Angela Conway, the force behind A.C. Marias, doesn't seem to have been particularly prolific as an artist, but what she lacked in quantity she more than made up for in quality - as evidenced by the KCMU gang's high regard for One of Our Girls, the sole A.C. Marias full-length. Conway collaborated extensively with Wire's Bruce Gilbert (see my previous piece on Gilbert's The Shivering Man here, and Jim's piece on Wire's A Bell Is a Cup... here), both on his own albums (including The Shivering Man) and her A.C. Marias material. As far as I can tell it's all good (well worth the DJs' many uses of the word "beautiful"). I've only just started diving in, but I'm looking forward to completely absorbing the recorded output of Angela Conway - a task that seems pleasantly achievable, I must say.
For further reading, check out this in-depth appreciation of Angela Conway at whatisexperience.com.
"EXCELLENT!!! This is fairly mellow, extremely smooth and competent. Not her 1st association w/Wire. H H H H. P.S. you can especially sense the Wire influence leaking thru side 2.""B.A.U.T. Ful!!!"
"Some beautiful + melodic music! 'To Sleep'"
"Yeah, kinda real great."
"'Just Talk' we already have."
"Also 'Sometime'"
"Very beautiful in parts & moody in all parts - very Wire-ish guitar."
"I love this! I went & got this LP after hearing only one song. Striking!!"
Brix Smith seems to have led a fascinating existence. Perhaps having been a member of the Fall isn't a huge claim to fame (not many bands have Wikipedia pages specifically dedicated to listing their past members, after all). But how many people can say they've played with the Fall, the Bangles, and…
I didn't realize that I was familiar with Altered Images when I pulled out this record, but it turns out I know two of their songs (and I'm sure you know at least one, if not both): the title track from their debut album, Happy Birthday (which is exactly the one you think of when I say it's an '80s…
