Cardinal ... Davies and Matthews

Playing the one and only full length that came out of the early teaming of Richard Davies and Eric Matthews in 1994, Cardinal. Really more like a Richard Davies record, mostly written and sung by him, with Eric Matthews providing the lush orchestrations and background vocals to cloak the quirkiness and mystery, though Matthews' turn at lead vocals on some of the songs are great too. Perfect pairing, shame it was just a one-off. Kind of ushered in an era of renewed appreciation for the orchestrated pop music of the 60s, but not many by modern artists that are done this well, or that sound so classic, except maybe for Davies own later records like my favorite Telegraph, brilliant on its own, but still not quite as special as this gem. Expanded and reissued in 2005 on Empyrean Records. Only $10 postpaid and they throw in the latest EP from Eric Matthews, nice deal, and essential for the bonuses, but mastered much louder than it should be (especially the Matthews 2006 EP) so you still need the original Flydaddy for the 10 song album. Makes me hope that Richard Davies finds a deal and a label to master and release his latest recording. I read that he has been performing again, so maybe ...

http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/2233

 

I love this record. Just a fantastic album. I've been playing a lot of Davies' stuff lately, especially the Moles, though I am also a big fan of the Telegraph CD, as well as Barbarians and There's Never Been a Crowd Like This.
Nice to hear he's performing again. Last I heard is he was practising law.

 

Matthews made some comments in recent interviews suggesting he and Davies might make another record together, but nothing seems to have come of it yet. They had a falling out and didn't speak for years, but have mended fences recently.

 

Great record, haven't played it in a couple of years. The original is excellent sounding in both cd and lp.

 

Their take on Mortimer's "Singing to the Sunshine" was just gorgeous.

 

Very good record. I'd be interested in hearing any opinions on the sound of the CD reissue, as I only have the original, and bonus tracks are always nice!

 

They appear to have patched up their differences because Eric Matthews provides some orchestration and arrangements to a few songs on the album that Richard Davies is currently shopping around. The record, which is called "Tonight's Music", isn't very good in my opinion, but, then again, I never cared for "Barbarians" very much and this is more in that vein. And in case you're curious, the run of records between the Moles' "Instinct" through the Cardinal record and including the first two solo Richard Davies records are among my all time favorites. I never tire of those records. And I think the remaster of the Cardinal record sounds good. It doesn't seem ridiculously louder to me. And I just so happened to be listening to that exact album as I opened up this thread. Small world.

 

I absolutely love this album. I had no idea there even WAS a reissue. Great news. I was going to ask where I could find all the songs from the 7" releases they did. Mystery solved, I guess. Does anyone actually know if the new CD covers everything they recorded together?

 

Unfortunately, it doesn't. There are two songs from the "Toy Bell" single - "Big Mine" and "It Turns On In A Room On A Pedestal" - that aren't on there. But everything else and some demos and other unreleased stuff are.

 

Thanks for the info, ralphie. I think I'm gonna grab it anyway.

 

Agreed that Barbarians wasn't as good, although it does have some very good music. I still like it, just not as much. Might've been the most easily accessible, which might've also been it's downfall. I like him best when he's most inventive, with the quirky lyrics and charming melodies. Have you heard the whole record? Is it mastered yet?

On a side note, been listening quite a bit to the new Bon Iver CD lately, For Emma, Forever Ago. Very nice, mostly acoustic, and nice mastering job for a new artist.

 

I really like Barbarians. I think it's a beautiful record.

Did Cardinal ever tour?

 

Not really. Richard Davies went out with The Flaming Lips as his backing band and called it Cardinal.

 

There are 4 live tracks from that tour on the Japanese version of "There's Never Been A Crowd Like This".

 

Thanks for that. I'll be on the lookout.

 

No Tombo but they did do a one-off gig.....




T.

 

I tried to drum up interest way back here:

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=54707

Great to see other fans.

Anyone heard Eric's new one, The Imagination Stage?

 

Yep Sharedon and the track 'Does he keep you warm' is simply THE most beautiful thing he's EVER recorded IMHO. A stunning piece.

Eric sent me a really rough 20 track demo-disc just after he released 'Foundation Sounds' (Eric has played on my last 3 releases and plays on my up-coming new one, he's MAD.....but lovely mad!! Calls me Thomas Magnum? ).

It included all the demos for 'The Imagination Stage' and I couldn't keep it out of my C.D player. He's certainly getting back to 'Sub-Pop' form after his long sabatical.

A real unsung treasure, multi-instrumentalist and brilliant songwriter. No offence at all to Mr.Davies but I think he's in front for me in the 'Cardinal' head-to-head.

T.

 

Great photo. Thanks for posting it. Where was this taken?

 

Tom, these were taken at the 'Middle East Cafe - Cambridge, MA (1993)'.

T.

 

Don't suppose anyone has a spare lyric sheet/insert for its Heavy In here. Recently switched it onto vinyl and sold my cd only to discover the insert was missing.

 

Cardinal is really a great record. I think that the Davies/Matthews combination worked perfectly. I think that Davies songwriting is often better but Eric Matthews is a very talented arranger. They add their own strengths on Cardinal and the result was pretty amazing.

 

I didn't follow Richard Davies after Telegraph so I can't comment on Barbarians but There's Never Been A Crow Like This is a very strong record.

 

When I learned that Singing To The Sunshine was a Mortimer cut, I nearly bought the album only to hear the original. Is it worth the listen ?

 

Sorry for posting for the fourth time, but I think I'm lost in Eric Matthews discography... There's another album after Foundation Sounds ??