Gob o' Spit? I got yr Gob o' spit here...
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Indie List Digest!
April 26, 1994
Volume 3 Number 27
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Subscription Info for I-L and Telegraph
A huge mini-digest mishmosh from the UK
Grifters, Rodan, Shonen Knife
Red Crayola, 13th Floor Elevators
Enormous, Rodan & Grifters addenda
Eggs addenda
Lois and Karate
Gate, Labradford and Thurston Moore
Afghan Whigs and Spinanes, plus reviews
Belly
Urban Farmers and Jettison Charlie
Tall Dwarfs, Moonshake, et al.
Carne A
ANNOUNCEMENT: Team Dresch Spring Tour
ANNOUNCEMENT: NIHILATOR Records
AD: SK-70
AD: Yo La Tengo tix
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------------------------------
From: julian@sahiber.demon.co.uk (Julian Lawton)
Mixed bag of stuff
Julian's mini-digest vol.1 :-)
Contents-ish sort of thing so you don't have to read it all:
1. Seefeel/techno bit
2. Planet Records
3. Destroy All Music cass label
4. Scaredycat
5. Record reviews
(Shiva Affect, Blueboy, Slumber, Would-Be-Goods, Prolapse,
Helen Love, Aphex Twin, Mu-ziq).
Firstly apologising for losing the name of the person concerned, (ah
but no, 'twas Timothy Joseph O'Reilly who said these things). I'd
like to make a few comments in defence of Seefeel's 'Quique' - I was
intially a mite less than impressed with the LP, especially after the
'Pure-Impure' EP suggested a move AWAY from formless washes of sound,
but I now rate it as 'a good thing.' The same, incidentally, is true
of Insides (nee Earwig) whose LP left me cold, but curious, for
several months. They pursue a similar line of sampled-guitar based
repetition, though also using more keyboards. The central concept of
both bands is pretty similar though, joining the dots between the UK
rock critics' manifesto of 1988, with its emphasis on texture and
psychological effects of sound; the use of dissonance, repetition,
noise, silence, and dub production influences to try & achieve some
sort of altered state through music, which apply as much to
house/electronic music as to the bands of that time (it's quite
telling that DJ Andy Weatherall's fave band is Suicide, or that
Spacemen 3 were as willing to namecheck Kraftwerk & Eno, as the
Stooges & the Stones).
Insides, at their best, use these devices as a springboard over which
they launch a Vini Reilley-esque line of guitar improvisation and
also have the advantage of a way with an intriguing lyric and Hugo
Largo-esque vocals - all languid and, well, not quite dispassionate,
more reflectively bitter, which lifts it above the monotony of
'Quique', but even then (and I'm someone who DOES go to techno/house
clubs) I found it quite inaccessible at first.
But that's a digression. . . the Seefeel LP on careful listening is
more interesting than it appears; it holds quite true to Eno's
description that 'ambient' (in its VERY loosest sense) music should
be both something that does not distract, and yet when looked at
closely to be detailed & subtle. There are times on Quique when the
same piece of guitar is looping over itself at slightly different
speeds about seven times (a similar approach to MBV's track 'Glider,' or
Fripp & Eno on '(no pussyfooting)'), creating those auditory
halluciantions MBV are so good at.
The comparison to 'Loveless' is a little unfair - while Kevin Shields
freely admits to borrowing production ideas from house,in all but the
rarest cases they have stuck to, like most hip-hop, an essentially
rock-based rhythm section. Seefeel have instead embraced the rhythms
of trance techno (generally more popular in Europe than over here, to
be honest, although the indie weeklies use it as the staple diet of
their dance coverage).
I guess I'd say scratch this one up to those cultural differences we
were discussing a few months ago - at the moment there's a shift in
listening patterns over here (UK/Europe) - if MBV was a 'popular' (in
the sense of mainstream indie) breakthrough for dissonant noise, as
oppossed to the white noise/pop melody of the Mary Chain, or the cult
appeal of Sonic Youth (at the time), what we're now seeing is an
opening up towards listening more laterally - listening to layers
building up, changing, and being replaced by others. And of course,
when 'Daydream Nation' and 'Isn't Anything' came out people presumed I
was some big drug freak for liking music like THAT. Quiche, I mean,
Quique is not THE outstanding release in its genre (there are far
better records made without using any guitars, but that doesn't give
them a nice press angle), but it is an interesting record.
Anyway, all that said I'd quickly like to draw attention to a couple
of newish labels (I've no personal connection beyond liking them) :-
Planet, from Bristol (8 Hanbury Rd, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 7EW, UK.
A very brief home to Flying Saucer Attack, between other local label
Stargazer and Domino Records (Sebadoh & Royal Trux UK label), they've
stuck out 4 or 5 7"s over the past few months, including the F.S.A.-
produced Crescent single 'Lost'/'360' - an excellent stormy brew of
lo-fi psychedelia reminiscent of early Telescopes - howling feeback &
howled vocals, and of course very trebly.
lso Rachel from the live incarnation of F.S.A. is in female duo
Movietone - their 'She Smiled'/'Orange Zero' has a really nice cover -
black & white photos of coffee mugs - always a good bet with me, while
the record varies from soft plucked slow jangling to a monstrous slab
of noise (that after the initial shock leaves you unfortunately
thinking - 'oh, that was a bit obvious', and then, because it's a very
good record & made for all the right reasons forgiving them for it).
Apparently, Nub are Cirencester's answer to Slint/Codeine - not found
this one yet (I spoke to the guy from the label & he said I can have
one as it's 'so crap' - apparently it didn't capture the live band at
all, and he said it's too derivative). The Flemgods are always on at
my nearest venue (Newport TJ's) and are one of our 'great' local bands
who like singing things about bile in gravelly voices over fast-played
punk-funk-jazz. And Teenager In Trouble have done a cover of the
soundtrack to Woodstock. All of it - this is a tape-only release.
And speaking of tapes, conveniently enough, may I introduce 'Destroy
All Music,' the tape label from Cardiff - the guy who runs this used
to be a really irritating, precocious 'zine editor; I won't go into the
details, but his incredible amount of attitude got on my nerves, and
anyway things change, and rather than procrastinating, he's running a
fine cassette-based label, knocking out releases at a rate of knots,
and a 7" too pretty soon. If you want an idea where he's coming from,
he first surfaced after the initial 'riot girl' (press version)
explosion, though these days his tastes include Dawson, Dead C, Faust,
Can, Thinking Fellows Union. . . The tapes are about $4 for the US
- I'd guess that would include shipping, UK people mail him for a
'catalogue'. I hope this doesn't count as advertising or something .
. .
What's available is :-
Trumans Water - Santee Busbill, Angelpeg - Dark Secrets,
Attacked By Wolves - Snow Motion Is A Dream Vol1,
Inca Eyeball - To Alisha Sufit Goddess Of Modal Tunings,
Saltwater Checkout/Angelpeg - Krautrock Replica, Warser Gate - We Don't Know,
Foe Toe - Shave Your Head John Cage
and of course the inevitable compilation:
Destroy All Music Now!
Excellent tape this - 21 bands doing 34 songs, varying from the
jazz-tinged to the plain noisy to what sounds like Duanne Eddy
covering Huggy Bear, to drones, to softly jangling twee pop. Features
Heather, Scaredycat, and all the other bands with releases here.
Write to Jon, 40 Windemere Ave, Roath Park, Cardiff, S.Glamorgan, CF2
5PP, and if you've any demos, whatever, you'd like to get a UK
distribution, try him. Chap! !
Also, seeing as I mentioned Scaredycat above - they really are my
fave lo-fi cass-based band of the mo - do drop them a line & about
4/5$ for one of their tapes - they also had a compilation out on their
Plankton label (37 Poplars Rd, Walthamstow, London) which I haven't
heard. Both the Scaredycat demos I have are musically odd & eclectic,
varying between fey & darkly paranoid - it sounds like the work of
about 16 different bands - does it help to say they love Mercury Rev,
His Name Is Alive, Ween & Daniel Johnston, yet sound emphatically
English - a modern day re-working of English toyshop psychedelia I
suppose. Try 'Catnip' as a recommendation from me. And their cat is
called Shimmy!
Some other record reviews . . .
Helen Love - Formula One Racing Girls (Damaged Goods 7").
Tribute or piss-take of riot girl? I don't know - probably an
affectionate piss-take - 'Helen' is from Swansea, and the fact that
the B-side is unashamedly someone playing over the top of a Pooh
Sticks LP being played at 45 only suggest even more this is some
Pooh-ey scam. 'Riding Hi' is, nonetheless, a peach of a summer record,
about looking forward to the end of term, sung as naively as if it
was the summer of '86.
Blueboy - River/Nimbus/Hit (Sarah Records 7")
In which Sarah releases its first real ambient track (Field Mice
having done two sort-of-but-not-quite ones) and being Blueboy they get
it right - they've always been big fans of early Felt & the Durruti
Column, but this sounds nothing like that - all slow backwards &
forwards sweeps of reverbed guitars, this evokes the same wonderful
qualities as Eno's 'Apollo' soundtracks, or Slowdive's 'Avalyn' - a
peaceful sense of solitude. 'Hit' is their Ian Catt-(St.Etienne/Field
Mice/Harvey Williams) produced Pet Shop Boys ballad number, which
comes off more as Steven 'Tin Tin' Duffy circa 1985 - Ian Catt STILL
needs a lesson about drum-programming - outside of later St. Etienne
(who have help) his always SUGGESTS dancishness rather than being
danceable - a nice experiment that didn't really work, especially
contrasted with the A-Side 'River' which is a quite superb mix of big
keyboards & the most epic guitar sound ever heard on a Sarah record -
distant, reverbed stadium-sized feedback, a great uplifting chorus,
and a gorgeous layered fadeout with cello. Yummy!!!
Prolapse - Songs For Ella (7" Cherry Red)
John Robb produced it. They're all incredibly nice people. They're
supporting Huggy Bear on Thursday. They like Dandelion Adventure,
Bogshed & the Pastels. They obviously love Huggies 'February 14,'
like any sane-minded pop kid. They drone, he rants incomprehenisbly
like Mark E. Smith, she squeals like a squealy thing. They're chums
with Cornershop. 'Psychotic Now' & 'PFD' are pretty essential, the
B-sides not so.
If you can find this, get it, as it's not being repressed (I like that
word - "Help, my record is being repressed").
Element Of Crime - ??? (7" Soul Static Sound)
Various Huggies, Blood Sausages & Sister George people collaborate &
make a record which is fun & raucous, like the new Huggies single
isn't. As fun as the Huggy Bear before 'Don't Die,' in fact.
Slumber - Sleep (12/CD Vinyl Japan). Holly & IV (7" Sunday).
For a while I wondred if it was me growing out of Sarah stuff, or was
a decline in the acts (Blueboy & Heavely excepted) that left me
unmoved. I think these records answer the question for me,
unfortunately leaving me feeling like many a Field Mice or Brighter
song used to, and sounding like some lost treasure of an age when
people listened to Tracey Thorn & the Young Marble Giants - wonderful
lyrics & vocals, plus excellent violin, what more can you ask for in a
record?
Would-Be-Goods - The Camera Loves Me (CD Richmond)
Well this I suppose - the BEST LP el Records ever issued re-issued
with 4 extra songs. This is Heavenly go Breakfast At Tiffanys,
mythical London, Cecil Beaton, classical painters & two songs based on
the Avengers ('Motorbike Girl' & 'Death A La Carte') add up to a
delectably contrived piece of pop confectionary. The extra tracks
make it worthwhile getting once you've destroyed your el vinyl through
overplay (as you should), or if you never had it anyway. . .
Shiva Affect - Yahweh - (LP Frog Records)
This is the business - in the same murky area as Emily's 'Rub Al
Khali' or Bark Psychosis (whose Greame Sutton produced a track here)
Shiva Affect are playing somewhat spiritual, improvisational open rock
(in its loosest sense), harking back to the less naff aspects of,
say, Richard Thompson or John Martyn. Like Bark Psychosis there's a
lot of similarity to the path taken recently by Talk Talk - not
intended in the sense of suggesting plagiarism, but in the way that
all three seem to be producing music of an almost transcendental
quality - this is the utmost antithesis of pop, and an LP of rare
depth. I do think the female vocalist spoils it a bit though . . .
(p.s. avoid if you have hangups about flutes).
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Volume II (Triple LP, Warp Records)
The most bizarre thing about this record is that it's in the Top 10 LP
charts. Unlike most 'ambient' music, this is NOT all soothing - there
is a lot that is altogether disturbing, in fact. Also for the first 8
tracks there are no (unlike, say, the Orb) drums. In places you CANNOT
distinguish it from Labradford's 'Prazision.' At best it hits the
same quality level as Eno on 'Another Green World' & 'Apollo' and
really shows that this man DOES have a real talent beyond the hype -
there are NO wave noises, no bird sounds, nothing Vangelis-like about
it. Just sitting there, the day after Huggy Bear's final London gig,
looking out at a really amazing quality of light hit across the
buildings of Islington through patchy ragged clouds, while steam rose
out of a coffee mug, into that light, it seemed the most perfectly
appropriate music in the world.
Mu-Ziq - Tango'n'Vectif (Double LP, Rephlex Records)
I first became aware of MuZiq through their excellent mix of the Aphex
Twin's 'On,' which streched the gorgeous introductory melody out over
minutes of build-up before finally bringing in an exciting rhythmic
clatter, and after pretty good reviews I was looking forward to this
LP on the Aphex's label, especially after being highly disappointed by
some of the Rising High stuff I'd purchased (hip trance'n'ambient
techno label who unfortunately DO allow wave sounds on their records).
Anyway I wasn't disappointed & this exceeded my expectations -
produced lovingly on a 4-track, it's more like a technoid response to
the same loves as Stereolab - there's '50s exotica, the same interest
in the idea of 'fidelity' (they use the limitation of the 4 track to
deliberately distorting & muffling of the bass at times), and the same
semi-pofaced sleeve notes. Unlike the Aphex Twin they never seem to
lose sight of melody, which makes thw whole thing a lot more accessible
- there is a similarity in clattering undanceable rhythms, but never
to the overkill of something like 'Quoth' (A.T. under the Polygon
Window pseudonym in bass drum & snare apocalypse). This is very much
the flipside of Seefeel - where they minimise human input and treat
the band almost as a system or machine, Mu-Ziq sound as if they're
incorporating a lot of improvisation (like jazz vibraphones) into
electronic music. Apparently they have another FOUR double LPs due
this year - I can see how they can do it - this sounds fresh, alive &
knocked out quickly with enthusiasm. And I guess that sort of brings
us a full circle. ish. . .
On the bad list - new Huggy Bear single, Ecstacy Of St.Teresa LP
(Meddle/Atom Heart Mother era Pink Floyd!), Lotion LP (am I missing
something here?).
Fanzines - 3 good ones here - new issues of ones I metioned before, no
interviews, and 2 out of 3 have a Kerouac obsession (in writing style)
but without the crap bits. In fact they're getting pretty good at it.
Red Roses For Me - is the 1 out of 3 that isn't. Comes with a tape of
Western-mere, which is worth getting if you like simple acoustic songs
- all done by Zoe - not really Lois or Po! like, more sort of a grrl
Tracey Thorn, and 'Well, I'll Fuck Off Then' is a classic title. The
fanzine has the usual culprits (El, Tindersticks, Audrey's Diary).
It's 1.50 inc postage in the UK - work that out for a US equivalent
(postage would double the cost, I'd guess). 124 Kenwood Rd,
Portchester, Fareham, Hampshire, Po16 9LU.
When I Grow Up I Want To Be Bobby Gillespie #2. (80p, or double to
those in the music industry. Plus postage).
Not what you'd guess from the ironic title. Mambo Taxi, Bratmobile,
Heavenly, Bikini Kill, Take That, All About Chad, Madder Rose, & My
Boyfriend's Dead. And it's dead well written, good layout too. Do
buy this. . .
Flat K, 23 Plymouth Grove, Longsight, Manchester, M13 9LU.
Oh bugger, I've lost Paradiso's address - next time, perhaps!!
Well what an interesting Sunday evening I've had :-)
Next time round it hopefully won't come across so po-faced & pseud-ish!
------------------------------
From: "K. Lena Bennett" <keb@u.washington.edu>
Grifters/Rodan; also SHONEN KNIFE!
Grifters, Rodan, 30:06 at Moe's, Seattle, 4/20
This was my first time at the new club that has lots of cool bands and
is actually in my neighborhood. It is as cool as I would've thought,
altho the floor is kind of gross. 30:06 from Portland opened with a
competent but unmemorable brand of Slint-rock (guitar tunings straight
from the Slint book of tuning), which is strange since when I saw them
opening for Jon Spencer they played a competent but unmemorable brand
of garage rock. Then Rodan played, and lots of people photographed
them. I haven't heard their music before but have heard them compared
to Slint. I guess it's the more Albini-like brand of Slint rather
than the Spiderland-variety - it sounded kind of like what I've heard
of Don Caballero. The songs were long and not very hooky - I wavered
back and forth between being hypnotized (somewhat) and being bored.
They didn't have a lot of stage presence. Rodan looks like people who
stay in bed till about 4 p.m. and don't have jobs (messy clothes, jet
black hair, pale skin), but the Grifters all look like they work in
the construction industry or something (big shoulders, short hair,
workman's clothes) I've always been kind of "eh" about the Grifters'
music - they have some good songs but they don't really carry them out
in a way that appeals to me - they go all over the place without a lot
of structure. They played even more like this the other night (Jim
described them as "wanky"). At least they had a good stage presence.
I wanted this show to convince me to like them, I guess, since people
whose taste I do respect say they are great. I guess they are just
not for me, tho.
Shonen Knife, The Dentists, at Moe's, Seattle, 4/21
This show was a lot more fun. Wednesday night there were about 40
people at the club but last night it seemed more like a couple
hundred, full capacity. There were advance tickets and they were sold
out. Anyway, love was all around. Everything was goofy and groovy
(especially the smiling kitty T-shirts, which the band said we should
buy because we were getting sweaty and needed to change our clothes).
They did a lot of songs from Rock Animals, including the metal-thrash
"Cobra vs. Mongoose," which got a mosh pit going (the Dead Milkmen
should re-record "You'll Dance to Anything" as "You'll Mosh To
Anything" and dedicate it to the people of Seattle). Most of the
songs were more poppy, though. And yes, they did do "Twist Barbie."
They also covered some old Motown song that used to be a favorite of
mine but which I'm totally forgetting now because it's 8 a.m. and I
had 4 hours sleep last night. The audience loved them, were cheering
and clapping constantly, and the band looked real happy; the band and
the audience kept flashing "I love you" signs at each other, which a
former metal-listening friend told me was the sign of the devil.
Anyway, this is the first time Shonen Knife has ever been in Seattle
and they were greeted warmly and put on a helluva show. I'm sick of
people who are too cool to dance, but none of them were there last
night - everyone boogied their ass off. I suppose I should say more
about the music, but I don't know what to say. If you know about
Shonen Knife, you know they were cute and they played good, tight,
rocking 3-chord music. If you don't know about them, you should get
one of their albums and realign your sense of fun.
The Dentists were the opening band - very competent, clever
post-Beatles pop from England. They said they'd been to the Space
Needle that day and I could totally imagine them being tourists.
Oh, yeah, and in case anyone cares (especially Liz Clayton), I saw Kim
from the Fastbacks there. There were also a lot of comix people there
but you don't care about that, but I was happy to see them because
most of them were my friends.
Sorry I am such a bad writer this morning, but I am exhausted.
Lena keb@u.washington.edu
"That salad is worse than Delaware."
------------------------------
From: Seth L Sanders <feste@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu>
Red Krayola, 13th Floor Elevators, killing spree plans
Just got some cds (and angry messages from people who I haven't paid
money or sent things to, how dare they annoy me, they only prolong
their misery) in the mail. They are cutouts of reissues on the Decal
label of music from the "sixties" (when EVERYBODY had riots and ate
acid and wore wide-lapel shirts, just ask your parents). They are
good. This is what they are:
Best one is two records on one disc, _Parable of Arable Land_ and _God
Bless the Red Krayola and All Who Sail With It_ by, you guessed it,
the Red Krayola. Parable has no less than SEVEN songs entitled
"Free Form Freak-Out" and they are all freaked out! Unforced but
unrambling, just nice little gift boxes full of clutter. They segue
into elegant little ditties like "Hurricane Fighter Plane" (the Cramps
once covered it, sure nuff) which replace the usual howl and strain
that stands for power with sheer understated kinetic energy. How the
song manages to careen so wildly forward while the musicians sound
like they're lying on the floor is beyond me. Fortunately. "War
Sucks" is the closest thing to an aggressive song, like riding on a
desk through a crowded workplace. "You know I cannot finish this you
know the rest WAR SUCKS...I'm sick to death of your endless prattle
cuz you know what happened to Hansel and Gretel WAR SUCKS."
This misleading gentle indirection has led bands to do anthems to
snooze based on Krayola songs: Spacemen 3's version of Parable's
"Transparent Radiation" and Galaxie 500's coffee break interpretation
of "Victory Gardens" from _God Bless_. Nope.
Best thing is that Krayola went away but the guiding light, Mayo
Thompson, did not, and has reformed (still unreformed) the band with
Gastr del Sol's Dave Grubbs on gtr and I forget everyone else though I
probably like them too. They are Drag City recording artists, I'm not
kidding, the new single is hot and has wild typography!
Well let me say in conclusion that the 13th Floor Elevators are a very
nice thing too, especially "Levitation" from _Easter Everywhere_ (what
could lead someone to triumphantly shout "I've Got Levitation!" at the
crest of a rolling, warbling song? Acid, dumbfuck.) and "Let the
Circle Be Unbroken" from _Bull of the Woods_. All of those titles I
would personally kill to be associated with, come on, "Bull of the
Woods"? What the hell is a "Bull of the Woods"? It sounds really
cool. All of the Elevators' music is an attempt to express otherworldly
experience and attractively obssessive notions through "garage"
technology, and they do it too.
[thanks in no small part to the mysterious tonality of the electric
jug... Anyone have plans as to how to make one of the beasts? -es]
I should add in conclusion at the end that I am planning a killing
spree this summer and would like suggestions on car tape material.
Thanks! Seth Sanders
------------------------------
From: folta@netcom.com (Steve Folta)
Enormous, Rodan, and the Grifters
Enormous/Rodan/The Grifters @ Bottom of the Hill, SF, 4/15/94
After GREGS@SLC.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU's review of this show in the last
Indie-List, I thought I'd write in to fill in the blank, since he
didn't get to see the Grifters. First of all, I didn't like
Enormous--to me they sounded like they aspired to be something like
the DiVinyls circa Temperamental, ie female-fronted arena rock with
some vague "alternative" cred. The vocals also reminded me a bit of
them. Whatever you might think of the DiVinyls, they did this stuff a
lot better than Enormous did. The guitar player really made a fool of
himself with his "Look, I'm rocking out!" moves and faces, especially
since the band did not rock.
Rodan were great, as Greg pointed out last week. I totally agree that
no recording could capture their intensity.
The Grifters were a big disappointment. Rodan's set was really long
and so it was very late when the Grifters finally took the stage.
Perhaps they'd had a bit too much time to drink during Rodan's set;
whatever the cause, most of their songs never took off and a few just
fell apart. Only the new songs (by which I mean songs written after
_One Sock Missing_ came out) had any spark to them; everything else
was taken at a lackluster tempo, as if they were tired of the songs
and could hardly be bothered to play them. They were pretty sloppy
when I saw them at the Kennel Club last fall, but there were several
incredible moments that made it a great show overall (although Greg
disagrees--he and I got into a bit of an argument by email over the
merits of that show). Because of that, I'll still go see them when I
get the chance, since I know they can be great if they feel like it.
But I'd have a hard time convincing anyone who only saw the Bottom of
the Hill show to go see them again.
Steve Folta
folta@netcom.com
------------------------------
From: ianc@cats.ucsc.edu
Eggs addenda
> From: madnbut@vt.edu (Butch and Madelyn)
> Eggs and Mag Wheels
>
> Eggs-Teenbeat 96 Exploder (Teenbeat)
>
> I'm not sure why I haven't read more about this LP on (in?) the Indie
> List. Perhaps the discussion has already taken place and I missed it
> (I'm new around here). Nonetheless, I continue to be completely blown
> away by Exploder, whether I've missed the early discussions or not.
The second song on Eggs' Exploder album, "Why am I so tired all the
time?" is available for free via the IUMA. Load up your Mosaic or Lynx
and open the URL http://sunsite.unc.edu/ianc/index.html. Details are
there, but you'll need at least a 486SX and a soundcard (Mac support is
yet to be released.)
More Teen Beat releases are coming. Blast Off Country Style is next on
the agenda. BTW, Teen Beat is our well-known stuff... :U)=)
rl.
--
Robert Lord <ianc@cats.ucsc.edu> for IUMA info: iuma@www.echo.com
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From: susan@acs.bu.edu (Susan Curran)
Lois, Karate 4/23 AS220 Providence
Well, the entire city must have migrated up to Boston tonight for the
Kustomized CD release party. That's the only possible answer I can
think of for the nearly empty room that greeted Ms. Maffeo. Or maybe
they were all down the street at the Reverend Horton Heat. Whichever.
Karate opened, a trio from Boston who I think will be going on tour
nationwide next month. They had some really great moments as well as
some rather dull ones. They didn't play 'songs' so much as just play.
The bass player was great, the drummer quite good, but the
singer/guitarist lacked stage presence and seemed to be the weakest
link in an otherwise promising band. Their set was mostly
instrumental with perhaps one short verse per song. I've heard them
compared to Shudder to Think, but they were almost reminiscent of
Primus, since the interesting and unusual bass parts took center
stage. The guitar parts lacked coherence and turned the songs into
sprawling masses which lacked shape or direction, but at times the
three of them pulled together and sounded great. They need to
strengthen their songwriting, but they showed potential. Email
evitt@bu.edu for more info on Karate.
Next up was indie goddess The Lois (in her new electric form). This
week's loser bar at the Last Call is Unwound, but that's where Lois
really should have played. This under-publicized show at AS220 was
nice in its intimacy, but Lois really deserves a bigger crowd than the
20-odd friends and fans. Yes, I counted. There were literally under
30 people in attendance.
However, and I don't mean to be harsh here, but this set was almost
unlistenable. Maybe I'll blame the sound engineer (yeah, that's it).
They started out with a song that had drummer Amy on guitar and Lois
on drums, giggling as she hit the hi-hat. Lois said it was a side
project called the '2-2-3s,' but I'm assuming that was a joke. Then
Lois picked up her guitar, Amy took her place behind the drums, and
the nightmare began.
Lois' forte is her fine sense of melody and lyrical irony, but
everything was buried under the crash and bash of Amy flailing behind
the drums. Lois would open a song alone on guitar, and I would
breathe a sigh of relief, but then I'd see Amy getting ready and I'd
start cringing. If I hadn't been looking forward to this show for so
long, I think I would have walked out. The drummer was simply painful
to listen to, and I couldn't even hear the guitar, much less the
vocals on great songs like 'Strumpet' and 'The Trouble With Me.'
There was also a bass player who complemented the guitar well, but
Lois either needs to find a new drummer, or just go solo-electric for
shows from now on. Her songs are good enough to stand on their own.
Lois was extremely friendly after the show, though, and said she's
working on some new material. I also had the good fortune to meet Pat
Maley of Yoyo recordings who's put out the amazing Julep and Throw
compilations, recommended for fans of girl pop in particular and
Olympia in general. I picked up a copy of Throw for only $6 (!) which
features the Cannanes, Courtney Love (the band, silly!), Crayon and
tons of other good stuff at a price that can't be beat. He said he's
doing a third compilation which will be released in July in
conjunction with Yoyo-A-Go-Go (a week-long festival in Olympia this
summer) and is planning a series of 4 eps by individual artists for
next year.
Anyone want to give me a ride to Olympia this summer?
Susan
------------------------------
From: mahasukha <beastie@gibbs.oit.unc.edu>
thurston moore etc., gate, and labradford
la de da de da.....
hello, once again, it's your least favorite reviewer!
thurston moore etc., gate, and labradford @ cat's cradle april 22
i went to this show early to make sure i would catch labradford. i
missed them when they played a few weeks back, and i didn't want to
miss the opportunity once more. i've listened to the prazision album
plenty of times and love it. so when i got there and saw the crowd
being really spacey, i wasn't surprised. i think the band played 3
songs that lasted for about 45 minutes. they were slow and drony
(like their album), but the songs were a lot longer (obviously). i
don't recall the exact songs they played, but the band had a very slow
proggression of building put into the songs. the first two were very
rhythmic and very slow. the members were very patient musicians and
waited for the exact right moment to strike their insturments to
create the full effect of their sounds. the whole set seemed to
follow their slow progression, and a comparison between song 1 and 3
made me feel like by the end of the third song, they were really
jamming (though they were still slow and psychedelic). during the
last song, the band had so much going on in the song that i had to
visualize all the sounds to keep up with everything that was happening
in the audio. incredible.
gate was next. i've never heard anything released from these guys,
but i know that they do have some sort of release, maybe a single or
something. anyways, gate wasn't what i expected. lee renaldo (from
sonic youth) is part of the band and i was expecting something more
upbeat. but they were more like labradford than anything. very slow
and rhythmic. the two piece was on stage and played one song for
about 40 minutes. it was interesting. the members continually
changed from playing guitar to keyboards and back again. on the
whole, the song was very diverse and experimented a lot with feedback.
i liked it.
thurston moore etc. was last. he played with another guitarist and a
drummer (no bassist). this was much more upbeat and sonic youth-y.
seeing thurston moore play makes you realize just how much sonic youth
depends on him as a musician. the way that he can catch a rhythm is
incredible. very stream of conscious flow. the type of stuff that
(of course) sonic youth masters, as do polvo and th faith healers.
one of the songs they played seemed totally impromptu. it was funny
how thurston made up lyrics (which were really bad) as the band made
up the song. "psychic hearts" was the last song they played (before
the encores) which t. moore announced would be the title track from
the upcoming album. i wasn't sure if he meant sonic youth's or his
own solo, but it was a great song.
thanks for reading this.....
--clark
"very few things happen at the right time, and the rest do not happen
at all; the conscientious historian will correct these defects."
--Herodotus
....rewritten history sucks....
------------------------------
From: "Theodore A. Khoury" <khoury@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu>
Afgan Whigs/Spinnanes Show
Afgan Whigs/Spinnanes: Blind Alley, Austin, TX 4/23/94
The soundcheck was Curtis Mayfield for the entire night, the crowd:
mostly alotta frat boys and alternateens. Nonetheless, the show was
incredible. I went to the show preparing to not give the Spinnanes a
chance just because I tend to do that with overhyped bands, but I have
to say, they played a really intense show. I expected some la-la
Mecca Normal type shit, but the drums were really Mission of Burma and
the guitar voice DID sound like a complete band; I don't know how she
pulled it off but, the guitar sound was full, interesting, and not far
from a Mary Timony duplicate. But they were great, even though they
dished out too many annoying one-liners in between songs. Whatever,
they were really good and believe the hype, I guess, this is good
college shit.
The Whigs were the most intense I had ever seen them. Played a lot
from Congregation, started with 'I'm her slave.' also played 'You, my
flower', and 'Retarded' from Up In It. Then the rest of the set was
stuff off the new album, plus their usual Motown covers. Dulli
was kinda pissed at the crowd for not moving so he made fun of Texas
in between songs and said they should have gone to the Los Lobos
show; they then played 'la bamba.' But by the last 5 songs the crowd
went crazy and band was really into it. All of them had ponchos,
except for the guitarist, Rick McCollum, who must be the Keith Richards
of the band. Also they added an organ to some of the songs, which
really set a mood for the night. They played for like two hours and
came back and did two encores, well worth the $. Try and see the Whigs
before you won't be able to catch them in a small venue; they are the
Big Star of today and the Troggs of tomorrow.
Single Reviews:
Crash Worship- 'gura' 7" (label fails me, know its from San fran, get
in touch with me if you wnat it)
One of the best singles I've picked up this year. If any of you aren't
familiar with this band, then at your own risk become familiar. They
have like three drummers, a guitarist, and howlist, and a troop of nude,
body painted dancers who descend upon the crowd, pick pocketing and
looting. Their music has been described as the closest thing you
suburb kids will come to a pagan ritual. Many claim them to be
satanic, but I read an interview with them in a devil-worshiping zine
that was trying to allude to this, and they deny it. But the music
is full-blown-psycho tribal of some other world's future...not this one
though. It's just plain intense, not for the easily frightened,
daddy-just-hates-my-hair shoegazer kids. ***
[he hates my hair? that's why he cut off my allowance? damn!-az]
DOG-FACED-HERMANS / JONESTOWN Split 7" (Compulsiv) This is pretty
good; both live tracks. The DFHs do an Ornette Colman tune, with
backup by The Honkies on horns extrordinaire. This Dutch band is
very loose and jittery, with a lot of speed and lack of direction.
Jonestown, now broken up I believe, are from Minneapolis and
have an animated lead singer full of a lot of theatrics and with a
great voice, antics much like today's Mol Triffid or The Motards. But
at the same time, he can sound really soft. The guitars are really
energized with tin drum background. The individual singles that
J-town put out on Project-A bomb, Hippie-Knight, and AmRep are much
better though. **1/2
ted
------------------------------
From: Lawren Wu <lcwu@MIT.EDU>
Belly @ MIT, 4/23/94
Belly and Cold Water Flat played at MIT's Spring Weekend last night.
Despite the small student crowd (less than 1,000), Belly gave a really
strong performance of old and new songs and seemed to be
having a genuinely good time.
Cold Water Flat, a Boston-based band that was apparently recommended
by Belly as an opening act, came on and played for about 45 minutes. They
are a three-piece band, consisting of guitarist, bassist, and drummer,
but they put out a rich, full sound. The guitarist/vocalist claimed
to have a sore throat but sounded pretty good to me anyway. Although
none of the songs really stood out and caught my attention, it was
pretty standard Indie-rock, with a rather strong resemblance to
Buffalo Tom. I saw Gail (of Belly) off to the left side of the stage,
taking in Cold Water Flat and having a good time.
Belly came on and played a very energetic set of about an hour and 15
minutes. Like the other recent performances, the band announced that
they would be playing lots of new songs. This was quite true, as
about half of the set was new material. Having been tipped off to the
titles of three of the new songs from the 4AD-list, I yelled out for
"Judas My Heart" and got a rather surprised stare from Chris (or is
Tom the guitarist?). Unfortunately, the only new song title that was
announced the whole evening was "Judas My Heart," which turned out to
be a slower but powerful song that sounded very tight and seemed
ready for radio airplay. The band was enjoying themselves quite a
bit, with Gail bouncing around the stage and Tanya and Gail
interjecting comments between songs. The encore consisted of two
songs -- one was "Are You Experienced" (I think), and the other was a
new song whose title was announced but which I don't remember.
According to the band, this song is "Stay '94", which I took to mean
that it will be the standard encore-closing number at the end of which
the band members leave one-by-one. Tanya claimed that she couldn't
quite sing this song yet, but I thought she managed pretty well.
[hey, maybe it's a version of that maurice & the zodiacs song...the
one jackson browne sang? 'ooh, won't you sta-aa-aay..just a little
bit lo-oo-oo-nger...' no? oh, phooey.-az]
I've now seen Belly many times and have never been disappointed. All
of the new songs sound really good, although it's apparent that the
band haven't quite worked out the nuances of the new songs for live
performance, as the new ones lacked the "punch" of the old songs
played live. I'm looking forward to the new album.
Lawren
lcwu@mit.edu
------------------------------
From: Chris Khoury <ckhoury@cps201.cps.cmich.edu>
Urban Farmers/Jettison Charlie Show Review
Jettison Charlie/Urban Farmers @ The Bird April 24th 1994
I got to the place a little late and regret it now. ALthough I only
missed about 2 Jettison Charlie songs I wish I would've saw the whole
thing. I've heard the 7" by JC and was not too impressed and was
expecting somethign a lot different. Live these guys are HEAVY, and
LOUD. They put on a really great show. The band was dynamic almost
like Don Caballero with vocals. Unfortunately, there were not many
people at the show to appreciate JC. These guys got something going
for them and I'd highly recommend checking them out if they come to
your town. Also really nice guys. They have a CD comign out in the
fall supposedly.
Urban Farmers came on afterward. For those who don't know yet, they
are an all instrumental band, and yes, they were around way before Don
Caballero. One can't compare the two because both bands are very
differnt. Urban Farmers always puts on a very diverse set, ranging
from Irish/African folksongs to Melvins-like heavy grinding stuff.
Talented musicianship and creativity is what it takes for an
instrumental band, and these guys defiantely have it. YOu can see every
musical style here. If John Zorn mellowed out and turned one of his
songs into 10 different songs, you'd have the Urban Farmers. UF has
had two tape releases and appears on a 7" compilation 'Resolve' on
Uprising Records. They'll also be coming out with a CD on Uprising in
a few months possibly.
......................................
: Chris Khoury :
: ckhoury@cps201.cps.cmich.edu :
......................................
------------------------------
From: davidb@dbadmin2.amgen.com (David Bennison)
Live - Tall Dwarfs / Moonshake
Tall Dwarfs / High Llamas - LA2 Astoria, London - 21st April 1994
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I can't remember the last time I saw a band that I felt deserved a
sound kicking, but the High Llamas (Tall Dwarfs = cool name, High
Llamas = crap name) earnt that honour. They basically sounded like
Wings, the morose 'singer songwriter' on keyboards sounding like Randy
Newman without the zany hair or hint of humour. "We tried to get a
support slot with Barbara Streisand" and I believe the joke. The band
made a Magnificent 7, 2 violins, a big 'violin between the legs' type
bass thing, a drummer playing maracas and wire brush (a bad sign) who
looked like my friend Jezz (worse sign!). The few who enjoyed their
easy-listening brand of Supertramp were the round glasses, polo-necked
jumpered types I last saw when Ed Keupper played. Pseuds who were
former school prefects until they saw a David Lynch film and 'got into
art.' If you gave them some acid and a guitar, they'd probably draw
the guitar (watercolour probably), paint small flowers on the front of
it and then write a poem about the experience. Why any youngsters
would wish to form a band that proceeds to sound like a down-tempo
version of Randy Newman's song 'Short People' beats me. The payoff
came with the Tall Dwarf duo of Chris Knox and Alex Bathgate. The
stage was stripped to two battered amps, two guitars, a small electric
autoharp (if such a thing exists) plus a small cheap keyboard. They
then came on stage, both looking like jockeys (Chris similar to Willie
Carson. US Translation = Willie Schoemacher?) - they were Small Guys.
Chris was wearing flip-flops and proceeded to strip down to baggy
underpants before transforming himself into a generic style-less Aussie
- loud Bermuda shorts, crap sleeveless T-shirt, 2 cans of lager by his
side. (I seem to spend too long defining everything except the music
but I find this far easier if less useful for everyone else... So
what!). They played a smattering of new stuff; I can't identify many
of the songs or titles, but 'Doing the Highrise,' 'She's a Woman,'
'Life Is Strange' (these are lyrics and therefore my adopted titles
until I get home and study the albums I have). They finished with an
amazing version of 'The Brain That Wouldn't Die' and came on for an
oncore with one of my favourites 'Nothing's Going To Happen,' what a
downright poetic and beautiful song it is. They are more punk than
I'll ever be (ever was morelike) and they exude an enthusiasm and
humor to be cherished (I sound like a sap don't I!)
Moonshake/God Is My Co-Pilot/Spacemaid - Garage, London - 22nd April 1994
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Due to God looking down on me last night and deciding to piss on me
from about 10 pm onwards, this night wasn't a great success - a
catalogue of broken tape equipment, lost camera lenses and getting
home at 5.00 in the morning means I'm now almost as bitter as chief
Moonshaker/Wolfhounder Callahan is on a good day. Anyway, bed beckons
in 5 hours' time so onwards.. The support bands were excellent:
Spacemaid, crap name, I know, but they consisted of a guy in a dress
playing trumpet through loads of distortion effect boxes, with
samplers, mysterious 'black boxes' and a live drummer - it was weird
but pretty interesting. The sounds were a mix of late-era Miles
Davis, dub and sort of Helios Creed/Buttholes vocals, I was impressed
that a UK 'band' would try something like this, NO GUITARS, and more
so that it worked well. I guess they were more improv-jazz than
anything else; the 'pieces' lasted about 15 minutes each and meandered
around a main hook/theme/bridge/whatever - Callahan was getting into
it (well, he was nodding in approval). God Is My Co-Pilot were wild -
a band I've caught on John Peel enough times (great recent session)
but who have put me off in the past as they've released too much and
I've gone into a rash deciding what to buy and given up in the
process. You all are better informed than I am about this band, I
always assumed them to be some sort of Riot Girl/Huggy Bear band but
there was a whole lot more to them than that; the lead guitarist guy
gives them an Ex slant (The Ex being my key reference point this month
for some reason). I'll now go through the impossible process of
catching up with the GIMC-P releases. I didn't really give Moonshake
my undivided attention as I had a train to catch and only caught 1/2
an hour of the show. Callahan was immaculately dressed in suit,
waistcoat and tie as were the rest of the band (he looked like Jack
Dee for all UK folk out there). There were 2 sax players and a
trumpeter who made a lot of improvisational noises and brass surges, a
bassist who played in much the same way as the old bassist, Callahan
and a girl vocalist/keyboard player who seemed to mirror Callahan's
vocals most of the time - singing in unison. I doubt this new
incarnation will attract many new fans; they were never immediately
likeable and catchy, and I think they've gone out on a limb to make it
even more so. The big difference I found was that they are now even
more urgent and 'biting' than before - dub and whispered vocals seem
to have been replaced with brass noise and vicious cynical ranting,
Callahan prowls the stage mic in hand and has nothing to distract him
from his message. I have always liked his unusual vocals, and he can't
be accused of getting a formulaic style; they have undergone a fair
change to my ears. Rhythms are more challenging and abrasive and fall
less into the mellower dub groove that Seefeel occasionally do; the
songs are also less melodic (not that they were before particularly),
and it's going to take a good few listens of the upcoming album to
adjust to this, which is a good thing in my opinion. I have the same
feeling about this new album as I did when I first heard Shudder To
Thinks 'Get Your Goat' - weird but I have a feeling everything will
click into place suddenly on the 5th listen, and I'll be hailing it a
masterpiece (what's the news on Shudder To Think by the way). The sax
skronk was a big overpowering but then again, I was standing in front
of them. Callahan said 'Does this all make sense to you?' to us after
one of the songs, and I guess it was beginning to. A great song
started with lyrics 'A 14 Year Old Virgin...' and got even better from
then on, another about Heaven was also particularly good. I only wish
they were playing nearer to Cambridge and I wasn't interupted by my
necessity to get on the last train home. Still the best thing ever
involved with the Too Pure label, in my opinion.
David...
------------------------------
From: barney <robertg@chemres.tn.cornell.edu>
carne a
Someone mentioned the band Carne A last week or so in discussing a
Shrimper comp and seemed to want to know more about them. Here's what
I think I know.
I don't think that they are still playing together, but they were/are
from Claremont CA and play noisy heavy music with lots of stops and
changes. Besides guitar bass drums they also had a very silly-looking
and acting guy playing a tape loop thingie with which he would make
wicky-wicky-scratch noises and play various sound bites. As far as I
know, they only put out one official album and I have forgotten the
title. It came with a free hand-made T-shirt. Later on "Hey Nonny
Nonny" by Anthems of Carne A was released on Shrimper and was mostly
random noisy stuff by various members of the band.
For their live shows, they changed their name every time, names I
remember including Carne Arkansas and Carne Assassin. Their bassist
Jeremy is now in a band called Bladder, and they have a few 7"s out on
a label that I think is called Cevoya con Leche, but I'm not sure, and
I'm likewise not sure what the rest of the band members are doing.
Feel free to correct if you know more than I.
-barney g.
------------------------------
c/o "K. Lena Bennett" <keb@u.washington.edu>
ANNOUNCEMENT: Team Dresch spring tour (fwd)
I'm just forwarding this....
Lena keb@u.washington.edu
"That salad is worse than Delaware."
---------- Forwarded message ----------
>From: kenrique@OCE.ORST.EDU (Kelly Enriquez)
>Newsgroups: alt.music.alternative,alt.music.hardcore,alt.punk
I just got back from seeing Team Dresch in Corvallis...they are
EXCELLENT and I would highly recommend that you see them if you're in
any of the following towns! If you don't know who Team Dresch is, they
are: Jody (Hazel), Kaia (ex-ADickDid), Marcy (ex-Calamity Jane), and
Donna (formerly involved with lots of bands including 5th Column,
Lois, Mary Lou Lord)
Team Dresch Spring Tour 1994
for info fax Kill Rock Stars @ (206) 357-6408
4/26 San Francisco ent. Red Doras
4/27 San Francisco Faster Pussycat w/Mr. Fister
4/28 Los Angeles Cafe Hong Kong
4/29 Los Angeles the Palms
4/30 Los Angeles Jabberjaw w/Girl Jesus and others
5/1 Santa Barbara 804 sistahs benefit
5/2 San Francisco Epicenter
------------------------------
F