey on the Moon, Felt announced its break-up. Hayward soon resurfaced in the 1970s revivalist project Denim." --allmusic.com


I would start out with Stains on a Decade and Absolute Classic Masterpieces. I would recommend the first two albums (good post-punk), Forever Breathes the Lonely Word, Poem of the River, and Me and a Monkey on the Moon (all of them great pop albums). Trivia: In their 10-year lifespan, Felt released 10 albums and 10 singles. They are apparently one of Stuart Murdoch's (Belle & Sebastian) favorite bands.

Note - The first two albums are both in the same file, linked in the Crumbling the Antiseptic Beauty link.

Albums

• Crumbling the Antiseptic Beauty 192 kbps (Cherry Red, 1981) (Review)
  
• The Splendour of Fear (link above) 192 kbps (Cherry Red, 1984) (Review)
• The Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories 128 kbps (Cherry Red, 1984) (Review) (Better quality link in comments)
  
• Ignite the Seven Cannons 192 kbps (Cherry Red, 1985) (Review)
• Let the Snakes Crinkle Their Heads to Death 320 kbps (Creation Records, 1986) (Review)
• Forever Breathes the Lonely Word 160-320 kbps (Creation Records, 1986) (Review)
• Poem of the River 320 kbps(Creation Records, 1987) (Review)
• The Pictorial Jackson Review 256-320 kbps (Creation Records, 1988) (Review)
• Train Above the City 256-320 kbps (Creation Records, 1988) (Review)
• Me and a Monkey on the Moon 256-320 kbps(Cherry Red, 1989) (Review)

Compilations

• Gold Mine Trash (Cherry Red, 1987) (Thank you for this Jarin)
  
• Bubblegum Perfume (Creation Records, 1990)
• Absolute Classic Masterpieces 192 kbps (Cherry Red, 1992) (Review)
• Absolute Classic Masterpieces Volume II (Creation Records, 1993)
• Stains on a Decade 128 kbps(Cherry Red, 2003) (Review)

Sorry some of them are in crap 128 kbps but these records are really freaking hard to find. If anyone has/can find the compilations that I'm missing, I'd be very grateful.