INDIE-LIST #4 "The customer service breakthrough you've all been waiting for!" Moderated by Mark Cornick and Joshua Houk. Mailed worldwide weekly. Fshee! ------------------------------------------------------------------ Please see the end of this mailing for subscription and submission information. And now here it comes... ------------------------------------------------------------------ * ATTENTION ALL READERS IN VIRGINIA, DC, MARYLAND, AND NEARBY AREAS: OFFICIAL INDIE-LIST EVENT COMING UP! * The Sonic Youth/Superchunk/Boredoms show on October 11 at Brown's Island, Richmond, VA (it's downtown, in Shockhoe) has been declared an OFFICIAL INDIE-LIST EVENT. What does that mean? Basically that Josh and Mark will be there, among other people. (Yeh, Josh is coming up from Athens... it's gonna be that cool.) So if you can make it, we'd love to meet yall. Stay tuned for more detailed info in the next issue. BTW, tickets are $12.50 (subject to $0.50 service charge) and can be had from Plan 9 (Richmond/Charlottesville), Peaches (Richmond), Digits (Richmond), Disctraxshuns (Charlottesville), Record Exchange (Blacksburg), Town & Campus (Harrisonburg), Nite Owl (Lexington), RIP (Norfolk), Electric Smiles (Va Beach), and Band Box (Williamsburg), or you can charge 'em by calling (804) 295-8728. See you there? Final note: look for a possible interview with Kim Gordon in a future issue! FROM MARK: It's been a busy week. This is our biggest issue yet, with a Babes In Toyland/Polvo/Jacob's Mouse review from the UK, plus lots of reviews from Anthony Schorr and Liz Clayton, another plug for a list member's label (Volker Stewart's Penultimate Records), and my usual ruminations. Still nothing from Josh this week, though. Maybe next week. I recently got the _Kill Rock Stars_ CD (Kill Rock Stars/Cargo.) To quote the back cover, "All of the bands on this compact disc performed at the International Pop Underground Convention or are from OLYMPIA, the birthplace of rock." You get tracks from Bratmobile, Some Velvet Sidewalk, Courtney Love The Band, Nation Of Ulysses, Unwound, Mecca Normal, Nirvana, Heavens To Betsy, Steve Fisk, Bikini Kill, Witchypoo, Melvins, Infamous Menagerie, Kicking Giant, Fitz Of Depression, Jad Fair, 7 Year Bitch, and Kreviss, plus an unlisted bonus track that sounds a lot like (and probably is) Beat Happening (can anyone confirm this?) My favorites are Courtney Love ("Don't Mix The Colors", yet another Beat Happening cover), Melvins (a 50-second "Ever Since My Accident") and Steve Fisk ("Strong, Warm And In Command", another of his tape collages--IMHO, Fisk is the Adrian Sherwood of indie-rock.) With this and the International Pop Underground Convention comp, you can pretend you were at the Convention even if you weren't (like me :) Also got the new 7" from Rake, "Subterranean Marijuana Garden" (VHF). Amazing. They learned to play! Their best Happy Flowers-esque noise yet. (Most of the members of Rake used to go to my school, James Madison University, which also spawned Sexual Milkshake and Blastoff Country Style.) Well, enough from me... here's the hardcore info... ------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Lindsay Watt (lindsay@maths.ed.ac.uk) Subject: Babes in Toyland/Jacob's Mouse/Polvo gig review Edinburgh Queen's Hall, 27th September. First up were Polvo from North Carolina. I've only heard a few tracks from their LP "Cor-crane Secret" (whatever that means), but I was quite impressed with them - their live performance seemed rather more forceful than the vinyl version. Lori from the Babes seemed to be enjoying the set, she was about the only person in the audience who was dancing. Next, Jacob's Mouse from Suffolk. Again, better live than on record, but a bit lightweight and derivative. The last time the Babes played in Scotland was the middle of last year, promoting "To Mother". They sounded a bit jaded then, but they were better this time round. They concentrated largely on material from the new LP, which is more straight-ahead than most of their earlier, spikier work. They put on a good show, however, and were called back for two encores, which is no small achievement in Edinburgh. Lindsay Watt. ------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Liz Clayton <lclayton@uhuru.uchicago.edu> Hidey-ho from Chicago. First, to respond to a couple of things from the last three issues: Superchunk are rumored to be putting out a new 7" soon entitled "Mower". However, see my review of the Bricks 7" below if you're interested in Mac'n'Laura's antics.. Scrawl: The SOL 7" is fantastic. Supposedly they'll have a full-length release out on Simple Machines soon, as well as reissues of the Rough Trade LPs. Yay Jenny & Kristin! The Int'l Pop Underground CD is two tracks shorter than the LP. Unfortunately, I have no idea what two tracks they are being the digital dork that I am. :-) The Pavement early singles comp is due out "at the end of the year" or so on Drag City/Touch & Go (yep, T&G are now mfng'n'dist'ing Drag City, too. Sheesh.) Drag City are also supposed to release an Xpressway compilation CD entitled _Making Losers Happy_ sometime in the distant future, as well. Plagal Grind/Alastair Galbraith/etc will be featured, or at least that's what I hear, and what I hope for. I'd give more names if I could find the second-to-last Xpressway catalog, but you ought to better yourself and write BOTH these labels for info if you care about any of this stuff. Write to: Xpressway Drag City Box 85 Box 476867 Port Chalmers, Otago Chicago, IL 60647 New Zealand USA (please send an IRC) Pegboy, and what's up with them? Not much, pretty much just doing what they always do, and what they probably always will do -- milk a career out of the same two or three songs recycled over and over again. I (not by choice) saw them in the beginning of September (with Tar, who were excellent) and they only had about two new songs (that's been a year now; workin' real hard, eh guys?) On a tangential note, as to whether Naked Raygun will go on as a band is very much up in the air, as they are without a drummer and a record label. (And much hope musically, as far as I'm concerned.) Stuff I've picked up lately: Sebadoh: "Rocking the Forest" miniLP (20/20, UK). This is only eight songs long, and what's worse, only four of them are really "new". The CD runs about $17.99 import (at least around here, luckily I got it for only about ten) and contains the Homestead single "Gimme Indie Rock", the already-twice-released "Ride The Darker Wave" (in the single/b-side version), an electrically reworked "It's so Hard to Fall in Love" (same cut as on the latest SupPop comp), and a reworked "Really Insane" from the Sentridoh 7", entitled "Really Insane II". The other stuff is spotty, with some great songs like "Vampire", and some other noiseblurgle that I can give or take. I definitely recommend it, but not for $20. Bricks: "The Getting Wet Part" 7" (Merge) Mac and Laura Superchunk and a few other people messing around with the pop music monster. This recording is apparently a couple of years old, and sounds it. The A-side, "History of Lies", is a nice song (see: Superchunk, but way sloppier and more towards the sparse side rather than the thick), but the flip is long, pointless, and just doesn't END. Nice die-cut sleeve though. Tar: "Teetering" b/w "The In Crowd" 7" (Touch & Go) New label for these guys, and I like it I like it I like it! The b-side is indeed a Bryan Ferry cover, and while that'd usually get me on the novelty alone, the a-side is just great. Unrelenting yet somewhat playful. The Jesus Lizard: "Liar" LP (Touch & Go) Oh come on, just buy this. Also, watch out for: New Poster Children CD-EP on Sire/Reprise (Fall); Velocity Girl 6-song CD on Slumberland Records; Sebadoh SubPop LP; Seam 7"; Didjits EP; Peter Jefferies/Shayne Carter 7"; Helmet video on Atavistic; and oh-so-much more, how can you afford it all? Liz [Although Sire/Reprise is not an indie label, I allowed it to be mentioned in passing. OK Josh? -Mark] ------------------------------------------------------------------ >From ANSCHORR@vaxsar.vassar.edu Sat Sep 26 01:09:44 1992 I felt I had to respond to ALL the ALL-like recommendations/ ALL- though I have heard the Chemical People, Doughboys, B.D.C. and Superchunk, I had never heard Flop or Pegboy. Thanks!! I hav some comments and recommendations of my own. Doughboys: "Home Again" Overall a decent album, but not as good as "Happy Accidents". Released in '89 on Restless. "Buying Time" is the best track. Green Day: "1,039 Smoothed out Slappy Hours" cd: Collects all of their releases up to that point(I Think: 1000 hours, Smooth and ?) I recommend them to melodic-punk fan. Very Catchy. Samiam:"Samiam": Another, good melodic-punkish band. This was released on New Red Archieves in '90, although there is older and newer stuff. I'd liken it to a hard Descendents (maybe). Shudder To Think "Funeral At The Movies" and "ten Spot" I prefer the first album to "Ten Spot", but not much more. Same type of music, but the vocals are quite high in tone. Everyone should enjoy it. D.I. : The only thing I have by them is "ancient Artifacts" which is half live, half in studio. I like it, and everyone I know into this type of music likes them/ Try it, you'll like it. Then of course there is Bad Religion, but that's a tad different. Anyhow, Green Day has a new album, "Kerplunk" which I hear is great! Anything else, oh yeah.... 411: "This Isn't Me" : One of the greatest bands currently in existance. There is not a bad song on this cd!! Dan O'Manony of No For An Answer fame is on vocals. Kind of a harder, melodic-punk with a message, usually. No One should be without it!!!! [411 have signed with Interscope Records, a division of Atlantic, a division of Time Warner, etc. etc. etc., and I thought they were supposed to have something out by now... anyone know anything else? I agree that 411 (four-one-one, not four-eleven) are one of the top bands today. - Mark] ------------------------------------------------------------------ [The following is another blatant commercial plug. I will attempt to keep all future articles of this nature towards the end, so our anti-capitalistic readers can skip them. :) - Mark] From: rob@msc.cornell.edu (Rob Vaughn) Volker Stewart, GRUNGE-L member, Baltimore resident, and all-around nice guy, also runs Penultimate Records. Penultimate was formerly located in Seattle, WA and was responsible for a couple of important but virtually ignored releases before he (and it) made its way to Maryland. Here's the current catalog/ad copy: Penultimate Records isn't dead...yet! Hot new 45!! (UPI) Liquorbike - banned from CMJ, drunks make vinyl! Baltimore's own Liquorbike have some bad news for the music world - in the form of a 45 RPM, 7" EP! "Thirstday" b/w "She's Gotta Way" & "Barb's Wired" has just surfaced and will pop yer eyeballs out. A mere $3.50 ppd (a trifle.) Derelicts "Love Machine" LP ($6 ppd) 9 songs from these (now-defunct) Seattle hardcore losers, including a fine rendition of the Frantix classic "My Dad's a Fucking Alcoholic" and some HC grind to keep you all clenched up... Not for the squeamish... Love & Respect - "Love & Respect Record" LP ($6 ppd) A brief "Seattle Summer of Love" experiment in the summer of 1989 brought together Ed F (of Thrown-Ups and Icky Joey fame), crooner Steve La Rose, rhythm section Whiting and Joe (of Big Tube Squeezer) and slide wizard Steve Turner (of losercore band Budmoney) for one of the finer moments in Rock History (tm). A dozen songs of anxiety and idiocy, soon-to-be classics like "Chlamydia" and "I Hate Recess" included. Buy or blow, boneheads (includes nice woodcut cover, for the artistes out there.) Volker Stewart 223 West 29th Street Baltimore MD 21211 radavfs@ube.ub.umd.edu (contact me for more info) ***The University of Baltimore probably does not condone Punk Rock*** ------------------------------------------------------------------- The following is some information that you may or may not have read before. If you know this info by heart, stop reading now! :) ------------------------------------------------------------------- SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your address, please send mail to Mark at cc647@cleveland.freenet.edu indie-list has subscribers worldwide... join the international revolution! :) SUBMISSION INFORMATION: To submit an article, mail it to Joshua at houk@athena.cs.uga.edu and one of us will look at it. Please place the prefix "INDIE:" in the subject line so Joshua can differentiate his personal mail from your articles. GUIDELINES: * Please see the next entry for our slant on the indie philosophy. * Be as concise as you can. indie-list is compiled entirely by hand and your keeping things to the point will help. * NO FLAMES PLEASE. Keep an open mind and remember that these are personal opinions. If your opinions differ, so be it, but leave other people's opinions alone. Flame articles will be DISCARDED by the moderators, so don't bother. * The moderators reserve the right to edit for clarity, readability, or conciseness. However, we will not edit opinions. OFFICIAL INDIE-LIST PHILOSOPHY: "Indie music" is a very vague term. It means different things to different people. However, most people will agree that being "indie" means being independent from the hype/marketing machine companies that rule the Top 40 charts (and everything else in music.) indie-list will not attempt to define "indie" for our readers. "Indie" is what you make it. So if you think it's indie, go ahead and talk to us about it. We're open to just about any definition of "indie." Do keep in mind, though, that many of our readers subcribed to this list to avoid the "popular alternative" discussions on Usenet. To say more would insult your intelligence. Thank you. LEGAL BULLSHIT: indie-list is not copyrighted and you may do what you wish with it. However, if you quote from it or whatever, why not mention where you got the info from, so other people can give the list a try. The opinions expressed in indie-list are those of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect those of Mark Cornick, Joshua Houk, James Madison University or the University of Georgia. So there. DEFINITION OF "FSHEE!": "Fshee!" is a word developed by Mark and his friend Courtney as a general exclamation of awe, much like "Wow!" or "Cool!" or "Zowie!" The origins of the word are lost in legend, but relate in some way to a radio rep at Capitol Records named Afshin. (Hi!) Feel free to use it. It sounds like it's spelled. BACK ISSUES: Back issues of indie-list are available. Just drop a line. i-l#1: new Dischord stuff reviewed, indie jazz, Heavenly, Lois, Small Factory i-l#2: Swirlies/Black Tambourine/Pavement reviewed, ALL, Dag Nasty, Bad Religion i-l#3: Cell/Sentridoh reviewed, more ALL and related bands, Swirlies/Pop Narcotic Records info i-l#4: Lotsa rekkid reviews, Babes/Jacob's Mouse/Polvo live review, Penultimate plugs, etc. (biggest issue yet!) That's all for this week. Power to the little people. mark & joshua