We're an American Band!
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Indie List Digest!
July 4, 1994
Volume 3 Number 41
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Booking Help request
Black Eye Productions, Bacchus D. (Wicker Park)
Scarce, Versus & more!
Ptolemaic Terrascope, Bee Thousand, et al.
Cannanes
Velocity Girl, Sunny Day Real Estate & Juicy
Drive Like Jehu, Doo Rag & Tanner
Reviews of "Cool Stuff": April March, Tsunami, BOCS, Blur, et al.
Tortoise & Vandermark
ANNOUNCE: Free Zine!
AD: Popfest Entertainment
------------------------------
From: bce2@midway.uchicago.edu
Help with Booking
Hello Indie List Readers,
From time to time I see clubs mentioned in the Indie List. I am in a
shitty white trash Indie Rock band that would like to play some shows
in different cities. I was wondering if any of you folks out there
could lend a hand by sending me telephone numbers or even the
names of the person or persons who do booking for the following clubs.
Or if you happen to know that one of these clubs bites the proverbial
big one, doesn't pay bands, has shitty sound, only books Motley Crue
cover bands or something, that info would be very helpful as well.
To anyone who responds to this pathetic posting:
I appreciate your wasting your time on a loser like myself. THANK YOU.
Charleston IL Dungeon
Muncie IN "the Coc"
Cincinnati OH Sudsy Malone
Cleveland OH Euclid Tavern
Lawrence KS OutHouse
Louisville KY ?
Lexington KY The Rocledge
Minneapolis MN Uptown
Minneapolis MN 7th Street Entry
Minneapolis MN Muddy Waters
Duluth MN Urban Ground
Omaha NE Capitol
Omaha NE Killgores
Salt Lake UT Cinema Bar
Sioux City IA 13th Club
St. Louis MO Bastlle's
St. Louis MO Cicero's
Columbia MO Mixed Company
Madison WI Club de Wash
Madison WI O.K. Corral
Toronto Ont. The Rivioli
Toronto Ont. El Mocambo
Toronto Ont. Lee's Place
Ottawa Ont. 5 Arlington
Montreal Qu. Woodstock
Detroit MI Burns Room
Ann Arbor MI Blind Pig
Pittsburgh PA Bloomfield Bridge Tavern
Hoboken NJ Maxwell's
Trenton NJ J.C. Dobb's
NYC NY Spiral Grace
Boston MA Venus de Milo
Cambridge MA Middle Eastern Cafe
Alston MA Bunratty's
p.s. if you are in a band and would like to know about clubs in Chicago,
just drop a line.
Thanks again.......
--------------Benjahmyn "Sluggo" Ewens
------------------------------
From: bce2@midway.uchicago.edu
Two unknown bands from Wicker Park
It's always fun to see new bands, all full of promise, full of
enthusiasm, just starting out on that long road to frustration, rote
bullshit and hopelessness. Especially when the new band is made up of
the battle-scarred survivors of past battles. You can see it in their
eyes, smell it on their breath, "This is it! We've got our shit
together this time! We've learned from our mistakes! We've sat down
and fuckin' studied them! This new combo will conquer the world! We'll
be bigger than the Sex Pistols! Or at least Live Skull!" (Someone
actually fed me that last line once!)
I was able to see the debut of two interesting local bands recently.
Last night I went a keg party way out on Chicago's southwest side. It
was on the first floor of a two-story shack across the street from
Kung-Fu's Pizza and Chop Suey. The place was propped up between a
kind of lean-to overflowing with used tires and a boarded-up
warehouse. You entered in the back, through a hole in the chain-link
fence, where my "friend" Douglas (of Bacchus D), the guy who had
invited me, tried to extort five dollars from me.
"Hey," I said, mustering my outrage, "how come it doesn't say anything
about a five-dollar cover charge on the invite you gave me?"
"Oh, I couldn't put that on there for legal reasons," he stated.
I didn't want to make a scene, so I bit the bullet, even though I felt
like I was being robbed. Three bands and all the Old Style I could
swallow? Five bucks? Awwww, who gives a fuck?
Well, who cares about the seedy character of the event, it's the music
that is important, right? I usually go for that holistic approach.
You know, the total sight, sound and smell environment, but for your
sake, dear reader I'll cut it short.
The first band up was Black Eye Productions (if that is their real
name) which featured Elliot Dicks, formerly of the Moonmen (whose
debut album on Thrill Jockey was canned because in the eleventh hour
because they decided they didn't like it) behind the drums, this guy
Andy on guitar and inaudible mumbling (used to be in this Wicker Park
band Star Kitty, which I never heard, but always meant to check out),
and this girl Sharon on keyboards (who also currently plays bass in J.
Lizard Jr. and unsigned treasure Bender). So that was the all-star
line-up. They played a kind of trebly, vintage Fender garage Rock.
The keyboards were really high in the mix, but that probably wasn't
intentional (no real comparison to that British band with the moogs
[SL] that I could see). Nice rockin' songs, though--all hook, like a
boomerang. Really enjoyable to watch, energetic and full o' pep.
The next band up was Bacchus D (the phoenix that crawled out of the
ashes of local art school favs the Deuces), but I had to leave since
the headlights on my van are out and it was getting dark. I had seen
their first appearance the week before at the Czar Bar anyway. They
have two drummers, which is interesting. They set up their kits
alongside each other and have this huge metal pipe contraption between
them from which hang some odd scraps of sheet metal and some pots and
pans, all kinds of stuff that either drummer might use to add extra
emphasis at just the right moment. There's just one guitarist, no
bass, the drums fill in the bass lines. The guitar player, James,
plays a very minimal, feedback-based punk style guitar, similar to
what Ian MacKaye was doing on the early Fugazi tapes before they found
Guy P. He certainly fills the sonic space though, to his credit. The
frontman bellows out at the audience in a damaged, in a
skinhead-on-bad-acid style. I guess his theory is, "It's not what you
say, it's how you say it" since you can't understand him anyway. For
their first show they played three songs, which showed admirable
restraint, I thought; one song was a Spacemen 3 cover, which they
brutalized beyond recognition. Their whole approach seemed like a
return to those thrilling days of DIY yesteryear when anyone who could
steal a guitar would get up on stage and spit out another call to
arms. They took some rusty jackknives, scraped the skin off post-punk
noise (a la Steel Pole Bathtub) and rubbed it 'til the muscles frayed
like a an old rope. I don't if many people were into their shit, but
I dug it.
Who knows where these bands will be next year at this time. Maybe
signed to A & M or working at Payless Shoes, but at the moment they're
fun to check out.
------------------------------
From: Aaron Schatz <ST000414@BROWNVM.brown.edu>
Scarce, Versus, and other goodies
First of all two great new albums:
Versus - The Stars are Insane (Teen Beat 142) Finally, a full-length
platter from Versus. It's the same band you know and love - Sonic
Youthy loud guitar parts interspersed with poppy Small Factory-esque
choruses. Fontaine sings more on this one (yay!) and I dream every
night that I could write songs as well as Richard Balayut. The best
songs are "River," about River Phoenix's death, with the immortal line
"Please believe me when I say... 10 bucks won't get you a very long
way" and "Be-9" which struck me instantly when I saw them play it
live. Unfortunately, the quality of the songs kinda peters out near
the end, so I'll give it only ** 1/2
Scarce - Red EP (Rockamundo Records, 32-39 33rd Street Long Island
City, NY 11106). Scarce is the best band in Providence, bar none.
This comprises all 3 singles, front and back sides. They have been
recently signed by A&M, so this will be the last indie recording.
They are great on album, but to fully appreciate them you must see
them live - it is the best live show I've ever seen. Luckily you'll
have a chance to do this, since they're about to embark on a tour.
The band is Chick Graning - guitar (ex-Anastasia Screamed), Joyce
Raskin - bass and Jud Ehrbar - drums. Chick plays a lot in drop D and
uses a slide for rhythm parts, rather than just for solos, like on
"All Sideways," which also contains a killer guitar hook. He also has
the most expresssive voice since Robert Plant - he can convey
unbelievable emotions without actual words. Joyce has a bit of a Kim
Deal-esque style, both singing and playing. Jud just plain rocks. I
can't plug this band too much - please buy this. ***
Now, a list of more exciting CDs from the BRU free bin:
Good:
Blood Oranges - The Crying Tree (East Side Digital) - country rock.
Jimmy Ryan plays electric mandolin. Sounds a bit like X's countrier
stuff. I like it. * 1/2
Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary (SubPop) - good hard indie rock with
lots of texture and loud pop hooks. Great cover art of Fisher-Price
people. **
Downy Mildew - Slow Sky (High Street) - relaxing dream pop. "Release
Me" is a great song. Only problem - male who sings 1/3 of songs is
better than woman who sings 2/3 of songs. **
Fair:
Red Red Meat - Jimmywine Majestic (SubPop) - a cross between Smashing
Pumpkins and the Black Crowes. Coming soon to an AOR station near
you. Actually called one of their songs "Smokey Mountain Double Dip"
and it sounds exactly like the Crowes. *
Sensefield - Killed for Less (Revelation) they're from Orange County,
CA, I think. Apparently they have a hard-core following, but I can't
tell why. Some what similar to S.D.R.E. but not as good. *, but
it's growing on me.
Poor:
Dannielle Brisbois - arriving all over you (Epic) First song, "What if
God fell from the Sky" is great, albeit cheesy. Rest of album is
unbelieveably bad (and cheezy) AOR-pop chanteuse garbage. * 1/2
Geggy Tah - Grand opening (Luaka Bop) Executive Producer - David
Byrne. World beatish with lots of sampling. First song - "The One
for Her" is great. Rest of the album blows goats. **
The Rugburns - Morning Wood (Bizzare/Planet) I haven't listened to
anything but a song called "Me and Eddie Vedder" which is about dying
in a room with the man himself. It's hilarious. They're from San
Diego.
Not even worth it:
The Bishops - Elf Killer (Grinder) * 1/2
Uncle Juice (self-release) lame Vermont funk-rock *
Standard Fruit (ellis Island) from OC, CALIFORNIA * 1/2
Drunken Boat - New Pop (First Warning) proving that it's useful to know
how to play more than just chords * 1/2
Bluerunners - Chateau Chuck (Monkey Hill/Ichiban) From New Orleans,
rock w/accordion. Unfortunately, they're boring. * 1/2
Sundial - Libertine (Beggar's Banquet) AAaaaaaaarrrrggghhh! *
Angelfish (radioactive) Snore..... *
See ya next time....
***********************************************************************
Aaron Schatz "The one problem with academia
Zeta Delta Xi is that you can't grow
Brown University potatoes in it."
st000414@brownvm.brown.edu
(401) 521-2513 - Justin Blumenstiel
P.O. Box 3994, Providence, RI 02912
***********************************************************************
------------------------------
From: Steve Silverstein <ST201268@BROWNVM.brown.edu>
Two-word titles: Ptolemaic Terrascope, Bee Thousand, etc.
Ptolemaic Terrascope is this amazing British psychedelic magazine.
Every issue apparently has cool interviews with bands old and new.
Highlights of this one include Velvet Underground (3/4 thereof) and
Guided by Voices (Rob Pollard). Every issue also comes with a 7" (I
think). This one features an amazing GBV song (Chicken Blows, sort of
in the same vein as If We Wait), an amazing Flying Saucer Attack
song (All About Dreams) and a song by a European prog band called
Anglagard (Ganglant Fran Knapptibble), which is very retro, but
decent. In all, an amazing work ($7 for one ish if you mail order,
$25 for 4: PT/37 Sendridge Road/Melksham/Wiltshire SN12 7BQ/England).
Bee Thousand is the new release from Guided by Voices on Scat/ador (I
think Matador's 1st P&D release for Scat). It's totally amazing. If
you dig GbV's 60s and 70s influenced lo-fi "arena pop", you'll like it
a lot. It's just got layers of complexity to really simple pop songs
and though the sound is consistent (lo-fi but not abrasively so), the
music is VERY diverse. It should be in stores, but: Scat/5466
Broadway #200/Cleveland, OH 44127.
Amoebic Ensemble are from Providence and sort of avant-garde-ish, but
very catchy and simple too (esp. for a seven-piece). Their new tape is
called The Road to World Domination and has a cover from a '50s
social studies text that must be seen to be believed. The current
lineup, which features accordion bozouki/mandolin, hurdy
gurdy/bassoon, drums/percussion, tuned percussion, trumpet/french
horn, and violin, begins the tape, and what follows is some stuff from
slightly different older Amoebics lineups, all recorded live to DAT,
then older bands Space Heater (similar, but not as well recorded), and
Kings of Plainville (similar lineup, vastly more psychotic). It's not
really pop, but it's very catchy, and it's way too fun to be labelled
"intellectual". I like it a lot. The tape is $5, 27 Preston
St/Providence, RI 02903
Finally, not two words but four, is Monsters of Rock II. Simple
Machines put this out to celebrate (?) Tsunami's tour of
England/Scotland with Eggs and Rodan. Each band contributes a track.
The Tsunami song sounds like Tsunami, pretty much, and is "Cowed by
the Blah Blah." The Rodan song is from the Working Holidays and
features the Coctails' introduction of them at the show, which was one
of the highlights of the weekend, and then the first song from their
amazing set, "Tooth Fairy Retribution Manifesto." It sounds like
Rodan, and that's good. Eggs' song doesn't sound much like Eggs.
It's just them talking between songs at a show last October at
American U. It's funny and stuff. But at the same time is a Moog
playing random stuff. Well worth a listen, maybe even two if you're
really insane. ($4 from Simple Machines, PO Box 10290/Arlington, VA
22201-1290).
-Steve
------------------------------
From: "K. Lena Bennett" <keb@u.washington.edu>
Cannanes, Short Poppy Syndrome (review)
The Cannanes, Short Poppy Syndrome
CD, Ajax (you know, the one in Chicago)
I had trouble getting this one out of my CD player. Listened to it 5
times in one day. Had it on a tape in my Walkman and kept rewinding
to listen to the Cannanes again even though Guided by Voices was on
the other side. Now that's haunting! Unassuming little songs that
come up to you silky like slinking cats and then bump your ankles
really strongly with their heavy skulls. Underproduced but
adventuresome in use of instruments (trumpet, rubber duck). The girl
singer's voice is really beautiful in a rough, Australian sort of way.
There's a more "rocking" song near the end with a declaimed version of
"Howl" that takes on yuppies. I can't get over how sweet these songs
treat me! Sometimes I will have been aware of a group's existence for
awhile but never check out their music until a critical mass of people
have recommended it to me. Thanks to Tom H. and Steven B. for being
those people. They have a few other records out so I guess I will
obsess on back catalog for awhile. (Glenn S., are you listening?)
Lena keb@u.washington.edu
"But what we do have is true friends in abundance
company and plenty, comfort in abandon, love overflowing"
- The Cannanes
------------------------------
From: "Theodore A. Khoury" <khoury@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu>
Belt Buckle
Belt Buckle 7" (sonic bubblegum) Well, maybe this was already reviewed
before, so I'll keep it short. I think its Lou's best side project,
great lyrics, really straight forward songwriting. The first tune
goes through like three movements, it seems, and ends with this
futuristic drinking song melody. Can't say enough good about it.
Plus, its four songs on 33 speed, so you get a lot. buy it.
While I'm plugging the great Sonic Bubblegum, the new Green Magnet
School is VERY good. The vocals are more raw than the subpop thing,
and the guitars appear more industrial, they don't have a formula,
but if they did, it would involve complex numbers. Also, to reiterate
the claimed Killdozer 'dis,' they sucked in Austin, Texas, just like
they do on vinyl. The cover's album they did was humorous, but their
thug vocal gimmick wears thin quite easy. I know they have a wide fan
base, but they tour with big names like Steel Pole, blah, blah. They
are completely undazzling live, keep your money under the mattress.
cheers -tk
------------------------------
From: Aaron Schatz <ST000414@BROWNVM.brown.edu>
Live - Velocity Girl, Sunny Day Real Estate, and Juicy
Tonight at the Last Call, Velocity Girl, Sunny Day Real Estate, and
Juicy. Juicy has to be the worst band I've ever seen. Worse than all
the glam-metal bands at my old high school, even worse than the
Deluxxe Folk Implosion, who were really bad, believe you me. They
were like a bad parody of a "riot-grrrrl" band. None of them could
play their instruments, particularly the drummer. The bassist did
have some good ideas, I'll give her that, although she looked very
awkward trying to play bass. The singer was WAY, WAY, WAY out of
tune. Except for one song that kinda sounded like Versus, the songs
really sucked, and they had stereotypical riot grrl titles like "Fuck
You, I'm Cool" and "Psychotic Ex-boyfriend," which was their opener
and was dedicated to OJ Simpson (that was very funny, I'll admit).
And they all wore those "baby doll" dresses, like Courtney Love. But
they seem to have friends in the right places, so they get good gigs.
When they said they had a CD coming soon I almost died.
SDRE are from Seattle, and you can tell. It's arena-alterna-rock,
like Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, etc., although not "grungy." They
have a bit of Fugazi influence - lots of variations in dynamics. They
have a "Seattle" look - goatees, nose rings, arm tattoos, etc. But
they were GOOD. They ROCKED. I'm sorry, I may lose my indie
pop-loser membership card here, but I like bands like this. I
heartily reccomend their album, "Diary" (SubPop) which I reviewed in a
previous post. The curious question I have is - since these guys are
better than Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and other Seattle bands, why
haven't they been discovered by MTV yet?
Velocity Girl were "kicking ass and taking names" according to the
rhythm guitarist/backup singer (I don't know any of their names).
They were as good as advertised, although to be honest I liked SDRE
better. The drummer is really funny on stage. They played lots of
the new album, plus Copacetic, Audrey's Eyes, Crazy Town, Pop Loser
(which they screwed up A LOT) and covers of Echo and the Bunnymen and
the Pastels. I definitely like the new style where the guitarist
sings backups. Other than Juicy, a great show.
The other fun thing, by the way, was that I met another indie lister.
I was with Steve "asdlkjdf;f" Silverstein, and this girl goes, "Are
you Aaron Schatz?" and it turns out it was Susan Curran and she
recognized me from indie list. Pretty cool.
***********************************************************************
Aaron Schatz "The one problem with academia
Zeta Delta Xi is that you can't grow
Brown University potatoes in it."
st000414@brownvm.brown.edu
(401) 521-2513 - Justin Blumenstiel
P.O. Box 3994, Providence, RI 02912
***********************************************************************
------------------------------
From: sue@gdb.org (Sue Borchardt)
Drive Like Jehu, Doo Rag, and Tanner at LaLuna, Portland OR. June 23
On my arrival in Portland I picked up Willamette Week to see who was
playing around town and having read about DLJ I decided to check them
out. I couldn't remember what I had read, just that I'd heard of
them. So, take this writeup as the impressions (or feeble ramblings)
of someone completely unfamiliar with any of the bands on the bill.
I missed Tanner 'cause I was eating Thai food.
Doo Rag went on shortly after I got there. DR is two guys (drums &
guitar) in red starched shirts and ball caps (one with a C. Everett
Coop beard). They had an oscilloscope up on a stand facing the
audience that was hooked up to the guitar player's mic. The mic also
had this trumpet horn thing on the end of it that made it sound like
he was singing into one of those super distortion harmonica mics.
They played speeded-up, country, blues-off-a-scratchy-record, simple
tunes that I thought I was gonna like during the first song. It seems
it is their only song.
So I retired to the bar for a Weizenberry beer - yum.
Drive Like Jehu came on shortly after I finished that Weizenberry and
I was immediately impressed by how good they sounded. I don't know
if it was some euphoric thing caused by the beer on top of Thai iced
coffee, but the mix sounded perfect. It could be just as much a
property of the venue and I'd never know since Doo Rag was not a very
good point of comparison. DLJ had the standard two guitars, bass, and
drums. They were doing some pretty cool stuff with the guitars - slow
one-note melodies over a thick layer of rhythm guitar alternated with
fast repetitious trance-inducing chunks. The one thing they were
not was "surf-punk"y as described in Willamette week. Oh well. I
don't feel I could possibly be that far off the mark and that was
written by a professional.
The only thing that really turned me off about them was the vocals.
The front man had that scream-in-the-mic-cause-i'm-so-angry style that
really irks me. I kept thinking if Lou Barlow was whining something I
could understand in front of this band I would have been hooked.
sue@gdb.org
------------------------------
From: DDBAN203G@university-central-england.ac.uk
lots of cool stuff - NOT!
THE NEWS THIS WEEK:
-------------------
Exams, MUDs, and other shit have conspired to keep me from submitting
to indie list for a few months, but now i'm back! Here are another
load of cool reviews, well hopefully they are cool but just as i'm
falling behind on the technology curve i also fear i'm falling behind
on the coolness plane of existance...et cetera et cetera waffle waffle
blah blah...
APRIL MARCH - VOODOO DOLL (Kokopop 7")
--------------------------------------
This is pretty old, the record that is not Ms March who is certainly
not old, but its also really good, and i only got it a month ago
anyway. Its so kitch! Its so groovy! It should be crap really, but
April March is a STAR, makes it really great.
ACE OF BASE - DON'T TURN AROUND
-------------------------------
Ha ha ha, Swedish reggae! I love this, not indie at all of course but
we must be a little more exotic in our tastes!
TSUNAMI - BE LIKE THAT (Simple Machines 7")
-------------------------------------------
Red vinyl always looks good; the April March single was white vinyl,
by the way that looks, um, less good. Not that i am against
light-frequency encouraged vinyl colours. Tsunami then, fantastic.
But then they always are. It starts off slow then yet another
irresistable chorus. Fab.
THE BARDOTS - WE ARE FIASCO (can't rememebr label 12")
------------------------------------------------------
We are fiasco is a fantastic song, are you a "secret failure junkie"?
Hmmm. This dominated my record deck for a while i can tell ya!
Classic indie britpop or what?
BLUR - TO THE END (Food CD single)
----------------------------------
Blur follow their top 10 hit with something romantic and epic, like a
Gene Pitney ballad with a Dawwwn-Sarrrrf accent. Tremendous.
SECRET SHINE - GREATER THAN GOD EP (Sarah CD single)
----------------------------------------------------
S Shine continue their post-shoegazer noise travels, moving on from
the epic album to incompass a few extra sounds and textures. Such as
the great clarinet on "Last words". Good stuff. Though i still
prefer their first few singles.
BLAST OFF COUNTRY STYLE - GIGGLES AND GLOOM EP
(Teen Beat 7")
----------------------------------------------
Aren't i groovy? Weird, aren't they BOCS? They seem to sound like a
hybrid of Shadowy Men.. Waylon Jennings (1970s) and Tsunami, or
something. Love it.
That will do for now...:)
this mail is from:
christian "nastyned" davies - c.davies@uce.ac.uk
at the: University Of Cheap Equipment In Birmingham
------------------------------
From: teg3@midway.uchicago.edu (Ted E. Gray)
Live Review of Tortoise & Vandermark
another contribution of a lurker. enjoy!
*****************************************
We all know by now that Chicago is supposed to be the "cutting edge"
capitol of the world. We know of the success of Urge Overkill, Liz
Phair, Smashing Pumpkins, and the soon to be huge Veruca Salt. But
most of those bands are signed to the majors, and in fact it's hard to
find much that is "cutting edge" about them. They tour the world in
the name of the Chicago scene. Meanwhile back home in Wicker Park,
small relatively unheard of bands play each night. Sometimes to only
a few people and hardly ever for much money.
The bands that play these clubs every night for the most part are much
more interesting, indie, whatever, than the bands the majors signed.
In fact there seems to be a burgeoning scene of bands that are
cropping up that all have a direction much different then any of the
bands signed by the majors. Bands in Chicago are exploring old genres
and combining them to create new and exciting sounds. Some of the
best music coming out the small clubs in Wicker Park is a hybrid form
of jazz and rock, with the Vandermark Quartet and the Flying
Luttenbachers on the extreme jazz side and Tortoise and Gastr del Sol
on the more rock side. It's doubtful that David Geffen is going to
run up and sign any of these bands, and that's why, in my own humble
opinion, they're a lot better and much more worth listening to.
Tortoise and the Vandermark Quartet, the Empty Bottle, Chicago IL,
Friday June 10, 1994
Ah, I was finally going to see my man Bundy play live. Grubbs had met
Bundy when they were both roommates with the bass player in my band.
Somehow I've been cursed for the last 3 years. I'd missed every
Bastro & Gastr show up until then. I had moved at the beginning of
the month to a new crib about 3 blocks away from the Empty Bottle.
Nothing was going to stop me from seeing this show. The ad in the
Reader said the there was no cover charge if you showed up before 10.
Adam, the sax player in my band, called me. We decided that we would
meet at my place and walk over there so we would arrive right before
10 and get in for free.
We got there right at 9:55. There was a guy at the door who wanted
$5. [Is this some sort of Chicago thing, the unexpected $5 thing?
-es] We asked him about the ad. He said that was only if you wanted
to come earler and sit at the bar. If you wanted to see the bands you
had to pay. We said fukit and forked over the cash. We walked in.
There weren't too many people there yet. Our friend Dave had staked
out a prime spot. There was a couch right in front of the mixing
board. We knew we would get a good sound and we could sit/stand on
the couch and see over everyone to the stage. We saw Bundy and he
came over. He couldn't believe I was actually there! Craig White came
over and we all talked awhile. After a couple of beers, and some
great conversation Tortoise took the stage.
I had taped the test pressing of the CD and thought it was OK. Some
of it I thought was great but some of it didn't do much for me. The
lineup on stage was interesting. Bundy and Doug from 11th Dream Day
both on bass, John McEntire on the drum kit, another guy playing the
vibes, another percussionist with an african bead/gourd thing, and a
guy sitting in the corner with a small keyboard and sax. They started
to play and started the show with Magnet Plus Throwing. Live they
sounded a lot better then the tape I had. In the live context you
could hear much better the interplay between the two basses. You
could also hear each of the percussion instruments very clearly. By
the second song the place was packed. Bundy played much of the set
with his back to the audience. Every song was great. The members of
the band would change instruments with almost every song. Doug played
the bass throughout, but Bundy switched between bass and guitar. All
three percussionists traded places. At the end of the set Bundy
turned around. He saw all of us standing up on the couch. He flashed
a quick smile at us. I couldn't believe it! He had to be enjoying
himself up there. Every other time I had talked to Bundy about his
live shows he had always told me they sucked. I talked to him later
that night and he told me he thought they had played great. They'll
be touring this summer. Make it a point to go see them.
Some friends and I decided to go outside for a refreshing walk in
between sets. We chilled for a bit and then went back to the club.
We got inside and the Vandermark Quartet was already on stage blasting
away. They all look like artsy tough guys. Crew cuts, flannel
shirts, and ripped jeans. Drums, standup bass, Ken Vandermark on sax,
and Dan Scanlen on trumpet, violin, and guitar. The rhythm section
played a charged pounding free beat over which Ken and Dan blaired.
It was an amazing rush of frenzy. Albert Ayler meets Sid Vicious.
Wow.
The music was a little more difficult and it was getting late. Some
people left but most stayed till the end. A crowd of young flannel-
wearing hipsters watching a free jazz band freak out on stage.
Chicago is an amazing city. Near the end of the show I moved to the
back of the bar and hung out with some friends. The door opened and
in walked Jon Langford of the Mekons. The bartender saw him and
handed him a shot. He lives just a few blocks away. I saw Jon look
over the packed crowd and shake his head. I image that he couldn't
believe there were that many people there grooving to the scene. The
Vandermark Quartet finished playing. I went and talked to Bundy some
more and walked home. It was worth the $5.
------------------------------
From: dayt@ucs.orst.edu (Travis D. Day)
ANNOUNCE: Free ZINE
Hey There,
I was just wondering if I could interest anyone in a FREE local music
zine called ZINE that I and fellow Indie-lister Kelly E. are somewhat
responsible for. ZINE covers the Oregon indie/punk/ska/free jazz ++
scene with Corvallis, our home sweet home, as the focal point. We're
about to go to press with issue #6 (our first-year anniversary) which
includes live and record reviews, comix, some political nonsense,
interviews with Hazel and Butch Lucky and the ubiquitous bumper
sticker. MRR liked it, so you might too. We're going to start doing
bulk mailings, so if you would like to get on our mailing list send
your name and Snail mail address to: dayt@ucs.orst.edu
------------------------------
From: JH99@aol.com
AD: Popfest Entertainment
2 labels: Popfest and Gamma Ray records
both c/o
POPFEST ENTERTAINMENT / PO BOX 1198 / WEBSTER, NY 14580 USA /
Tel/Fax: 716-248-0795 / E-Mail c/o JH99@AOL
Releases include CD's from DOG's LIFE, and POPFEST COMPILATION:
Poppies For My Sweet, both on Popfest. 7" singles from Lalaland and
Koo Koo Boy.
GAMMA RAY Records has 7" singles from IN ONE, MULER, NOD, and DUKE
GALAXY and The PIPELINERS (split release with Trashcan Records). We
also distribute singles from ZEZOZOSE and BIG HAIR among others.
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