Public Servant Lifestyle

More a greatest hits party on your TV than a filmed gig, this Inspiral Carpets release features a band perfectly at home on stage.

Inspiral Carpets Live At The Brixton Academy

More a greatest hits party on your TV than a live concert, Live At The Brixton Academy features the five lads from Oldham doing what they do best of all – throwing down some mighty tunes to a clearly delighted capacity crowd.

This live disc was filmed at their sold out Brixton Academy show in April last year - one of the highlight's of their first major headline tour in nine years - and sees the band perform with the definitive band line-up of the band.

Featuring Tom Hingley on vocals, Clint Boon on keyboards, Craig 'Noddy' Gill on drums, Martyn Walsh on bass guitar and Graham Lambert on all the other guitars, this is a real treat for Inspiral Carpets fans old and new.

Homelessness

It’s interesting that while the majority of songwriters confine themselves to tracks about the familiar pop romances of the traditional romantic couple, the ‘Carpets are as likely to be found singing about homelessness (Joe), prostitution (Sackville), conscription (Uniform), suicide, post-menstrual tension and social exclusion (This Is How It Feels) or the space programme (Saturn 5).

Despite these somewhat unusual subject matters the 'Carpets never forget that it is driving rhythms, great tunes and showmanship that the punters want – and they deliver it here, in spades.

Somewhat unfashionable, even at their height – where, let’s face it, they had very little musically in common with the sounds being made elsewhere in the North West of England – despite being cobbled together with the Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses under the ‘Madchester’ banner the ‘Carpets forged their own unique path. The ‘Carpets could always be relied upon to produce classy pop tunes – naturally soaked in cheesy organ lines, courtesy of Mr Clint Boon – that leaves fans (and just watch the audience on this disc if proof were needed that the old charm is still there) beaming from ear to ear and yelling for more.

Unfashionable

The set on this disc includes the superlative single Joe – which first brought them mainstream acclaim at the end of the eighties – and more: Saturn 5 (with the band looking groovy in their black polo necks and shades uniform from the video of the same song), Find Out Why and I Want You – complete with Mark E. Smith intro, played over the venues PA.

But it is in the obscurities that this collection of tunes really shines and delights. Hidden gems such as Butterfly - which first appeared way back in the bands’ pre-recording deal days on their cassette only demo collection Dung 4 - is a treat to hear. An extra special version of She Comes In The Fall and a version of the Doves' track Pounding compete with a tremendous version of This Is How It Feels, complete with a corps of drum majorettes live on stage for favourite track.

Aside from the songs, the light and vision show is superb – animated graphics playing almost continuously, giving the gig a real sense of occasion. These clips are then presented as separate ‘extras’ at the end so that these new pieces of Inspiral music video can be enjoyed as stand alone clips.

Other notable numbers include such Inspiral gems such as: Directing Traffic, Generations, Bitches Brew, Two Worlds Collide, Weakness, Move, Caravan, Keep The Circle Round, She Comes In The Fall, Come Back Tomorrow, Dragging Me Down and the mighty Commercial Reign.

The Live At Brixton Academy DVD comes presented in 5:1 and stereo sound and features exclusive extras – including: backstage footage of the band preparing to go onstage in their own inimitable fashion, running Spinal Tap-like through a maze of corridors backstage and having their pictures taken with the majorette corps – as well as the various new animation sequences set to music.

Another great feature of this package is the ‘Play All’ function. For everyone who hates navigating in and out of DVD screens the entire disc – intro, gig, music videos and extras can be set to play in sequence, unfolding without any further input from the viewer. The way all DVDs should be enjoyed!

Mooseum?

One day in the distant future, maybe there’ll be a permanent tribute to the Inspiral Carpets – a Mooseum, if you will – probably slap bang in the middle of Oldham. This will perhaps be a place where school parties can be taken to gaze in awe at Clint Boons’ organs, marvel at whether the Inspiral Carpets early nineties fashion line will ever come back in and wonder just how come the Plane Crash EP never made it to number one in the charts. Until that day, however, this DVD collection (and to my mind, the compilation that goes with it, Cool As, released in mid 2003) will just about do to keep the fans happy. Recommended.

The full track listing for Live at Brixton Academy unfolds like this:

1. Intro
2. Joe
3. Directing Traffic
4. Generations
5. Bitches Brew
6. Two Worlds Collide
7. This Is How It Feels
8. Weakness
9. Move
10. Caravan
11. Keep The Circle Around
12. Sackville
13. She Comes In The Fall
14. Find Out Why
15. Come Back Tomorrow
16. I Want You
17. Dragging Me Down
18. Commercial Reign
19. Pounding
20. Butterfly
21. Saturn 5
22. Uniform

Inspiral Carpets – a selected discography

Garage Full Of Flowers – 7” single (1987)
Keep The Circle Around – 7” single (1988)
Planecrash EP – 12” single (1988) – featuring original ‘Carpets vocalist Stephen Holts on lead vocals
Dung4 – Cassette only (1989)
Trainsurfing EP – 12” single (1989)
Butterfly - 7" single (1989)
Joe - 7" & 12” single (1989), CD version (1990)
The Peel Sessions - 7", 12” & CD (1989)
Find Out Why – 7”, 12” & CD (1989), CD version (1990)
Move - 7", 12” & CD (1989)
This Is How It Feels – 7”, 12” and CD (1990) CD & 12” Extended Mixes (1990)
Life – CD and LP vinyl album (1990)
She Comes In The Fall/Commercial Rain – 7”, 12” and CD single (1990)
Island Head E.P – 7”, 12”, CD and Cassette single (1990)
Island Head E.P. – 12” Live limited edition (1990) – also as a double CD pack including extra remixes.
Caravan – 7”, 12” & CD single and remixes disc. (1991)
The Beast Inside – CD, Cassette and vinyl album (1991)
Please Be Cruel – 7”, Cassette, 12” and CD single and remixes disc. (1991)
Dragging Me Down – 7”, 12”, CD and Cassette (1992)
Two Worlds Collide – 7”, 12” and CD, remixes included M-People mix and Philip Erb Dub Edit (1992)
Peel Session – CD and 10” vinyl (1992)
Generations – 7”, 12”, CD and Cassette single (1992)
Revenge Of The Goldfish – LP, CD and Cassette album (1992)
Bitches Brew – 12”, remix 12” and Cassette – original release includes cover of Soft Cell’s Tainted Love. CD variant included Bitches Brew, Dragging Me Down, Smoking Her Clothes and Fire Live at Glasgow Barrowlands. (1992)
How It Should Be – 7”, Cassette, 12” and CD.
Saturn 5 – 7”, 12”, Cassette and CD single. Variant CDs featured remixes. (1994)
I Want You – 7”, Cassette, 12” and CD single, featuring The Fall’s Mark E. Smith on second vocals. (1994)
Devil Hopping – LP, CD, limited edition 10” vinyl and Cassette album (1994)
Uniform – 7”, Cassette and CD single, plus a wide variety of remixes, including one by Collapsed Lung. (1994)
Just Wednesday – 7” single (1995)
The Singles - CD and double vinyl album (1995)
Cool As - Double audio CD and single DVD set (2003)

For more information on the Inspiral Carpets visit the official website at: www.inspiralcarpets.com or check out the Inspiral Carpets' home on myspace: www.myspace.com/inspirals

See also on Lifestyle: Oldham’s Finest - Feast your ears on Inspiral Carpets' new digital b-sides release.

Inspiral Carpets Live At The Brixton Academy is available now, on DVD (Dung33DVD), from Mute.

More information available in DVD / Home Video, Music