I got a promo copy Colossal Youth, the landmark debut album and blueprint for minimalist pop from Cardiff’s Young Marble Giants’, on the occasion of its 2007 release as Colossal Youth & Collected Works and of course, I didn’t listen to it. But I did keep it when many other promos disappeared to who knows where because I was aware of its legendary status and figured someday, I would find the time and give it proper attention. And I was right, it only took… a decade or so? No, probably longer.
With only one album and a couple EPs to their official discography (less the demos and live recordings), their work has been released and re-released over the years – most recently, a 40th anniversary edition last year – so something like a full video performance from 1980 is a pretty special find. And that’s what Vancouver’s Western Front art space has shared – a complete document of the band’s performance there on November 6, 1980 for what would be their only Canadian date ever.
And while we’re on the subject, here’s some accompanying reading material, starting with a general accounting last year of the record’s importance at Rock and Roll Globe:
Credit In The Straight World: Colossal Youth at 40 @ Rock and Roll Globe
And going back to 2002, before the band’s 2003 reformation, a chat with guitarist/organist/songwriter Stuart Moxham at Penny Black Music:
Young Marble Giants @ Penny Black Music
In 2007, after the band had returned to play live performances, he sat for an interview with Stylus:
Interview: Young Marble Giants @ Stylus
And with The Quietus in 2009:
Colossal Youths: Young Marble Giants Interviewed @ The Quietus
In 2010, Moxham took on guest editor duties at Magnet for a week, including an interview:
Q&A With Young Marble Giants’ Stuart Moxham @ Magnet
In 2015, in advance of performing as part of David Byrne’s Meltdown, he talked to Wales Arts Review:
Interview: Young Marble Giants @ Wales Arts Review
After Young Marble Giants split again in 2016, London Student got a rare conversation with vocalist Alison Statton about both Young Marble Giants and her current project, Alison Statton & Spike:
In Conversation with Alison Statton (Young Marble Giants) @ London Student
And as part of the 40th anniversary of Colossal Youth, Stuart Moxham talked to Tone Glow:
043.8: Stuart Moxham (Young Marble Giants) @ Tone Glow
And both Moxham and Statton took a call to discuss the record with American Songwriter:
