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Re: Mr. Race or Mr. Ainge?

Having being inspired by the flurry of activity on here again in recent weeks, I have spent much of a difficult week at work with the headphones on listening to the Felt back catalogue trying to block out all around me.

As a result I'm starting to view Gary as the star of the first two albums. Much though I admire MD's guitar playing/compositions, it is the tribal style of GA's drumming that has really caught my ear this week. I've no real idea of Tony Race's drumming ability/style (was he ever heard of again & did he actually appear on record with Felt?), but hairstyle or no style at all, to these ears the correct decision was made.

PS, what does valediction mean? A break I assume?

Re: Mr. Race or Mr. Ainge?

It comes from the Latin "vale dicere", and means, goodbye. Interest does seem to be evanescing anyway. It may be because of one or two things that I have said; they may have caused upset, though this was not the intention.

Mr. Ainge's drumming is very stylish on the first two
long players. What happened was that Mr. D wanted the band to have a more commercial sound (yes, astonishing isn't it to hear such a thing after all the stories about him leaving because Felt had a "poppier" sound from Felt 3 onwards. Again the truth is the exact opposite to what you have all been fed. Why else would his creation, "Privitive Painters sound the way it does?), so he explained to Haybaler that there should be cymbals and hi-hat added to the musical textures together with new bass lines that are "busier" than the traditional Felt method of using mainly only root notes; not only for all new material, but for the Felt back catalogue as well. Most of these bass lines he wrote himself.

Mr. Ainge followed instructions, but instead of remaining a creative drummer, he fell into a deep state of torpor and followed a single established drumming pattern that he used as a battering ram for everything that Felt went on to do (83-85).

Tony race was a rock drummer, who nevertheless served Felt well during his brief time with the band. I have a recording of "Something Sends me to Sleep"
(4-track) with Tony on drums and it is terrific.

Hope you are having a nice time.