AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #365: GORKY’S ZYGOTIC MYNCI

This was meant to be the third and final chapter in the ChatGPT experiment, but having listened to what the people had to say,  the AI contribution has been binned.

I desperately wanted to do a Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci ICA, but only having three of their nine albums here at Villain Towers (along with nine singles/EPs), along with a few songs that have appeared on compilations, I wasn’t sure if I had all the necessary tools to do it justice.  So I asked Chat GPT to come up with ten songs.

The results kind of surprised me in that I was in possession of nine of the suggestions.  It made me think further about the Chat GPT function, namely that it really doesn’t do what it is supposed to.  The songs offered up have come from the best-known and best-selling albums, which will, of course, be the ones most written about across t’internet.  In other words, the Artificial Intelligence machines merely reflect the findings of popularity polls rather than undertaking any critical analysis….which I reckon makes it more dangerous than useful. Oh, and as I discovered when looking at some of the allegedly factual bits of the AI commentary, there were huge and glaring errors (shock, horror!!!!!)

So, I went  back to the drawing board and came up with my own ICA.  The irony of most of the songs below actually being suggested by AI is not lost on me, but what I take from that is that my favourite Gorky’s songs are the ones most often liked by others who have written about them online.

A brief intro…..

Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci formed in Carmarthen, Wales in 1991, with its three initial members – Euros Childs, Richard James and John Lawrence – all being 16-year-old schoolfriends.  Before the year was out, they had self-released their first songs, via cassette, and by 1993 had been signed by the Cardiff-based indie label, Ankst.  The band had already expanded in numbers, and now included, among others, Megan Childs (sister of Euros) on violin.  Three albums were released on Ankst between 1993 and 1995, and the band were championed by John Peel.   It was around at the tail end of this period when I first heard them, thanks to their inclusion on an NME compilation CD rounding up the best singles of 1995.

All of this led to the band being courted by the majors, and their next two albums in 1997 and 1998, would be on subsidiaries of Universal Music  but with the truly commercial success not forthcoming they were dropped, and their next three albums in 1999, 2000 and 2001 came out on Mantra, a subsidiary of Beggars Banquet.

This was a period when many members of the band came and went, and saw the departure of one of the founding members, John Lawrence.  One final album would be released in 2003, courtesy of indie-label Sanctuary Records, and the band would eventually formally announce their split in 2006.

SIDE A

1. Patio Song (from Barafundle, 1997)

Back in December 2013, I posted that Gorky’s had, between 1996 and 1999,  released eight great singles on the bounce, all of which sold enough to reach the Top 75, but none of which sold enough to get a crucial placing in the Top 40. Many of said singles will make it onto this ICA….which opens with the one that agonisingly peaked at #41.

Patio Song captures everything I loved about Gorky’s.  In an era where the bombastic and sing-a-long elements of Britpop were to the fore, here was a band going against the grain, with more gentle, folk-like music tinged with an indie approach. A decade or so later, loads of Scottish bands would take a similar approach but with a little less psychedelia.

The opening half of the song is in English, and the second half, with a different tune altogether, is in Welsh.  It really is beguiling and charming in equal measures.

2. Fresher Than The Sweetness In Water (from The Blue Trees, 2001)

I bought this CD album somewhat on a whim as it was on offer in one of the indie-shops in Glasgow.   It turned out that it wasn’t really on offer as it had been released by Mantra as a mini-album, having just eight tracks on it. I quickly took to this song, not realising that it was in fact a cover.  The original dates from 1968 and was written and recorded by Honeybus, a psychedelic/baroque pop band from London who enjoyed one Top 10 hit with  I Can’t Let Maggie Go.

3. Miss Trudy  (from Bwyd Time, 1995)

From the last of the albums recorded for Ankst,this was the track included on the NME Singles of The Week 1995 compilation and my own introduction to the band.  It was such a surprise and a joy to come across something so different sounding – the CD had opened with songs by Oasis, Pulp, The Wannadies, Ash and The Charlatans, with this following on as the sixth song.  It really stopped me in my tracks and it was a song I kept returning to while some others were on the receiving end of the FF button.  I didn’t know anything about the band, but I made my mind up to keep an eye on things.

4. Diamond Dew (from Barafundle, 1997)

Barafundle was the first album recorded for Universal, and came out on Fontana Records, the same label with whom James had made the commercial breakthrough in the early 90s.  I mention this as there are moments on Barafundle that sound like the pre-Fontana era James, which strikes me as a tad on the ironic side.  Diamond Dew was the second single lifted from the album (Patio Song had been the advance single), and it stalled at #42.  A damn shame, with its catchy chorus totally made for daytime radio airings that never came….the band were very much consigned to the evening shows on Radio 1.

5. Spanish Dance Troupe (from Spanish Dance Troupe, 1999)

The lead-off single from the album of the same name.  Don’t ask me to try and explain this bonkers lyric in which the protagonist begins his week returning to school after a six-year absence before absconding to Spain three days later on the basis that wine, dance and music is the name of the game. Revel in its utter joy – and if this doesn’t put a smile on your face, then there is no hope for you.

SIDE B

1. Mow The Lawn (from Sleep/Holiday, 2003)

The final album isn’t one that I own, but I have a couple of its tracks on the hard drive after downloading them years back from other blogs.   I thought I’d open up Side B with a bit of a curve ball as Gorky’s make a move away from the pastoral/folky sort of sound that I’ve always associated them with.  Is it just me, or is there a hint of early 70s Bowie about Mow The Lawn…I’m reminded in places of Suffaragette City (which is a ploy to get you all to listen to at least one song on this ICA!)

2. Lucy’s Hamper (from Amber Gambler EP, 1996)

Gorky’s departed from Ankst Records with everyone’s good wishes.  The three albums had put the band and the label on the map and the farewell release was the Amber Gambler EP in June 1996.  It’s worth remembering that the principal band members, despite having been involved already in three albums, were just 20 years of age and the thought of going out into the big wide world must have been exciting and terrifying in equal measures.  I’ve come to regard Lucy’s Hamper, the lead track from the EP, as being the song which was written to reflect such a state of mind, although I’m probably wide of the mark.

3. Christina (from How I Long To Feel The Summer In My Heart, 2001)

This was the one track suggested by ChatGPT that I didn’t know, as it’s from an album that I don’t have, their final release for Mantra.  It’s a long song by the band’s usual standards, coming in at more than five minutes – here’s how the AI description went:-

“Christina” enchants listeners with its haunting melody and poignant lyrics. A standout from the album “Tatay,” this song’s melancholic beauty lingers long after the final notes fade away.

It really is worth noting that Christina is NOT on the Tatay album.  It may well be that the computer is getting it mixed up with the song O Caroline which is on Tatay (actually, there are two different songs called O Caroline on Tatay, but that’s a different story) I might not have known this one until quite recently, but it’s found its way onto the ICA by merit. Besides which, without Cristina, the whole ICA would have come in at well under 30 minutes in length!

4. Young Girls and Happy Endings (single, 1997)

The response to the singles from Barafundle that weren’t quite the hits everyone had hoped for.

You know young girls like happy endings…coz without all these happy endings, what would happen to my industry?

Mind you that’s nothing compared to the chorus

You know I wrote that hit to sell ya, sell ya
You know I never mean a word I tell ‘ya

The use of the Americanisation of ‘you’ seems very deliberate.  And for the first 75 seconds, this tune really does have ‘smash hit’ running through it.  And then Gorky’s do that thing that made them so wonderful and so different from almost all their mid-late 90s contemporaries, and destroy any chance of daytime radio play….before finishing with an ironic bang!  This tremendous single did reach #49, and fair play to Fontana Records for issuing it.

5. Let’s Get Together In Our Minds (from Gorky 5, 1998)

Later released as a single, this is taken from their second and final album for Universal, one that was issued on the Mercury imprint  – a previous home to Julian Cope/The Teardrop Explodes.   It begins as a tear-jerking ballad, the sort that folk attending a live gig in an arena or stadium would get out the lighters (or mobile phones being the modern equivalent), but then about a minute or so from the end it speeds up, and while not quite offering a fully-blown rock-out, does offer the opportunity to do a fist-pump.  It just seems like the perfect way to end the ICA…..

One final comment about the ChatGPT thing…..it said this about the closing track

“Let’s Get Together (In Our Minds)” captivates with its lush harmonies and introspective lyrics. A highlight from the album “Spanish Dance Troupe,” this song exemplifies Gorky’s ability to blend introspection with infectious melodies.

It is NOT from Spanish Dance Troupe……

The moral of the AI experiment?  Don’t believe everything it tells you.  Tread carefully, my friends.

If you fancy having a listen to the ICA in its entirety, please be my guest.

mp3: Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci – The Antithesis of Beery Britpop* (30:14)

*a description applied written by Max Ashworth in a 2019 article for the Wales Art Review website.  I Hope he doesn’t mind me pinching it.

JC