The Ex

NC.

As I said about The Melvins. Ricky Martin is crap, R Kelly is crap. The Ex are not crap.

The Ex are not only a great great band, they are linked to very specific (historical) developments in Dutch political and cultural history.

For an aspiring independent musician in the Netherlands, the Ex are simply the alpha and the omega, virtually the only reference point. It´s never so much about what they do, it´s about how they do it. It´s not about this or that song, or album, it´s about their whole body of work. I´ve stated this before, but with The Ex, it´s all about longevity, and not about career. And yet there´s still a great deal of pride in Terrie stating that he never had to work for a boss in his entire 40-something year life.

The Ex are straightforward, decent and down-to-earth people. They are one of the best live bands around. They are dedicated musicians, and the (musical) choices they make are always surprising and courageous. They lived up to their own standards (and their own standards only) for over 25 years now.

I could go on because I´m such a fanboy.

Salut, the Ex.

EDIT: A history for the curious.

And here was me thinking you thought they were crap?

Pretty much my favorite band that's still together. In addition to sunlore's astute comments, it is worth mentioning that they are one of the few bands (at least that I can think of) that got better with age.

By 1993 or so, they were around 13 years old, and were releasing (in my opinion) by far their best material so far.

This is nothing against their earlier catalogue (which is just recently becoming easy to get again), if you listen to, say Scrabbling at the Lock back to back with History is What's happening, it's clear that the band, far from repeating themselves, were plotting territory that was barely being touched at an age when most bands burn, get watered down, or keep rehashing the same shit.

On a lighter note, I love the way they make fun of communist and capitalist/US imperialist ideologies in one go. (songs like Frenzy, U.S. Hole, King Commie, etc.)

By the way, Town of Stone was a brilliant premonition, released around April, 2001, it contained the super rocking break:

No chance to wait for things to change/ Unless buildings get hit by planes
No chance to stop this money vulture from turning bullshit..... into culture

I still get a kick out of that now.

So, people: What are your favorite Ex albums?

Scrabbling at the Lock is by far my favorite; Starters Alternators is up there, too. But I have found it hard as fuck to get ahold of that many of their 80's work

Mazec wrote:
So, people: What are your favorite Ex albums?

History is what´s happening, Blueprints for a blackout, Scrabbling at the lock, 1936 (the Spanish revolution 7"), Starters Alternators.

Feel free to click around here.
It´s great.

Another vote for Scrabbling at the Lock (I've said this before but I'm still amused and thrilled that 'State of Shock' became a freak radio hit in Addis Ababa after their first Ethiopian tour) and yes, Starters Alternators is really strong (although I can never decide if I prefer Dizzy Spells. Turn is no slouch either).

Buying direct is easily the best way of catching up - you rarely see their older releases even in good independent stores here though they're quite easy to find in mainland Europe (I went nuts and bought about six albums the last time I was in Amsterdam). The beautifully packaged 1936 - The Spanish Revolution would make a superb Christmas present for someone.


http://www.theex.nl/shop.htm

cjh wrote:I've said this before but I'm still amused and thrilled that 'State of Shock' became a freak radio hit in Addis Ababa after their first Ethiopian tour

There was a documentary about this on Dutch television (available through the link I posted above). A funny part was when they played a music conservatory, and the students approached the band afterwards, asking them specific questions about chord progressions and stuff. Terrie replied: "We don´t know, we are just fucking around", or something along those lines. That was golden. That was the Ex in a nutshell.

"Ex" doesn't turn up in the search engine, but I looked under "Fugazi" and found this one. chin chin.



I will happily vote not crap again though, Rambo III.



Faiz

I voted crap only for the reason that I know that they will not get one and I think that this would make them feel uncomfortable.

"Crap" - They're too good.