How could he steal a car
from such an unexpecting cop?
How could he make me run
a thousand blocks before he'd stop?
#############################
Indie List Digest!
October 13, 1994
Volume 4 Number 6
#############################
Followups: Ruins, Geography
Ups & Downs in Austin
Pork, Sebadoh
Eitzel & Mac
Casbah Music Awards
Gots No Stations
ANNOUNCE: Telegraph #3!
ANNOUNCE: Pumpkinseed
AD: Blaise Pascal
ANNOUNCE: 5th Column Tour dates:
New Releases list
From: V/A
Followups
We had a couple cogent responses to Jill Emery's review of the Ruins gig
she saw in Austin TX. They follow:
From: burck <burck@nyplgate.nypl.org>
Just a little correction of an error in the last I-L. Ruins, who
have been around at least as long as Boredoms (check out that 1st
Dead Tech sampler on Dossier from the late '80s) are a Drums and
BASS duo (not drums and guitar as mentioned in the post). The
Bass player manages to mimic guitar at times with a pitch shifter/
whammy pedal. They ARE great (saw 'em two nights out of the 5
they played at CB's Gallery in NYC a couple of weeks ago and at
the Knitting Factory a year or two ago). The Bass player was
playing (I think) a 5-string Steinberger (which could be easily
mistaken for a regular guitar). Their most easily acquired
records are on Shimmy-Disc. While they do yelp in Japanese and
are pretty chaotic, they really don't have much more in common
with Boredoms than any other noisy Japanese band. They have
loosened up a lot since I first saw them (they were INCREDIBLY
tight) and are moving toward a trippier (for want of a better
word) style, but they're still into pretty complex and tightly
rendered songs.
- Ben
From: <rds@metronet.com>
> The Ruins---This a duo out of Japan that sound in many ways like
> the Boredoms. They don't rip off the Boredoms but you hear faint
> echoes of the Boredoms during their set. The duo consists of
> guitar & drums with thousands of dollars spent on every pedal
> attachment available as well as bass synthesizer and other nifty
> gadgets that I couldn't name.
Hardly $1000s. Masuto, the BASS player had a Digitech Whammy
pedal, a wah, a digital delay, an octaver (predictable!) and a
couple of other stomp boxes I couldn't ID, He was running his
5-string through two amps and cabinets. One of the amps had an EQ
that he kept tweaking.
A fairly simple rig compared to, say, Billy Sheehan.
--Rob aka DJ Stereotype aka rds@metronet.com, Dallas, Texas, USA.
--"The Grey Zone", Thursday 9-10pm, KNON, 89.3FM.
--"We hate all DJs, they're making us ill." KMFDM "Sucks"
------------------------------
From: Your Middle Name Here <ilion@is.dal.ca>
Geography correction...
In Steve Baragona's vastly flattering and mostly accurate review of
Sloan's new album, he makes one error. He says to count "Fairfax,
Nova Scotia" as the next Seattle. Fairfax? Either this is a mistake
or it's some kind of American joke that I don't get, but it's Halifax.
As in Lord. (Perhaps there was a Lord Fairfax too, and that's where
all the confusion began.) Thanks.
By the way, we were the next Seattle two years ago when Smeared came out.
I don't think we can do that again.
Joanne Merriam, Halifax, NS
------------------------------
From: "Josh Ronsen" <rons@midway.uchicago.edu>
Ups & Downs in Austin
POLIO, GLORIUM and The RUINS @ Emo's 9/29/94
=====
This show was already commented on last issue, but here are my
thoughts. The less said about Polio and Glorium the better. Both
bands were just kinda bland. The Ruins, however, made sitting through
the tedium of those bands worth it. Excellent performance! I laughed,
I cried, you get the picture. Sabbath-like grooves would fracture
into silly/pretty melodies and bells and then jump back to the metal!
Their 45-second songs made me laugh as the drummer humbly said
"thankyou" (real quick) after each song. The both the drummer and
bassist had lots of echo-y effects on most of the time, and the
bassist used nondiscernible electric gadgets on his bass. Beautiful,
excellent, wonderful band! I hear they just recorded a record with
Derek Bailey...Ooooooo.
ECHOING GREEN, ENVELOPE and AZALIA SNAIL (and Sebadoh) @ Electric
Lounge 10/4/94
=====
Oh dear: two more dull opening acts. Echoing Green were typical punk
with hardcore-ish leanings. I was bored and was very glad that I
actually knew some people there so I could chat with them. Envelope
started out interesting enough with a song featuring some pretty
clean-tone Felt-ish guitar, but soon started playing a lot of drab
distorted barre chords. Nothing was interesting to me.
Azalia Snail took the stage bathed in the light of a small movie
projector in the back of the place. The disjointed clips of
carnivals, driving on the freeway, and much else was perfect
illumination for the dark, murky sound produced by her voice and
12-string guitar, an echo-happy electric guitarist, and a trumpet
player.
I can't pretend I understand what Azalia Snail does (even after having
seen her before and listened to a number of her recordings), but it is
engrossing. After a very short set of 6 or so songs, the members of
Sebadoh, who were also in Austin that night, jumped on stage and
grabbed every instrument in sight (much to my disdain). At first
Snail not-led but accompanied the 6 other people on stage (on
mini-organ, trumpet, harmonica, and 2 electric guitars) through a very
free-form jam session propelled by the repetious chord progression of
one of her eariler songs. After a while a guy whom I assume was Lou
Barlow took over the 12-string and one of the Sebadoh guys took the
mic and a very interesting Jandekesque blues thing started, which was
really the only part I enjoyed in this free-for-all. Snail didn't do
much after this and spent most of the time sitting on the stage floor,
engaged in some activity (I am clueless as to what it was). Everyone
else was compelled to play and play and play and it was 2:30am and I
just had to leave, suffering as I was at the Sebadohacal wanking going
on. Ick ick ick.
Well, at least it's allergy season in Austin...
-Josh
rons@midway,uchicago.edu
------------------------------
From: Jill Emery <llje@utxdp.dp.utexas.edu>
Pork, Sebadoh
Tuesday, October 4, 1994 Pork & Sebadoh @ Liberty Lunch: Austin Tx
Pork--Pork is a three-member band that has been around Austin a while,
getting better and better. They sounded really good this night; they
had the bass turned up and the drums slowed down and their sound was
really unified. Overall they are a minimal-sounding band with guitar,
bass & drums and simple catchy lyrics that have all come together to
make them well worth hearing. Their cd is being released Oct. 11 on
Caroline records
Sebadoh--I still haven't figured out what I was expecting from Sebadoh
but it wasn't the first four songs they opened with. I stood in
disbelief mumbling that they sound REMish (of course, a lot better
than REM ever fathomed, but a lot more sedate than I thought they
would be) and then the show picked up... At least as much as it could
pick up what with Lou Barlow tuning frantically between each song and
with the heckler trying to get the band to play Dinosaur Jr. songs
(that they didn't do). The heckler shut up after they did a mock-
Sonic Youth sounding song. I liked the show; there was a good balance
of the new album with older songs. I quickly discarded my REM analogy
after the first fifteen minutes, and Lou Barlow's dry wit had most
people amused. From where I was standing it was fun to watch the
crowd mouthing all the lyrics, both old and new, and the air guitar
player standing off to the side of me was rather amusing as well. The
band played well and I was impressed and recommend others to go see
them.
------------------------------
From: timdave@vt.edu (Tim Merriman)
Eitzel and Mac
Howdy!
Okay. On September 20th, I went to the Black Cat Club in Washington
D.C. to see solo performances from Mark Eitzel and Mac from
Superchunk (actually, on the ticket it said Mac from Superchink). I
really wasn't sure what to expect from Mac, but it turned out to be
quite good. He started out with a little number on a portable organ
and I thought, "Gee, this is really boring." But when he picked up his
acoustic I was quite relieved. He sounded very good and was quite a
good guitar player. He ran through a number of Portastatic songs
available on 7"s, the best being a song called "San Andreas."
But the real master of this kind of performance is Mark Eitzel.
Awkwardly walking up on stage with his acoustic and full pitcher of
dark beer, he began "Fearless," the first cut on the new American
Music Club record, "San Francisco." When his guitar fed back too much,
he stood at the edge of the stage and just belted out the words.
Other tunes he played were off his album, "Songs of Love Live,"
such as "Crabwalk," "Western Sky," and "Last Harbor," where the girl
next to me began to cry. Eitzel is the king of self-loathing. He was
quite personal with the captivated audience, once stating that, "I
usually dedicate this song to all my friends with AIDS, but they're all
dead now." My personal favorite was "Apology for an Accident" off of
"Mercury." He closed the set with the crowd-pleasing "Jenny." As you
can tell, I thought the show was excellent, and I could tell that Mac
was impressed as well. If you get a chance to see a show there, do
it; it's a good place. Later.
...Beelzebubba
------------------------------
From: dfootlick@ucsd.edu (David Footlick)
Casbah Music Awards
First Annual Casbah Music Awards
w/ C.L.A. and Deadbolt
@ Casbah, San Diego, 10/9/94
Welp, after a year of lurking, I'm finally getting off my ass and
submitting to the List. Remember, this is my first time. Please be
gentle with me.
On Sunday, Oct. 9, the Casbah held their first annual music awards.
For those unfamiliar with the Casbah, this "den of slack" (as it was
refered to in a recent issue of Rolling Stone) is the premire place to
check out indie bands in San Diego. Winners were voted on during the
recent San Diego Independent Music Seminar, with winners of each
category given various bowling and tennis trophies with attached
tassels as a prize. Very high class. Yup.
Anyway, here were the winners, excluding the categories that no one
outside of the Casbah staff would be interested in (such as the
Doorman of the Year and Professional Drinker awards):
FAVORITE GUITARIST: John Reis (Rocket From the Crypt/Drive Like Jehu)
FAVORITE BASS PLAYER: Zach (Three Mile Pilot)
FAVORITE DRUMMER: Mark Trombino (Drive Like Jehu)
FAVORITE OTHER INSTRUMENT: Apollo 9 (Sax, Rocket From the Crypt)
FAVORITE NEW BAND: Tanner
FAVORITE LABEL: Goldenrod
LEGEND IN HIS OWN MIND: O (fluf)
ROADIE OF THE YEAR: Dirty (Rocket From the Crypt/Drive Like Jehu)
FAVORITE LP: Yank Crime (Drive Like Jehu)
FAVORITE LOCAL BAND: Drive Like Jehu
After this virtual Drive Like Jehu sweep of tacky trophies,
Carnivorous Lunar Activity took the stage. C.L.A. consists of one
drummer and two acoustic guitarists who play bizarre folk tunes and
sound pretty much like fellow San Diegans The Rugburns. After
breaking a combined three strings during the first four songs, the
trio settled down and played some humorous, toe-tapping songs, while
only breaking two more strings the rest of the night. Highlights
include their cover of "If I Only Had a Brain" from the Wizard of Oz
and their frequent breaks from playing in the middle of songs to drink
some beer. They have a 7" coming out soon on Trademark Records.
After C.L.A, Deadbolt took the stage. Deadbolt can best be described
as five ex-bikers who escaped from an insane asylum and play evil surf
music. Self-proclaimed as "The Scariest Band on Earth," the "New"
Deadbolt now consist of two guitarists, two bass players, and Les the
drummer, who plays only a snare, a kick drum, and a cymbal with a
chain laying across it. Deadbolt opened with the title track from
their new album, Tiki Man (which is on Cargo, I believe), and
continued through the rest of their set by doing what they do best -
yelling obscenities at the crowd mixed in with a song every now and
then. They even took a break for Les to hold a bloody doll to his
chest and lip sing an old '50s tune about being alone. They finished
up by yelling "Am I Pretty?" while one guitarist applied some lipstick
to his lips, then his cheeks, and then on to his forehead. If you
ever get the chance, Deadbolt is a must see.
-- Footlick
------------------------------
From: Mark Cornick <MSCORNIC@VAX1.ACS.JMU.EDU>
Gots No Station
Hullo... a brief record review and I'm outta here to finish up
Telegraph...
Various, _WGNS Gots No Station Compilation, Volume Two_ (WGNS, PO Box
57451, Washington, DC 20037): Generally-good compilation of several
bands who've recorded at the official studio of Washington DC indie
rock, WGNS (We Gots No Station.) WGNS isn't the most hi-fi of studios
(the vocals are really scratchy on several tracks, whether by design
or default) but they do great work with their odd collection of
equipment. Among the 11 bands on this comp, some are pretty well
known (Jawbox, Tsunami, Eggs), some are locally notorious
(Pitchblende, Edsel), some are relatively new (Las Mordidas [ex-Circus
Lupus/Beefeater], Norman Mayer Group) and at least one probably
should've never reformed (9353.) Top tracks include Pitchblende's
"Sideling Hill" (premiered at a show I went to this summer - drummer
Patrick sings!), "Superball" by Mary Timony (Helium) and Joan Wasser
(Dambuilders) which is a nifty guitar/viola duet thing, and Las
Mordidas, who should have a 45 of their agit-punk out on
Compulsiv/Dischord by now. One more feature for the noise lover - in
between each track is a brief sound effect (including "Windows Start"
and "Windows Start II" for you Microsoft fans) followed by a
voice-over announcing the next artist. Although it doesn't include
some great bands who aren't part of the "scene", this is a pretty
decent sampler of what's going on up around the District these days.
------------------------------
From: Mark Cornick <MSCORNIC@VAX1.ACS.JMU.EDU>
ANNOUNCE: Telegraph #3
Telegraph Transmission Three: The Search For Spock
Available October 15, 1994!
This time around:
- Forgotten Favorites: we take a look back at some bands we liked a couple
years ago and find out where they are now.
- CMJ: A report on the deadly mouth disease TMJ - wait, no, that's CMJ.
- Rants! Dave Matthews and The Alternative Beer.
- Telegraph's first ever live review! (Woah!)
- The award-winning Coursing Thru The Wires!
- Information on the IL/TG Field Guide To The Internet project!
- More(1)!
Subscribe now to get Telegraph on the 15th! Mail
<grumpy@access.digex.net> for a subscription.
For more information: mail <mscornic@vax1.acs.jmu.edu>.
------------------------------
From: sister@sizone.pci.on.ca (Jeremy Rotsztain)
ANNOUNCE: pumpkinseed
Hi. This is to tell you all about pumpkinseed #6. Many of the
indie-list readers have read about it, and some of you have written to
me. But a week ago somebody wrote to me saying he had recieved and
erased about 20 letters that belonged to me. That kinda sucked. So
for the last time, pumpkinseed number 6 contains interviews with
Superchunk, Velocity Girl, Versus, the Grifters, Lois, and I think
that's it. It also has a crossword and some stories. Please write to
me for more information.
Jeremy
sister@scizone.pci.on.ca
-----------------------------
From: lroberts@bellahs.com (Laurence Roberts RD)
ANNOUNCE: 5th Column Tour dates:
Toronto dyke punk band and K recording artists Fifth Column are on tour:
Fifth Column Tour Dates
Oct 12 Victoria, BC at Harpos w/The Spinanes 385-3100
Oct 13 Vancouver, BC at Starfish Lounge w/The Spinanes 731-4621
Oct 14 Seattle, WA at Crocodile Cafe w/The Spinanes 441-5611
Oct 15 Portland, OR at La Luna w/The Spinanes 235-9696
Oct 16 Olympia, WA at T.B.A. w/Lois - Call K Records
Oct 19 San Francisco, CA at Epicenter 475 Valencia
Oct 20 LA, CA at UCLA w/ The Spinanes 473-8442
Oct 22 San Diego, CA at Casbash w/The Spinanes 295-5829
Oct 26 Albaquerque at Golden West w/Built To Spill 260-1064
Oct 28 Houston, TX at Harvey's
Oct 29 Lafayette, LA at Metropolis 233-6320
Oct 30 New Orleans at Pussycat Caver 943-4904
Oct 31 Tallahassee at Cowhaus w/Team Dresch 561-6005
Nov 01 Gainesville at Covered Dish 377-3334
Nov 02 Atlanta GA at Midtown w/Archers of Loaf 624-0402
Nov 03 Chapel Hill at DGLA-Duke 684-3322
Nov 04 Washington, DC at Fifth Column 393-3632
Nov 05 NYC, NY at Continental
Nov 08 Cambridge, MA at Middle East w/Archers of Loaf 756-9202
Nov 10 Worcester, MA at Bowler's w/Pirate Jenny 756-9202
Nov 11 New York, NY at Brownies
Nov 13 Chicago at Homocore Chicago
------------------------------
From: marcelf@wimsey.bc.ca (Marcel Feldmar)
AD: Blaise Pascal
from Vancouver, BC, comes the chaotic, melodic, sonic pop rock quartet
known as Blaise Pascal. The new release, Foreword-Treaties and
Improvements, is a definitely worthwhile CD EP, with songs and
something that's kind of a song, released on new Vancouver label, Cave
Canem. With a breath of Television, a shattering of Pavement, and
glorious noize getting stuck in the speakers, Blaise Pascal is good
for some in depth listening.
email marcelf@wimsey.com for more info
cheers.
marcelf@wimsey.com
coffee addict * drummer * Interface Design
creative consultation * graphic manipulation
highly caffeinated textualizations
================================
my imagination is so dense i must machete
-Patti Smith
------------------------------
From: magee@natural.com (John J. Magee)
New Releases 10/6/94
And here it is again, chilluns . . . nothing last week due to
incapacitation; regular service resumes with the following comments...
1) Keep submitting. This needs to be a living breathing thing, and I
seem to be getting stuff only from label-involved people. That's
necessary & much appreciated, but I need people out there to cover the
rest. If you hear/read about a release, send it in. Any volunteers
to pipe me info from CMJ?
2) Notice the improved formatting.
3) [Editorial comment] While some of the past-due records haven't made
it out yet, the Bevis Frond has actually been spotted in stores.
Enough said.
4) This will theoretically be available at the following WWW site from
now on. Tell your friends: //www.mcs.net/~alester/home.html. Thanks
to Andy Lester, Esq. for providing.
5) Our own listserver to come soon!
09/19/94 Smog Burning Kingdom MiniLP/CS/CD Drag City
09/19/94 The Red Krayola The Red Krayola LP/CS/CD Drag City
09/19/94 Evergreen Pants Off 7" Hi*Ball
09/19/94 Number One Cup Indie Softcore Denial 7" Sweet Pea
09/19/94 Dame Darcy/Coct Tardvark 7"+comic Hi*Ball
09/19/94 Mountain Singers Chicken EP 7" Generator
09/19/94 Frond, Bevis, The Sprawl CD/dbl LP Woronzow
09/20/94 The Supersuckers On the Couch 7" Sub Pop
09/20/94 Liz Phair Whip-Smart LP/CD/CS Matador
09/20/94 TFUL282 Strangers From The LP/CD/CS Matador
09/20/94 Heavenly Decline and Fall of LP/CS/CD K
09/26/94 Coctails Peel LP Hi*Ball
09/27/94 Jon Spencer Blues Orange LP/CD/CS Matador
09/27/94 Pizzicato Five Made In USA LP/CD/CS Matador
09/27/94 Eric's Trip Forever Again LP/CASS/C Sub Pop
09/30/94 Blowhole Uncoastin' 7" Apraxia
09/30/94 Come Don't Ask, Don't Tell CD/LP/CS Matador
09/30/94 Dragking Backburner b/w Jazz 7" Trixie
10/01/94 Gapeseed lo cell CDEP Silver Girl
10/01/94 Royal Trux Mercury 7" Drag City
10/10/94 Bardo Pond Bufo Alvarius LP Drunken Fish
10/11/94 Red Red Meat "Idiot Son" 7" Sub Pop
10/11/94 Juned ? ? Up
10/11/94 Poster Children Just Like You CD Sire
10/15/94 The Clean "Late Last Night" 7" Dark Beloved
10/15/94 Trane/The Honkies split 7" Dark Beloved
10/15/94 June Genius/All of Me 7" Squealer
10/15/94 Mind Sirens Decatur Cherry Sma LP/CD Squealer/Jet
10/18/94 CRAW Lost Nation Road CD/LP Choke, Inc.
10/18/94 Hairy Patt Band Buford's Last Pusser CD/CS Choke, Inc.
10/18/94 Letters to Cleo Aurora Gory Alice LP/CD/CS Giant
10/24/94 Silver Jews Starlite Walker LP/CS/CD Drag City
10/24/94 Various Artists Hey Drag City 2LP/CS/CD Drag City
10/24/94 Flying Saucer At "Distance" CD VHF
10/24/94 Skullflower "Carved Into Roses" CD VHF
10/24/94 Doldrums "XA" 7" VHF
10/25/94 Fastbacks "Answer the Phone,Dum LP/CASS/CD Sub Pop
10/25/94 Poison 13 Wine is Red, Poison is CD Sub Pop
10/25/94 Poison 13 "Love Me" 7" Sub Pop
10/28/94 Antietam rope-a-dope CD Homestead
11/08/94 The Grifters TBA 7" Sub Pop
10/??/94 Hooker tba 7" Sweet Pea
10/??/94 Tart tba 7" Sweet Pea
10/??/94 Balloon Guy tba D7" Generator
10/??/94 MOTO tba 7" Hi*Ball
10/??/94 LeftyLucy tba 7" Skinnie Girl
11/1/94 V.A. Sympathy For Count Po 7" Dark Beloved Clo
11/1/94 Sput Seberg 7" Won't Go Flat
11/2/94 John Huss Mod Braying Mantis 7" Won't Go Flat
11/3/94 Frances Gumm I Know... 7" Won't Go Flat
11/8/94 Jessamine TBA 7" Sub Pop
11/8/94 SM*A*SH "Barrabas" 7" Sub Pop
11/10/94 Whipped "Anger" 7" Bone Up
11/14/94 Mecca Normal TBA LP/CD/CS Matador
11/14/94 Kustomized TBA LP/CD/CS Matador
11/14/94 18th Dye Done LP/CD/CS Matador
11/14/94 18th Dye Crayon 10" EP / CD Matador
11/15/94 Gastr del Sol Mirror Repair 12"EP/CDEP Drag City
11/15/94 Palace Songs Hope 12"EP/CDEP Drag City
11/??/94 Coctails tba 10"/CD Hi*Ball/Car
11/??/94 Handsome Family tba CD Carrot Top
11/??/94 Number One Cup tba 7" Sweet Pea
11/??/94 Log Light fuse and get a CD Anyway
12/01/94 Wingtip Sloat "Chewyfoot" LP/CD VHF
01/15/95 Rake "Art Ensemble Of Ra dbl CD VHF
Nov.-Dec. New Bomb Turks (live) LP Anyway
Nov.-Dec. Jenny Mae Leffle ? CD Anyway
Nov.-Dec. Moviola ? 10" Anyway
Nov.-Dec. V.A. Cowtown 4 & 5 7" Anyway
01/??/95 JAKS Hollywood Blood Cap CD/CS Choke, Inc.
02/14/95 Poster Children Junior Citizen LP/CD/MC Sire
If you know of a new release date, either approximate or definite, please
send it to me (magee@natural.com) in the following format:
DATE | ARTIST | TITLE | FORMAT | LABEL
Guidelines:
DATE: If you know the day, submit it. If you only know the month,
that's fine too. Year is unnecessary.
ARTIST: Please try to adhere to the standard last-name-first,
articles-last deal.
TITLE: See artist
FORMAT: Use one of the following: LP; 12"; 10"; 7"; CD; CDEP; MC
(cassette). You can combine formats . . . see the example.
LABEL: Obvious.
Example:
9/30 | Come | Don't Ask, Don't Tell | LP/CD/MC | Matador
IMPORTANT: The subject of your message should contain the word "Releases".
-John Magee
--------------------------------------------------------------
John J. Magee - Natural Intelligence, Inc. - magee@natural.com
--------------------------------------------------------------
<------------------------------------------------------------>
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