stolen (apochryphal?) quote of the issue:
"Maybe he doesn't have a Power Mac 7100/66, like the bitchin dudes
in Sugar." -- Bob Mould, on Grant Hart's lack of solo success
#############################
Indie List Digest!
January 7, 1995
Volume 4 Number 14
#############################
Contents:
Administrivia / foresting...
Tara Key
Dumb Angel and Generator cassettes and black vinyl
Sloan's new one and Plum Tree
Two Pure Tying up 1994
ANNOUNCE: Harriet 5th anniversary
happy fuckin new year, everybody! sorry for the delay, but even the
IL editors need a vacation now & then. this should be more than
enough to bring you out of those IL DTs, though.... -az
In other news, Christian Crumlish passed along a mention that he (and
some others) have a very nice zine on the web (which they've termed a
hyperzine...), at the URL
http://enterzone.berkeley.edu/enterzone.html.
It's a pretty nice piece of work, with indie content, well worth
checking out if you have access to the software and hardware needed to
reach these things. -es
------------------------------
Content:
From: Sean Murphy <grumpy@access.digex.net>
Administrivia / foresting...
It's been a while since an issue came out, and even longer since we
did any sort of official information dispersal, so here comes the
administrivia to kick off 1995.
Reminder #1 - this publication is driven by its membership. There may
be editors, but very little editing of submissions gets done. (Trust
me, I know - I used to edit this thing...) If you don't send in stuff,
the I-L will cease to exist. We started as a weekly digest, expanded
to twice-weekly digests to keep up with the volume, and now have
receded to something like once every 2 weeks? This is all a function
of what you are writing. It doesn't have to be polished, doesn't have
to sparkle, doesn't have to do anything other than talk about
non-obvious music. It's time to see some new faces in the writing
department...
Reminder #2 - if you'd like to unsubscribe, change addresses, or refer
a friend for a subscription, please send all requests to me (Sean) at
<grumpy@access.digex.net>. DO mention the Indie-List by name, DO NOT
speak in LISTSERVese. (I happen to do subs for another mailing list,
q.v., and I like to know where to assign people.)
Reminder #3 - if you're looking for an occasional publication which
discusses music without a slew of record and show reviews, drop me a
line and ask about _Finley Breeze_ (nee Telegraph). Issue #1 was
mailed to subscribers in late December, and I'm hoping to have the
next one done around mid-February.
-----
Enough of that... quick review time. I really don't buy as much
music as I should any more, and I'm picking up mostly older stuff
these days since I know what it is...
Patti Smith Group - Easter (Arista)
Simply put - if you don't have this record yet, go pick it up. I
finally did after a couple years of meaning to buy it, and I'm very
glad I got around to it. Think of it this way - you'll be able to
hear the proper version of "Because the Night" whenever you like
(instead of that clunky 10K maniacs version), you get one of the more
harrowing/oddly uplifting musical experiences out there in "Easter,"
and there's still 9 more tracks to explore. **1/4
50 Foot Hose - Cauldron (Weasel Disc)
Heard a lot about this early in the fall, finally found a copy for
myself. 1966-67 psychedelia from San Francisco, with pretty
entertaining liner notes, and a decent sense of where the music is
going. Not as good as the United States of America album, but not a
bad slice of quasi-experimental stuff. *1/2
Electric Eels - God Says Fuck You (Homestead)
Finally found a copy of this lovely re-issue. 1974-75 Cleveland
skronk-punk that will still rip speakers to shreds. "As If I Cared"
and "Bunnies" are reasons for living even when they get you all
depressed inside... sound quality is poor, but that's sorta the point
- just get it on tape before we forget how to play the damn song...
and it's fun to compare Paul Marotta's contributions to the Eels with
his Styrenes material of the same basic time period. Even if you were
lucky enough to own a copy of "Having a Philosophical Investigation
With..." you need this 'cause it's got more tracks, like "Spin Age
Blasters" and "Accident." **1/2 if you like iron filings in your
Grape-Nuts, *1/2 for the uninitiated.
Grumpy Sean
grumpy@access.digex.net
------------------------------
From: Glenn Susser <glenns@panix.com>
Tara Key
(Glenn Susser passed along this excerpt from an interview he's
working on with Tara Key re the Babylon Dance Band, Antietam, and more!)
Tara Key sez...
the BDB The new (only) BDB album is out on Matador---It came out a
couple of months ago...Seeing as we are not a touring band, it has
fallen through the cracks somewhat---so many young bands and this
being an archival release---but it was important to me to get that
stuff out. Pop punk mach one--first line of middle-class responders
to the bleak posibilities of march on a timeline to adulthood
living....Now we are adults (by some generous stretch of the
imagination). We play when we can be together, as Chip and Sean are
no longer super active in rock....Chip does write a lot about music
for publications in Louisville and, as dad, is raising a new crop of
conspirators...Sean is in school...We can be separated for long
periods of time and just walk in and play a show on no rehearsal and
much adrenalin (as proven last month, literally) and have it be as
combustible and liberating as it was when we were going for broke 15
years ago---physical volatile passionate live to live rockin
rock---i'll always love that band like mad--we will probably play
until one of us dies, and only then there will be no point...
Antietam will be playing more now that Rope-a-dope is out---we have
been lying low in the fashion implied by the title...and we will tour
in the spring nationwide along with the release of Ear and Echo, the
new Tara Key record, recorded in Vermont this time with the help of
the Barton Boys (Wolf Knapp, Josh Madell, Jon Williams, Tim Harris,
Yaz Kuhn). Tim Harris and Jon Williams co-produced, babysat, midwifed
and restained me from physical and mental injury on this one. The
vibe here was fall, falling, losing, floating--spelunking for
something to hold onto (solid ground) as the possibility of going so
far away no map would inform a safe return from inner cavern
exploration existed...with ample helpings of love, regret and
confusion...that's where it is right now...a saner rendering of the
facts would show an acoustic/electric implosion took place in East
Albany fueled by ample amounts of Barton's best, Rogue Microbeer and
Belgan ales and Lambics...
Tara Key Band will not be playing until after the first of the
year...Tara Key actually is in the midst, perversely, of beginning
another album in her head (unsigned, uncommitted, still in wrench it
out mode even after working so hard on this one). On this one,
however, there are cellos, acoustic guitars, accordion, sobs,
hellbranded screeches, thrown Gretschs, Korgs, upright pianos, blissed
out strums and keening wails, buzzing wasps and a magic party
(resplendant with color wheel and 2 foot statue of Colonel Sanders
draped in party lights---flashing)--eye to eye with something/one i
haven't quite identified yet.....me?
TK
------------------------------
From: lroberts@bellahs.com (Laurence Roberts RD)
Dumb Angel and Generator cassettes and black vinyl
I picked up an interesting tape recently. It's by a band (or project)
called Dumb Angel, and it's on the cassette and vinyl label Generator.
It's a side project of Walt Mink -- it has two members of Mink, John
Kimbrough and Joey Waronker, and some guy named Tim Gartman doing some
vocals. Incidentally, Dumb Angel is also the name of Walt Mink's
publishing company. The cassette says it's copyright 1993. Walt Mink
was last heard of when they released two records on Caroline. The
rumors that I'd heard were that the band was signing to a major
(Columbia), and that Joey had left the band and was drumming for Beck.
(A popular thing to do -- just ask Lance of J Church.) By the way,
Joey's father was the recently ousted president of Warner Brothers,
and his sister is in That Dog. That Dog provided backing vocals and
strings on the 2nd Walt Mink record. (This does not constitute a
recommendation of That Dog, Lena.)
Anyway, considering all them corporate connections, it's sort of
surprising to run across this lo-tech cassette release. I, and most
other Mink fans I know, always preferred their cassette demos to their
released records, so this is a welcome return to form.
The music isn't fully acoustic, but it's fairly low-key, with no bass
and without the emphasis on guitar pyrotechnics of Walt Mink, but with
nice vocal harmonies. It shows their Nick Drake influence (Walt Mink
has covered Pink Moon -- I prefer their version to Sebadoh's.)
Unfortunately, on my copy the last song on the first side cuts off
while there's tape left -- I'm not sure if this is intentional. Some
of the songs have tape experiment stuff with found sounds.
[Larry-Bob later sent us an addenda whilst this issue of the I-L was
being constructed that Generator happily replaced his defective
tape. More good tales from the customer service front-lines! -es]
One of the songs "While Grownups Sleep In Sunnymede" also shows up (in
polished studio form) on Walt Mink's 2nd record. There's 7 songs
total. The cost is $3+$1 s&h. It's catalog #G-2. The address is at
the end of this article.
The mini-catalog included with the tape has some intriguing stuff on
it, including a cassette compilation called "racket to stardom" (cat
#G-5, $3+$1 s&h) with 16 bands: Hot Date, Princess Dragon-Mom (His
Name is Alive side project -- anyone have anything else by them?),
Bridget Cross, the Coctails, Balloon Guy, Whisper Ants, Mountain
Singers, Will Baum, Smattering, Cocaine Stiffing Triumph (sic -- how's
that for a Richman reference?), Puck, Sabine, Polara, Harold Rose
Orchestra, Cabin Boy, and The Gold Dust Twins.
Generator's address: 726 Jefferson NE 2nd Floor, Mpls, MN 55413-2111.
They say to add $1 for postage per order, so two cassettes would be
$3+$3+$1.
Larry-bob
lroberts@bellahs.com
------------------------------
From: Joanne Merriam <ilion@is.dal.ca>
Sloan's new one and Plum Tree
Sloan "Twice Removed"
Wow, what an amazing album. Too bad it's not indie, so reviewing it
here will probably get me flamed. But they'll soon be indie again if
the rumour I have heard is true. I live in Halifax, an incestuous
little city where news travels fast, and the rumour I have heard is
that DGC is trying to kill Sloan in the States. Yet another instance
of a major label screwing a band? So even though they aren't indie,
buy the album if you can. It's truly wicked, esp. if you are into
that whole Jale-Thrush Hermit-Hardship Post-Cool Blue Halo scene, but
this one's a bit poppier, and more self-consciously stupid (their new
video features the singer yawning when supposed to be singing and
striking huge chords when there's no guitar in the song, etc).
Plum Tree "Flutterboard" (not "Futterboard")
This just came out on Follow You Home Records (owned by the band, not
Follow Me Home Records). Includes 6 tracks, I think (I don't have the
tape in front of me). "Good Time To Tell Me" is the single and it's
been getting pretty constant airplay on CKDU (the local
campus/community station, which does not playlist, so the djs must
really like this). There's some neat stuff you wouldn't expect from
Plum Tree, who are seen by lots as Halifax's answer to Cub, such as a
song with heavy distortion called "Festooned," my personal favorite.
Although the band is plagued by printing errors (the tapes say
"Futterboard," one song title is wrong on the tape, and the tape cover
has their label wrong), they're really good, and this album shows a
lot more maturity than their singles. If you can pick up a copy where
you live, do. You probably can't, though, but anybody wanting an
address can write me and I'll find the tape and send you the label
address.
Joanne Merriam (ilion@is.dal.ca)
------------------------------
From: pjoe@grafix.xs4all.nl (Joep Vermaat)
Two Pure Tying up 1994
Thankfully things have tempered a bit since the last time. The last
few months there weren't too many concerts. A few releases, but not
released in the murdering tempo of earlier. Loz is still way too busy
graduating and Joep has been working his bollocks off, trying to
become a more experienced computer programmer. So this posting is for
tying up some of the loose ends, just to start fresh in the new year.
We won't bore you with any best-of-the-year lists or anything. No,
we'll review the stuff most of you failed to listen to. Do you
remember our mission to get more variety on the list? It hasn't helped
much, has it? I mean, are we the only ones liking The Aphex Twin as
much as The Palace Brothers?
First. Let us shock you by saying that most of the electronic music
is shite. And even the good can turn bad in a few months time. Take
for example:
Orbital/Locust saturday december 10th Paradiso, Amsterdam
The setup was much like Triple X Oscillate, the mega electronic-music
event in August [see a few lists back]. In the center of the
relatively small church, compared to the huge round tank that is the
Gashouder, they had put up a scaffolding two stories high. The lower
part filled with live mixing desks and the DJ playing decks. And the
upper part especially reserved for Orbital's stuff.
The concert would start late. So when we came in around eleven,
nothing really good happened. The DJ wasn't very broadminded and
played straightforward trancy techno. We went to check the place out,
seeing the lame chillout room and looking at the setup from the
balcony. When we came back down again, the music had changed.
The sight was very confusing. We knew Locust would play soon. But
the only thing we saw was a guy at the turntables putting on records.
And behind him another guy twiddling knobs. And then tracks started
to kick in. Enormous compositions, very low basslines, complex loud
rhythm structures. And NOISE, lots of it. The music sounded like a
divine combination of Autocreation, Mu-ziq and My Bloody Valentine.
Nothing like that has ever been put on record, as far as we know it,
so this had to be live. Only we didn't recognize the guy playing. At
first we though it was the DJ, maybe the guy from Mo'Wax, because he's
getting quite notorious in England. But then we started to
concentrate on the guy twiddling the knobs... wait a minute, that's
LOCUST!
This is the second time he fooled us. Months ago, in the spring he
played at an ambient night in the Melkweg. Then the only thing you
could see was his video wall. Mark van Hoen (Locust) hid behind a
pillar doing his thing. Now he had found a way to play his music and
have everybody thinking it was the DJ playing records. He must be
enormously shy, or he just hates the old artist/crowd interaction.
The music got better and better, and only in the end some of the
audience started to catch on and realise this was Locust playing.
When the set ended the meager applause was swamped by the loud trance
record the DJ put on.
Orbital. I should have realised when I went to interview them at
Triple X. The brothers Hartnoll have sold their souls to Satan. Or
the big bucks music biz to be more exact. "Snivilisation" is
overrated. In every music magazine, barring Melody Maker, the record
has been lauded as a "Classic". Well, don't believe the hype, because
it's just a boring fart of a record. Okay, it has a lot of diffent
styles and tunes on it. But they used to put a lot of styles and
tunes in just one song. We think Orbital must have made this step for
big bucks sake. And the thing is, the audience buys it. They don't
care that this is a step back music wise. Back to the time when
techno tracks only had a 4:4 bass drum and an 8:8 hi-hat on top. The
disco variety. Only "Impact" lived up to the old standard. The rest
of the set was just replaying the record and raping classics like
"Halcyon" by making them into disco tracks. We never want to see
Orbital again.
Next concerts were a bit of a long time ago. But we'll try to recap.
Moonshake Amsterdam Arena oktober
We had expected a lot of Moonshake. They were once on the top of my
list of best live bands I've ever seen. Only this year they were
pushed downwards by the divine performance of Seam. Since Moonshake
split in two, things haven't been the same. As well as Laika, they
kept some of their earlier sound. But with David Calahan alone,
Moonshake has turned into a sour grape, hard to swallow. The music is
inventive. They have abandoned the guitar completely, using more
brass instruments and some electronics, but still playing like a roc
kband. But Margaret Fiedler's voice and songs and the backbone
provided by their former bassist made Moonshake into a schizoprenic
band. The two-sided-ness of the band is what made it special.
They've lost that. Best moment was the encore, a songs consisting of
a very high-pitched siren sound and the new female singer doing the
only vocals. Maybe it is just because of his voice.
American Music Club Amsterdam Arena november 3rd
Who had set the trendy thirtysomethings free? We thought they were
locked up safely in their apartments, listening to their Enya and Dire
Shites record collection. But no, they had to come in their hundreds
to see this band play. Don't misunderstand us. We do like to have
older people at concerts, but not if they're coming because it's "hip"
or the band is "in fashion." American Music Club can so easily be
misunderstood. Their music is getting more easy to listen to every
time they release a record. But the rate of quality stays the same,
high, very high. The old bunch came to stand around. American Music
Club's music is just like any other band's music, ranging from the
techno of Underworld to the slowcore of Codeine. There is always a
way to move your butt to it. And with American Music Club its fairly
easy too. "Hello Amsterdam," the second song they played should have
the crowd jumping up and down in no time, I thought. Wrong, they
didn't move a muscle. Well, we did. It still hurts.
Ash, Salad november 5th Paradiso, Amsterdam
Every half year Paradiso in Amsterdam organises a London Calling
festival. Programmed were Ash, Salad and 4 others I don't even find
worthy to mention (okay, short then, so you know what to avoid: Huge
Baby, Done Lying Down, Velo-de-Luxe and urgh.. Dodgy).
Striking was the sudden amount of Shampoo influences among the
audience. For the ones who don't know, Shampoo is a fucking disgrace
from England, two girls who do their utmost to make the shittiest
anti-music ever. Anyways, little girls were swarming around, wearing
two big plaits, colorful children's clothes, and continuously licking
those big lollies you get at a fair. Babes. It seemed like a
kindergarten. Funny to see though.
I'll start with Ash. This trio from Ireland is responsible for some
delicious loud noise. Really good to dance to. Some moments are mind
boggling. However, they do have a couple of minor points. The songs
are still a bit shaky, the bass guitarist fell out twice, they are too
poppy for my liking, and the drummer hardly plays an interesting role
in the group. But all this was well compensated by their powerful
dedication, their launching fiercely at the guitars, and a good stage
performance. Ash is a young band. New blood. Ash will get there.
After a break of one an a half hour Salad took the stage. The sound
was much quieter and less hyper than I had expected. The songs were
pretty straightforward, linear, and mostly based on rhythm, and less
on melody. Paul, Pete and Rob played their parts excellent, but the
eye-catcher undoubtedly was singer Marijne van der Vlugt, well known
as a Dutch VJ for MTV Europe. She ruled the stage. Full of energy
she moved like a tiger, sometimes screaming, grating and screeching,
leaping in the air, sometimes lashing at a simple keyboard and
cramming melodies out of it which were so childishly simple but
nevertheless tickled your ears and legs. The audience had a lot of
fun, especially on "On A Leash". This thriller contains a rhythm to
which you can dance by just walking lightly. And so the dancing part
of the audience cheerily walked amongst each others acknowledging
every one they met. Sometimes hell broke lose on the stage though, at
which point the audience switched from lovingly walking together to
jumping ferociously at each other and hurting others in the process.
Besides that, the song contains a lot of staccato, on which the
audience simultaneously footstomped on the bass tones as if we jumped
on ice and wanted to make a hole in it. Yes, we Dutch people sure
know how to have fun. :-) Another sublime moment was "Dimished
Clothes".. of course I would say. This chilling song sounded live as
on the EP, not here, but somewhere far off, a fata-morgana. Totally
cool. The cracker for tonight was definitely "Your Ma." This song was
played disgustingly fast, and I don't even mean qua tempo, but qua the
development of the song. No single moment of rest was allowed. If
you wanted to keep up with the music, you had to work hard for it.
Break here, break there, one second sudden pause, and boom! hitting
the gas pedal full on, tiny break, and go go go, accelerate with
screaming tires, etc., etc. I can't remember ever being so tired
after a song. Well, maybe. After Orbital. But that was after one
and a half hour of sweating my psychedelic shirt off. With Salad I
got the same result in a mere 3 minutes. I was physically devastated
! And that's the way it's supposed to be, I guess..
Adorable november 10th Arena, Amsterdam
Last year I was mildly Adorable-crazy. They had delivered three top
EP's in '92 and one album in '93. Their live-show last year was in my
top-5 best live gigs of '93. Two months ago they've released a new
album. I hadn't heard it yet when I went to see them live in the
Arena. Since there had been (almost) no coverage of their new album
in any music paper I didn't expect much of it this time.
Which was well justified.. and it was not. On the one hand they
played their old songs, which stay definitely as hallmarks in the
English music of the '90s, but on the other hand the new songs were..
much of the same. Good, energetic, diversity within the song, but..
still somehow the same as their old songs.. and thus kinda
disappointing to me. Adorable seem not to have developed their art,
which I think is a shame.
But, as I said, the old songs still stand. After a couple of freaking
dance songs, Adorable gave the audience a treat which I haven't
witnessed before with any other band. Accompanied by only a guitar,
singer Pjotr threw all his humanity into the song 'Still Life'. In
the dark matches were lit, some had brought those firework sticks that
sparkle like stars. To me this was a very touching moment. Tears
were closer to me then laughter. Maybe I was just too sentimental at
the time. But to me others seemed upset too, some nervous being
confronted with Pjotr's sensitivity, some suddenly blocking out and
suddenly slithering toward the bar to buy a beer or do something else.
It's really cool to witness people dealing with this. :-)
This show was one of Adorable's last ones. Creation Records (i.e.
Sony) are not satisfied with their latest album and kicked them out.
One big BOOOOO! to Creation! Creation really sold their soul to a
Mersh :-(
Now, some excellent records that should have your undivided attention:
Early this year we announced Disco Inferno's "Second Language EP" as
the single of the year. Well, we were wrong. They topped it with
"It's a kid's world." In which they turn a kiddy-TV-program tune into
a stomper worthy of anything by Cop Shoot Cop. A song with many
faces, the happy tune intertwining with the blistering guitar part and
the head-pounding beats. And as ever, some very interesting lyrics.
Nerve-rackingly beautiful.
Jungle is becoming a big hype. But it ain't the only music genre that
grew considerably over the past year. Another sound has been coming
out some of the same places. It hasn't really got a name, yet. Some
call it trip-hop or ambient hiphop. It's a blend of all good things
in techno, jazz and hiphop. A sound originated by Massive Attack,
taken apart and put back together again by Tricky and perfectioned by
Portishead. One of the labels specializing in this sound and doing an
excellent job of it is Mo'Wax. Run by a 22-year-old with very very
good taste. There are two releases you should get if you're
interested, "HEADZ: ...abstract musical science from the hiphop avant
garde". A title which describes the 2CD collection of ambienthiphop
epics perfectly. Most notable tracks are by DJ Shadow, turning a U2
rhythm track ('Sunday Bloody Sunday') and a Beatle song ('come
together') into something completely unique. And by DJ Krush who is
the brain behind the second perfect release, "Strictly
Turntablelized".
COME: "Don't Ask Don't Tell" (Beggars Banquet CD160)
I already mentioned the existence of this record briefly in our
previous article, but I find this one so magical, I just have to give
it more words. This is Come's second album and it causes internal
injuries of the first degree to my soul. This is not a healthy
record. Their first album, "Eleven:Eleven," was loaded with rough
guitar blues (although the band themselves hate their music to be
called blues, I still do), where the cruel reality of hard drugs had
to be faced. On this sequel the desperation is thickened: this time
we have to face the cruel reality of love.
It immediately opens hard-heartedly: "Everyone has that evil thing /
That's why they can understand / Everyone has that rubber band / Uh
huh baby, that's why you'll bounce back". Unfortunately, this means
something to me. If it doesn't mean anything to you, be glad, and
keep it that way. Or in the second song 'Mercury Falls': "every time
we say next time / and every year we say next year / and spend another
winter here / mercury falls". And this is how it goes on through the
whole record. Come's vision of love is icy cold. Musically it sounds
like it too. If you think squeezed lemons are bitter you haven't
heard Thalia's voice yet. It's galling, vulnerable, sometimes
frustrating. But never does she show a sign of self pity.
I liked "Eleven:Eleven" a lot. But "Don't Ask Don't Tell" is much,
much better. With "11:11" I was always a bit comforted (as with
loser-records) with the thought that my life wasn't that bad at all.
But after "Don't Ask Don't Tell" I'm left dismayed.
The Auteurs vs Mu-Ziq (Hut Records DGHUTM20)
Now this is a strange collaboration. On this digipack containing 6
tracks, 45 minutes, you'll get a rework of some Auteurs rock material
done by electro-wizzkid Mike Paradinas aka Mu-Ziq. Now I have to
admit I don't know the original versions of the Auteurs songs well
enough, but that is just because I don't /want/ to know them; I'd seen
them a couple of times on 120 minutes on mtv and that was more than
enough for me for a couple of centuries. Mu-Ziq on the other hand
delivered the kick-ass "Tango 'N Vectif" plus the (limited) "Bluff
Limbo" albums on RePhleX Records which took electronic music a couple
of levels upwards.
So what do you get when you put shite together with brilliance? Well,
here the law that putting together two things will result in something
better than the sum is manifest. The unique quality of Mu-Ziq's
distorted rhythm sounds are put into action again, and the melodies
are almost like classical symphonies. This is definitely worth
buying, but I have to say that I don't get a kick out of these songs
as I get out of Mu-Ziq's previous material. I blame the Auteurs.....
:-)
Long Fin Killie - "Buttergut" EP (Too Pure CD39)
Why bother to describe this?
You will love this rock/folk.
It's from Too Pure, says it all.
THAT GET YOU THE CUCKOO (a very old dutch saying, a lousy translation
of it that is), LOZ!! Why would you want to discribe a wonderful
record like that with just three shitty lines? I won't stand for it.
First not liking Oasis, and now this. You don't want us to end up
like Cell, do you?
Long Fin Killie at first seem as irritatingly folky as The Levellers.
But they aren't. They have infact more in common with bands like
Disco Inferno or The Ex. They use their violins to make an awful lot
of racket. A cadanz, a mantra and a gorgeous melody. Well up to par
among the rest of the Too Pure.
And now fast forwarding through other sparkling gems in both our
record collections:
Earthling: "Nothing" and "1st Transmission". More triphop, but this
time with lyrics. This guy is a good addition to the excellent work
of Tricky and Portishead.
AFX: "Analogue Bubblebath 4". As good as ever. The first song
contains a irritating 'elefant'-like scream, but grows on you. The
second one is a nice Erasure meets lots of birds kind of song. The
third is hard. Best is the fourth, it sound more like his first
album, but very very low.
Palace Songs: "Hope". Will 'Push' Oldham has done it again.
Everytime he finds a way to present himself completely different.
Like the fast rockband he used to play his songs live. This one has
the cleanest production yet. Looking forward to his collaboration
with David Berman of Silver Jews.
Autechre: "Amber". A bit of a disappointment, because it sounds so
good. The duo are very good at producing and creating the right
atmosphere. Too bad the songs don't live up to the sound. But you
should still buy it for the album cover. Jeez, those Designer
Republic guys are GOOD!
BedHead: "4songCDEP19:10". Completely stunning. How can lo-fi sound
so Hi-Fi? Recorded in one take, with one mike on a two-track. The
songs are all as good as their debut. And the Joy Division cover tops
the original. It seams very logical that Bedhead cover Joy Division.
They have the same ideas soundwise. And their albums are just as
cryptic.
Laika: "Silver Apples of The Moon" (TOO PURE)
Moonshake was disappointing. But this also won't make it into our top
ten of '94. We'd expected they would do more electronic stuff like
the last number of the "Antenna EP". I always liked Margaret songs
better than David's. And here she also has written some great tunes
and lyrics. Thanks to the wise decision of Guy Fixsen to join the
band instead of just producing, it makes the band sound very complete.
Our favorites are "Sugar Daddy" and "If you miss," because of the
mantra sound we can't get enough of. We missed them live. But we can
give you some news: they are going to record with Tricky. By the way
a certain Colm O'Ciosiog did the digital editing for this, do you
remember who he was? We'll give you a clue, he made something without
love.
The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa: "AstralaVista EP". Remixes of their
"Free-D" album which on first hearing seamed utter crap. Not anymore.
And these mixes by Disco Inferno, Twin Freaks and Bandulu. Bring out
the best of some of the tracks.
Ending our posting on a sad note. 1994 was one of the worst music
years ever. Too many bands split up. We've almost lost count. Slint
split again. Rodan split after just one very wonderful album.
Straitjacket Fits and JPS Experience ceased to be. Adorable stopped
after being dumped by the big bad Japanese dinosaur Sony as well as
the once wonderful Creation. Monsterland split up after an internal
row. And now, the biggest blow of them all. CELL quits. The band we
adored, the band we fed, the band who we have followed. Aparently
Geffen was a major force behind the split. Cell just hadn't sold
enough records. Jerry, Dave and Ian have joined or put up new bands.
We will always hear a bit of Cell in each of them. Keith is moving to
Germany. The world won't be the same without them.
All in all, still quite a large piece of text. You can see it as a
Christmas holiday special. Something to do while you're waiting for
the Turkey to Cook.
We wish you all a very noisy 1995!
->->- The Two Pure -<-<-
/ lpit@wi.leidenuniv.nl | _ __
(/oe/) |_ (_) /
/ pjoe@grafix.xs4all.nl /_
------------------------------
From: Timothy Alborn <alborn@husc.harvard.edu>
ANNOUNCE: Harriet 5th anniversary
Harriet Records will be celebrating its 5th anniversary in the month
of January, 1995. Prizes and festivities will include:
A special radio show on WHRB, 95.3 FM (in the Boston area), 9 pm to 4
am on Wed., Jan 11 and Thurs, Jan 12. The complete Harriet catalogue
plus hours upon hours of unreleased material and related things on
other labels.
The Long Secret, a 17-song compilation of mainly unreleased songs by
Harriet bands and affiliates.
A 5th anniversary Harriet T-shirt, with a design by Boston comix
artist P. Shaw.
And last but not least, for those in the eastern time zone, a 2-night
CD release party at the Middle East Cafe, 456 Mass Ave., Cambridge, MA
(19+)
Wednesday, January 25, with Twig, Papas Fritas, My Favorite
(from NY), and Weeping in Fits and Starts
Friday, January 27, with The Magnetic Fields, Pest 5000,
Vehicle Flips, High Risk Trio, and Prickly.
For more info write to Tim Alborn, PO Box 649, Cambridge MA 02238 or
alborn@fas.harvard.edu
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