Track Listing

1. On Ramp
2. Interstate 5 [Extended Version]
3. Always The Quiet One
4. I�m From Further North Than You
5. Mars Sparkles Down On Me
6. Ringway To Seatac
7. Don�t Touch That Dial [Pacific Northwest Version]
8. It�s For You
9. Larry�s
10. Queen Anne
11. Perfect Blue

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #56022 in Music
• Released on: 2009-07-06
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced

Amazon.co.uk Review
Fears that the death of veteran DJ John Peel would sound the death knell for many of the bands he vociferously championed are proved groundless by the arrival of Take Fountain, the first album in nine years from Dave Gedge's The Wedding Present. A return to the brittle, sometimes wry indie-rock sound of yore, the brooding likes of "Mars Sparkles Down On Me" will primarily be of interest to long-time Gedge fans dissatisfied by the broadly pop lean of his presently more prolific outfit, Cinerama. Lyrically, we're still in familiar realms – that is, love affairs, and the inevitable roads to failure that lie therein. But beyond the cigarettes-and-cardigans sound of the '80s bedsit lurk occasionally surprising ambitions: take the horn-accompanied "Always The One", a gloomily British take on the music of the Spaghetti Western, or "Interstate 5 (Extended Version)" – a sweeping, dramatic number that wears epic pretensions, and what's more, neatly succeeds in pulling them off. --Louis Pattison

Album Description
Dave Gedge originally recorded Take Fountain as the fourth Cinerama album, but after the break up of his relationship with fellow Cinerama founder Sally Murrell, Gedge decided that this darker record should be released under his Wedding Present moniker. Take Fountain is the band's first album release since 1996's Saturnalia, and returns to the noisy, jangly inteligent indie sound of old.

CD Description
After the break up of Dave Gedge's relationship with fellowCinerama founder Sally Murrell, Gedge originally recorded 'Take Fountain' as the fourth Cinerama album. Due to its darker sound, Gedge decided that the record should be released under his Wedding Present moniker making this the band's first album release since 1996's 'Saturnalia'. The album returnsto their noisy, jangly indie sound of their previous work and features Gedge's distinct lyrics about love and relationships.

Customer Reviews

Marvellous return by Gedge and The Wedding Present.
The last decade saw the evolution of The Wedding Present from a jangly, C86 style indie-pop band, creating music that was half-way between The Smiths and The Undertones on their great debut George Best, through to the more abrasive Pixies/Sonic Youth inspired noise rock of legendary albums like Bizarro and Seamonsters, right the way up to the mid-nineties when they became a prolific, if slightly anonymous group that most considered to be going through the motions. Towards the end of the decade, Wedding Present singer/songwriter David Gedge dissolved the band a started a new group with his then-partner Sally Murrell, called Cinerama.

This back story is important, as it allows us to put Take Fountain into a greater context... an album that was written with the intention of being the next Cinerama project, recorded during a torturous break-up period between Gedge and Murrell (...or so I've heard elsewhere), and eventually released under The Wedding Present moniker, which had been inactive for close to a decade. It's good to have them back, with The Wedding Present always offering the darker, more introspective side of Gedge, away from the string-drenched, witty and beautifully grandiose pop of Cinerama, with Take Fountain showing a return to the aggressive guitar sound and literate though deeply honest lyrical territory of albums like Bizarro and Saturnalia.

The album opens with the short atmospheric introduction On Ramp, which leads us beautifully into the album's first highlight, the extended take on Interstate 5. This is one song to definitely rival some of those early Wedding Present joys, with a great guitar sound curtsey of Gedge and Simon Cleave (who contributed to Cinerama also) and some subdued backing vocals from Kari Paavola, which become more apparent during the epic and heartbreaking chorus, which can't help but bring to mind some of Morrissey's best moments from albums like Bona Drag, Maladjusted and Vauxhall and I. The song comes to a close with a nice Spaghetti western influenced guitar melody and some folk-like percussion, all topped of by cinematic strings and a nice burst of Morricone inspired horns.

The next track, Always the Quiet One, can't help but seem somewhat inferior compared to the epic atmospherics of Interstate 5... though repeated listens eventually show it to be one of the highlights of the album. Along with the single, I'm From Further North Than You, Always the Quiet One proves to be one of the song that most points to that classic mid-80's style of George Best, bringing to mind songs like Shatner and You Can't Moan Can You? Next track, Mars Sparkles Down On Me is a more emotional track, starting with a slow guitar melody drenched in atmospheric production, with Gedge and Paavola singly sadly alongside the slowly approaching stings and military-like percussion. Like Interstate 5, it's another grand epic, and another reason to buy this great album.

The second half of the album alternates between more up-tempo guitar tracks like Ringway to SeaTac (with the great lyric "we only have one last chance to start an argument") to more subdued and emotional stuff like Don't Touch that Dial (which has an epic, distorted guitar sound that brings to mind the mighty Seamonsters) and the great Queen Anne. It's amazing that this music - which seems to evoke the very best and worst qualities of a rainy English Monday morning - could be recorded in America, but still, Gedge and producer Steve Fisk manage to push the sound of 1996's prior release Saturnalia forward, without loosing the qualities and charms that made the band (or Gedge as a songwriter) so special in the first place.

The album opens with the fantastic indie-guitar-pop of Perfect Blue, which continues the melancholy vibe established by the rest of the album (with lyrics like "oh, haven't you had enough of me... oh, how could I make you love me?"), though adding a touch of hope as Gedge seemingly finds a reason to carry on. It's a great moment, and another of my personal favourites from this album, which deserves to find a wider audience outside of the usual ranks of Gedge fanatics and indie-pop devotees.

Dynamite
Wedding Present back on form. I have had 'Interstate 5' on repeat for the past week - for anybody that has ever been used 'and is it sexist to say, that I thought just boys were meant to behave in this way'. Lightning. And, as for 'I'm from further north than you', the man is a genius. Buy and enjoy.

They're Back, They're Brilliant
Maybe I'm getting old, but I often find myself dissapointed with more modern day bands that can't quite string enough decent songs together to make a really good album. I had even begun to lose my way with Dave Gedge, when listening to Cinerama I would be dreaming of Seamonsters. It was with some cagey delight I bought this album the first Wedding Present since the excellent Saturnalia. On first listen I thought, 'mmmm, this is good', but like all of Gedge's better work I knew I would have to delve into it more. I have run through it several times now and it is creative sometimes inspirational music that reaches the heights few other bands can match. Epitomised by the lyrics, the melody and the intesity of 'I'm From Further North Than You', The Wedding Present role back the years here with a less harsh but distinctive sound. Lyrically Gedge is on top form, although I have yet to listen to a single word he sings on 'Don't Touch That Dial', transfixed as I am on the percussion married so succinctly to the empty guitar arpeggio.

If you like The Wedding Present, buy it. If you don't know The Wedding Present, buy it, you might just love it.