Has Jazz Gone Hibrow?

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      Indie List Digest!

        Sept 2, 1994

     Volume 4   Number 1

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Feelies
Jawbox, Luna, Small Factory, et al.
Soul Junk
ANNOUNCE: Pumpkinseed
ANNOUNCE: Coctails tour dates

You'll note that this issue marks a volume turnover for the Indie 
List, as well as the semi-traditional celebration of its anniversary 
(c.f. the FAQ).  As I-L heads into the next year of its curious 
existence, one is tempted to wax hopeful or bemused.  Instead, let's 
just say that as one of the coEditors, I feel optimistic about the 
I-L's future, pleased with its present, and admiring of its past. 

Note as well that the new issue of Telegraph has hit the wires, and 
it's a swell one.  Drop a line to Mark Cornick for more details, or 
check out his web page at http://hopper.itc.virginia.edu/~mcornick/tg 
for further details.

So in the scheme of things, Anne and I made a big trip to Ajax 
Records in Chicago a week or so ago, and brought back many items.  A 
few of printed ones are worth note here - so I do so:

Spiffy #5.  This monster of a zine by Katherine Hodges is a delight 
to read - if sometimes a bit perplexing in the layout.  Some 
hundreds of pages of musings, interviews with various 
net-a-sic-person-types, thoughts and travel notes.  An enrapturing 
dip into another's life that - while a tad uneven in points - stands 
shoulders above most perzines I've experienced.  I recommend it 
highly (available from Katherine Hodges, PO Box 1238, Ames IA 50014.  
email her for more info at khodges@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu...)

Also picked up something I hadn't had a chance to see before - 
Chickfactor.  Very nicely, if sometimes annoyingly laid-out zine - all 
in landscape mode - and the recent (#6) issue has a nice little 
interview with that man on the move, Stephen Merritt.  The fact that 
it has two geographically separated editors gives it a nice diverse 
flavor, much like sick-n-tired-l.  ($3 from either 245 E 19th St 12T, 
NY, NY 10003, or POB 21685, Washington DC 20009).

Speaking of, there's a nice Kathleen Billus piece in the most recent 
Gourmandizer (Salsa Issue), which I really was impressed with.  But 
there's Oh So Much More, like a Steve Albini meets HL Mencken piece 
that drives me batty, reviews, recipes, a mustard overview, all the 
cool stuff o' life ($3 'r so from POB 582714, Minneapolis, MN 55455)

And to round out the 'zine blabbage from me, try and snag a copy of 
the most recent Cool Beans, if for no other reason that to read the 
wacky interview with Frank Black whilst grooving to the split Dis- 
and Lou Barlow 7".  A steal at #3.50 (3181 Mission #113, SF, CA 
94110) 

One final note - az says "thanks for all the cool information about 
Minneapolis!"

-es


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From: Deddawg@aol.com
Feelies

re: Steve Baragona's Feelies query

last I heard, Wake oolo was in fact guitarist Glenn Mercer and the 
very same percussionist wondered about, Dave Weckerman.  Weckerman 
sang/fronted Feelies alter-ego Yung Wu, so maybe he was up front and 
went unrecognized without the rhythmic accoutrements.

Bill Million is missing in action, Brenda Sauter plays in a band in 
NY whose name I can't recall and Feelies drummer Stanley Demeski is in 
the band written about in the very same post, Luna.  - jason


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From: Aaron Schatz <ST000414@BROWNVM.brown.edu>
Live - Jawbox, Luna, Small Factory, plus record reviews

First, a note from my last post.  I saw Chick Graning at a softball 
game when WBRU played some bar he hangs out at.  We met a lot at 
second base (a position we both play - perhaps, since I'm trying to 
play guitar like him, he's trying to play softball like me).  It turns 
out that Jud did not leave Scarce for a normal job - he is now playing 
with Gigolo Aunts.  A major mistake, in my opinion, since it is 
likely that Scarce will be much bigger than the Aunts are now, but 
hey, it's his call.  The new drummer for Scarce, for now, is Stephen 
from Apollo Landing.

There is some talk on "subbaculcha" that Joey Santiago, his wife Linda 
(who plays bass, I guess) and Dave Lovering (who has left Cracker) are 
forming a new band.  "Subbaculcha" is a list that discusses all the 
bands that have resulted from those days in 88 and 89 when the Pixies 
and Throwing Muses used to play together at Green Street Station in 
Jamaica Plain, except that it is very mersh oriented and i'm sure 
nobody on the list has even heard of Green Street Station which is now 
closed anyway.  Actually, there is a bit of indie-subbaculcha 
crossover, like myself and Susan Curran.

Live review - Jawbox, Creamy, and Pollenate, Babyhead, Prov RI, Wed.  
8/24

I missed Pollenate.  Creamy is fronted by Bill Keough, a Providence 
mainstay who used to book at Babyhead.  I'm friends wth him, so this 
review might be biased, but I liked it.  A lot of there songs are 
based around a looping bass line and one repeating chord.  It's very 
hard, the lyrics are more said than sung, but it grooves.  I don't 
think they ever play outside of Providence, though.  I had never heard 
Jawbox except for the "Savory" single, which I didn't like, but they 
are incredible live.  They are, as most of you know, ex-Dischord, which 
can pretty much describe their sound as well: like Fugazi, lots of 
starts and stops, changes in tension, quiet parts.  The harmonies are 
better than Fugazi, the drumming not as good (since I think Brendan 
Canty is the best drummer on the planet).  I'm gonna go out and buy 
some.  Great show.

Luna, Small Factory, Blue Shift Signal, a couple of weeks ago, Prov 
RI, Lupo's

I missed Blue Shift Signal (when you get in free on a radio station 
guest list, you have a habit of coming late) but my friend Howard says 
it was ethereal with fake British accents and Dave from BRU Sales said 
they sound like the Ocean Blue, which is the same thing.  So that's 
two thumbs down.  Small Factory were good, but their current direction 
worries me a bit.  They played all stuff from the upcoming album, so I 
recognized only one song ("So What About Love").  Over time, from the 
early singles to "I Do Not Love You" to the new stuff, they have moved 
in two directions: Less of Dave Auchenbach singing and a harder edge.  
I don't think I like either of these.  Alex always singing lead gets 
kinda whiny after a while, and the softer, happier acoustic sound was 
more unique.  As they become more jaded, they start sounding more like 
every other indie band.  That said, the music WAS good, they were 
energized, Phoebe just keeps getting better (singing and drumming) and 
I'm sure I'll buy the new record.  Luna bored the pants off me - they 
are the kind of band that's great to listen to at home, but live they 
just stand there.  I like them, but it was dull, except for the 
Talking Heads cover (which has already been mentioned here, I think).

This is all material found in the WBRU Free Bin.  I'll start with a 
list of the albums I didn't like.  I've brought a lot of them back, so 
the comments are not long, but if you see these albums somewhere, my 
advice is to skip 'em, even for just 99 cents.  Heck, I got them for 
FREE and threw them back.

() means I don't remember what label it's on.

Peach - Siesta (Caroline): Good name, loud music, not much melody.
Strawberry Zots - Friends Forever (): Lousy Psychedelic Rock
Crash Vegas Stone (London): Poor man's Soul Asylum, if they had Winona 
singing instead of her boyfriend.
The Casual Outcasts - Six Singls (hour): Undistinguished college rock
Fudge - Ferocious Rhythm, etc.  (Caroline): I am so disappointed.  A 
band which thanks Small Factory on its liner notes should not be this 
bad.  Actually, I've been told that this is a really poor example of 
their music.  I hope so for their sake.

Now, albums I like.

Suddenly, Tammy! (Spin Art) - This one's been out for a while, but I 
would have bought it full price.  Almost all indie music consists of 
the same 4 instruments: guitar, bass, drums, and occasionally violin.  
All of a sudden, this is indie pop with acoustic piano.  Incredibly 
melodic, with great piano playing and singing by Beth Sorrentino.  
This hasn't left by CD player since I got it, but since I have a 5-CD 
carousel I have gotten a chance to listen to:

Bumpin' Uglies (Red Planet) - Normal folk-rock, but done well.  I 
think they come out of the same LA coffeehouse scene as Downey Mildew 
(whom they sound like) and Beck (whom they sound nothing like).  Nice 
violin playing.

Fuzzy (Seed) - A two-girl fronted pop-rock-punk band from Boston with 
the same drummer as the Lemonheads.  Doesn't particularly stand out, 
but it's pretty good, escpecially the song "Sports" which has a cool a 
capella intro.

They remind me a lot of Jale - Dreamcake (SubPop).  This sounded a lot 
better to me the second time I played it.  It's more loud women 
rock-punk-pop, this time from Nova Scotia, which reminds me of:

AN ANALYSIS OF HYPE, CHICAGO STYLE

I have heard two new singles from Chicago women in the last few days.  
One is Liz Phair's Supernova, on Matador.  The other is Veruca Salt's 
Seether, on Scared Hitless.  Now, Liz Phair must be the most hyped 
artist in the history of indie-ness.  In fact, her last album 
completely went nowhere in the land of mersh despite its incredible 
hype-o-rama.  I have heard a bit of it, and it is good guitar 
indie-rock, like Jale or Fuzzy, but not as good as the Breeders or 
Belly (both bands, of course, started out as small and then got pumped 
into ultra-MTVness by their labels, but they are great bands).  She 
seems to be unable to get through a song without saying "fuck" or 
"dick." Veruca Salt, on the other hand, has gotten no hype at 
commercial stations like mine, but their single might be the best song 
I've heard all year, up there with Scarce and Versus among my 
favorites of 1994.  "Supernova" is a straight forward rocker with a 
nice flangy guitar part.  "Seether" has girlish harmonies, rocks hard, 
has much cooler lyrics ("She is not born like other girls, but I know 
how to conceive her" -- and "conceive her" of course rhymes with 
"Seether" in the next line.) I wish Liz and the Matador hype machine 
all the best (Yeah, I know Gerard reads this list, and I have nothing 
against his label for pushing their artists so well - heck, I love 
Pavement too) but there is something wrong if Veruca Salt languishes 
in obscurity while the media-ready Liz gets the lead record review in 
Rolling Stone (This has not happened yet, but I'm predicting it).

Oh, one last record reccomendation.  I picked up the soundtrack to the 
bluegrass documentary "High Lonesome." A good one-CD intro to great 
American music.

Adios for now...

***********************************************************************
Aaron Schatz                             "When will come the time when
Zeta Delta Xi                             the Jews who are great
Brown University                          will be great Jews?"
st000414@brownvm.brown.edu
(401) 521-2513 (After 9/4 863-5580)       - Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Cook
P.O. Box 3994, Providence, RI  02912
***********************************************************************


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From: Peter Andrew Lopez <pl1x+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Soul Junk

[somehow or another, this just turned up...  mail burp? -es]

our second review is soul junk's "1950: free shrimp" cassette.
 
soul junk is the ex-lead guitarist of trumans water (perhaps his wife 
and a few others occasionally).  he left the band because he got 
married and became a born-again christian.  this tape, i guess, 
documents his change of heart, religiously, and features heartfelt 
meditations on god (cf.  "father god" and "i turned my back on you").  
cynics will immediately discard this tape with the likes of amy grant, 
et al, but this would be a grave, grave mistake.  i don't buy the 
message, but the music is superb.
 
i suppose the best summation of the merits of this here reel of 
chromium dioxide is that it's the best of both worlds: the songs 
alternate between senTRIdoh/sebadoh/paste-style sparse lamentings to a 
sort of free jazz a la god is my co-pilot, only with longer jams; the 
music is more free and purely instrumental.  you can tell the emotion 
is strong behind each of the songs.  the more traditional stuff 
usually consists of guitar, drums and vocals, while the improv stuff 
is primarily drums, sax, and organ.  wonderful listening, regardless 
of yr religion, race, creed, or sex.  **1/2
 
shrimper tapes, p.o. box 1837, upland, ca, 91785


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From: sister@sizone.pci.on.ca (Jeremy Rotsztain)
ANNOUNCE: Pumpkinseed


Well....there's another issues of Toronto's Pumpkin Seed fanzine that 
was just recently finished.  It has a superlong interview with 
Superchunk, and pretty long interviews with Lois, The Grifters, Versus 
and Velocity Girl.  For all those people who would be interested in a 
copy of this fanzine, please e-mail jeremy at sister@scizone.pci.on.ca.  
Oh, the fanzine also includes a few stories and a Snapple crosword for 
all of those Snapple freaks out there.  thanks a lot.
                           Bye
                              Jeremy
 
sister@scizone.pci.on.ca


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From: patrick monaghan <patrickm@phantom.com>
ANNOUNCE: Coctails tour dates

The Coctails Head South & East 1994

Date	City		Venue

9/01      Atlanta GA       Star Bar
9/02      Athens GA        40 Watt Club
9/05      Orlando FL       Downtown Jazz
9/06      Tallahassee FL   Cowhaus
9/07      New Orleans LA   Howlin' Wolf
9/08      Gainesville FL   Covered Dish
9/09      Wilmington NC    Mad Monk
9/10      Carrboro NC      Cat's Cradle
9/12      Richmond VA      Chronos Cafe
9/13      Harrisonburg VA  Joker's Pub
9/14      Charleston WV    Empty Glass
9/15      Pittsburgh PA    Bloomfield Bridge
9/16      Morgantown WV    Nyabinghi Dance
9/17      Cleveland OH     Grog Shop
9/18      Buffalo NY       Mr. Goodbar
9/20      Cambridge MA     Middle East
9/21      Providence RI    Last Call
9/22      New London CT    El-N-Gee Club
9/23      Hoboken NJ       Maxwell's (I'll be at this show!)
9/25      Baltimore MD     Memory Lane
9/26      Washington DC    15 Minute Club
9/27      Washington DC    Planet Fred
9/28      Philadelphia PA  Khyber Pass
9/30      Bloomington IN   Second Story
10/1      Milwaukee WI     Shank Hall

send e-mail for mail order catalog
patrick monaghan
carrot top records
chi il us
312-665-2055 (fx)
patrickm@phantom.com
patrickm@mcs.com

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