The Fatima Mansions
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featuring artists like Cathal Coughlan, Microdisney, Cathal Coughlan And The Grand Necropolitan Quartet, That Petrol Emotion and more…
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Arguably the most underrated of all of the early 90s rock acts, Fatima Mansions were a refreshing kick up the backside against corporate mediocrity and musical banality - steered from start to finish by the singular vision of one man’s astute and unwavering misanthropy.
In a state of disillusionment, Cathal Coughlan walked out of the wonderful and melodically rich - but lyrically barbed - Microdisney and formed the Fatima Mansions, setting up stall in 1989. His former Microdisney partner, Sean O’Hagan, went off to form the High Llamas and perfected his obsession with ‘Smile’-era Beach Boys drenched tunefulness but Cathal had other ideas and there were times when the Mansions’ screaming indignation and eclectic belligerence went off the scale.
Underneath it all was his dry and off-centre humour that many may have missed in highlights like the viciously compulsive rant ‘n’ roll epic ‘Blues for Ceausescu’ and the truly schizoid ‘Angels Delight’. Other tracks veered in all kinds of unpredictable directions and styles - savage electronics, pure dance pop, soaring balladry, scabrous industrial noise, acoustic grandeur, hellish Wagner-esque vaudeville, crazed psychobilly, traditional folk, etc… The Fatima Mansions at their mightiest were an incredible tour de force that simply refused to be pigeonholed! Indeed, very few bands at the time were in quite the same league.
In a state of disillusionment, Cathal Coughlan walked out of the wonderful and melodically rich - but lyrically barbed - Microdisney and formed the Fatima Mansions, setting up stall in 1989. His former Microdisney partner, Sean O’Hagan, went off to form the High Llamas and perfected his obsession with ‘Smile’-era Beach Boys drenched tunefulness but Cathal had other ideas and there were times when the Mansions’ screaming indignation and eclectic belligerence went off the scale.
Underneath it all was his dry and off-centre humour that many may have missed in highlights like the viciously compulsive rant ‘n’ roll epic ‘Blues for Ceausescu’ and the truly schizoid ‘Angels Delight’. Other tracks veered in all kinds of unpredictable directions and styles - savage electronics, pure dance pop, soaring balladry, scabrous industrial noise, acoustic grandeur, hellish Wagner-esque vaudeville, crazed psychobilly, traditional folk, etc… The Fatima Mansions at their mightiest were an incredible tour de force that simply refused to be pigeonholed! Indeed, very few bands at the time were in quite the same league.
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Top Albums
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Valhalla Avenue
The Fatima Mansions
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Viva Dead Ponies
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Lost in the Former West
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Bertie's Brochures
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Shoutbox
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thelovebite wrote:
"You can no longer depend on the existence of silence in your mind when you close your eyes..."
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kenkeenan wrote:
"I could've been important if I'd been somebody else!" Classic stuff.
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milnefaefife wrote:
Seen them playing live at a pub in Kilburn. Knowing "Only Losers Take the Bus" and the entire Microdisney back catalogue did not prepare me for what followed...The White Knuckle Express - scary, painful and utterly brilliant!
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boppawombat wrote:
Every other band and their dogs seem to be reforming nowadays - now why can't somebody give Cathal a ring and reunite him with his merry bunch of minstrels? - the stale pop/rock/indie circus needs the likes of this lot more than ever!!!!!
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SilentPoet82 wrote:
Final part of the 2nd season with the newcomer voting in the Irish Rock League. It's only your votes that decide!
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gato_ninja wrote:
Only losers take the bus! :DDD
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Eurocoup wrote:
"You can no longer depend on your lover for anything but judgment! You will be forever ostracized! ACT NOW! ACT NOW! ACT NOW!"
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eis23 wrote:
Only losers take the bus :D
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cjlines wrote:
Also, it's a shame "As I Washed The Blood Off" is right at the bottom of the charts. I know it was B-Side but it's definitely my favourite song of theirs.
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cjlines wrote:
Really, there's never been another band that sounds ANYTHING like the Fatima Mansions did and I don't think I've ever heard a band more angry either. Totally original and deeply missed. Music is a duller, more blandly serene place without them.
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epi_gee wrote:
love em ... good to see some other fans, i think I've met one person who knew who they were ... ever. - EPG
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cha0sm0nkey wrote:
Get these dead bodies off my racetrack!
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pobwall wrote:
All of this must never die, Popemobile to Paraguay!
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DrLorenzo wrote:
Genius band.
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SPTxx wrote:
Reissue of Viva Dead Ponies, with a bonus compilation disc coming later in the month
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toffea wrote:
Cathal Coughlan , great great singer.
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The_Anon wrote:
Damn I love this band. Now if only you could actually buy their records...
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mellophobia wrote:
Yeah my friend, I'm doing real good.
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evil1987 wrote:
I'm not one of them.
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nerval39 wrote:
North Atlantic Wind. Great song.
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Recent Activity
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antonomasia tagged The Fatima Mansions with indie and 90s indie. Wednesday evening
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WrathOfTzolkin, gonzoid8, damianhodgson and 3 other people added The Fatima Mansions to their libraries. last month
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bertrand-escaff connected The Fatima Mansions to the group Promotor Station. December 2011
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bertrand-escaff connected The Fatima Mansions to the group Easy Cure. December 2011
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zannochka and Axe2025 added The Fatima Mansions to their libraries. November 2011
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bertrand-escaff connected The Fatima Mansions to the group Zeru ta Lur. November 2011
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FrerePop and dummy123456 added The Fatima Mansions to their libraries. November 2011
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mimundogotico tagged The Fatima Mansions with post-punk, indie and alternative. October 2011
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mimundogotico and bacteriasleep added The Fatima Mansions to their libraries. October 2011
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clismo uploaded fatimamansions to The Fatima Mansions’s images. October 2011
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Groups (8)
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More Information
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