indie-list-30.txt
* THE INDIE-LIST DIGEST #30 * May 8, 1993 *
"Forward In All Directions - Playable At All Volumes"
Serving the International Pop Underground since 1992
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If you are graduating, leaving school for the summer, taking a
vacation, or otherwise losing access to e-mail, please let Liz know
ASAP.
The author of the Headless Chickens interview in the last issue
was Brian May <Brian.May@mel.dit.csiro.au>. Our apologies.
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From: Mark <cornick@access.digex.net>
First, I would like to announce that I will soon become an assistant
director of rock programming at WTJU in Charlottesville, VA. If you
run a label (hi Bill and Volker) and WTJU is not on your mailing
list, we'd love to get your records. (They will be played -- you have
my word on it.) Send them to:
WTJU-FM
711 Newcomb Hall Station
Charlottesville, VA 22904
Attn: Rock Programming
If you want, call (804) 924-0885 and ask to speak to myself or Anne
Duvall.
Now, on to reviews of some new stuff:
_STARS KILL ROCK_ compilation: Another CD compilation from Kill Rock
Stars (the next one, _Rock Stars Kill_, will probably be a
compilation of pro-choice bands covering songs originally performed
by anti-abortion bands... ah, never mind :) "17 bands that don't want
to be rock stars" says the box. Most of the bands are in the hardcore
vein, although a few tend more to the pop side of things. The cloud
of PCness hangs over this thing sometimes, but there's some great
stuff here from Tiger Trap, Slant 6 (ex-Autoclave) and Versus, among
others. (Incidentally, none of these bands were on the _International
Pop Underground Convention_ or _Kill Rock Stars_ compilations, except
for Nikki McClure, who was on the vinyl edition of IPUC. This
compilation is almost completely new and/or little-recorded bands.)
Some of the songs can be skipped completely, but overall this is
worth a few listens. *1/2. (Kill Rock Stars, 120 NE State Ave Suite
418, Olympia WA 98501)
JOE THE FIREMAN, "Orange Kid" 45: I got this back in February, but
never got around to reviewing it for various reasons. So here you go:
JTF is basically one Phred Rainey, from Blacksburg, VA (the next
Chapel Hill, mark my words :) On this 45, guitarist Phred and
rotating bassists & drummers play intensely personal songs with just
enough garage kick to make it rock without overpowering anything.
(There's a little bit of drone here & there, too.) A friend of mine
likened them to a grungy American Music Club, which isn't quite
right, but sounds clever enough. Now that I've finally had a chance
to listen to it several times, I like it a lot. **. (Squealer, PO
Box 229, Blacksburg VA 24063-0229)
(By the way, I was going to interview Butch from Milk Badger/Squealer
Recs for this issue, but was too busy. Maybe next week.)
TSUNAMI, Matchbook 45 and _Souvenir Folder Of Beautiful Arlington,
VA_ CD5: Matchbook gets its name from its nifty sleeve (close cover
before striking.) The A-side "In A Name" is upbeat and bemused, and
looks like it might be on the much-delayed-but-finally-due-out-next-
week LP, _Deep End_. The B-sides "Not Living" and "Bossa Nova (a
problematic myth of absolute silence at the relative site of the
imperfect removal of sound/one hand clapping)" (that last one sounds
like it was named by PM Dawn) are from their trip to England, and
both sound great. A wonderful piece of vinyl, and a good bellwether
for the LP. Sean reviewed the 45 version of _Beautiful Arlington_ (an
Australian import) long ago, around issue 13 or so. "Sometimes A
Notion" indeed could've been a Geek song, and the re-recording of
"Left Behind" sounds better to me than the original (on the Velocity
Girl/Tsunami bubblegum split 45.) This CD5 also includes a track not
on the 45 -- the wondrous "Walking Tour", featuring vocals by Andrew
(!!!) None of these songs will be on the LP as far as I know, so if
you see this, buy it -- there were only 300 45s available in the
States, so I can't imagine there being a lot of CD5s. (Gloat
department: due to some used-CD credit from Plan 9 Records, I spent
only three cents for this. Would've been nicer to get the 45, but
I'll take a CD5 over nothing.) Between the two of these, you get
some of the best stuff ever from Tsunami, IMHO. **1/2 for each.
(Simple Machines, PO Box 10290, Arlington VA 22210-1290; IV
Recordings, PO Box E155, St James 2000 NSW, AUSTRALIA)
UNREST, _Isabel Bishop_: The expanded, digitized and major-distributed
version of TeenBeat #70 includes five old tracks which I won't review
here: all three tracks from the Isabel 45, "Wednesday & Proud" from
the "Cherry Cherry" 45, and -- ONCE AGAIN -- "Yes She Is My Skinhead
Girl" (instead of "K... keeping kangaroos" at the end of this version
it says "getting giggles", but it's the same song you've doubtless
heard on at least three other records. I mean, damn, this song was
originally released before Bridget was even in the band, and it's
been a few years...) Anyway, the two new tracks are a less mellow,
much better (Sean will doubtless disagree :) version of "Teenage
Suicide" (originally on the third Unrest LP, _Kustom Karnal
Blaxploitation_) and a six-minute instrumental, "Nation Writer" which
sounds sort of like "Hydroplane" with indigestion. This is worth
getting for the new version of "Teenage Suicide", the
typically-4AD-beautiful sleeve and, IMHO, not much else unless you
really like the Spandau Ballet version of "Isabel" or "Love To Know",
which were on the now-out-of-print 45. ** (would've been **1/2 if
they'd left off "Skinhead Girl." Enough is enough.) (TeenBeat/4AD
USA/Warners -- write TeenBeat at PO Box 50373, Washington DC 20091)
Final note: Some of you may remember the Graverobbers' 45 "Mark
Robinson" from about this time last year. Now I hear some band from
Texas is doing a record called _Fuck Unrest And All Their Friends._
:)
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From: lroberts@bellahs.com (Laurence Roberts PSE)
Record shopping with Larry-bob
Last night I decided to go down to Haight street. I went to Recycled
Records, where I sold some records a couple weeks ago. The people
there are pretty friendly. There's this woman who plays in a band
called Ida who really reminds me of Robin Edgerton. And there's this
kind of hyper, friendly guy that works there. I looked through their
$2 CD bin, not much, just the usual junk. I was looking for a record
by Truman's Water, this band that's been compared to Pavement and
NoMeansNo, and has wacky song titles like "Yakboy = Nurturer", "Tooth
Ferry", etc. They have an old CD and a brand-new one, both on
Homestead. Didn't find a copy.
I went to Reckless. They had a single by John's Black Dirt, this
Mpls band that Mike Huber's in. They thank Robin Edgerton on the
insert. It was kind of expensive -- hopefully it'll be at Epicenter
for cheaper. (Epicenter is so wonderfully cheap because all the
workers are volunteers, which I think is ridiculous. I try to leave
a tip. But they're terrible at keeping stuff in stock.)
Reckless had a used copy of Halo Of Flies "Music for Insect Minds",
which is most of their stuff on a 70-minute CD. For $10, I decided
to get it. I looked for a record by Dead Fingers Talk, a pre-Tom
Robbins gay British band, but as usual didn't find it.
By the way, did you know Robin Edgerton voted on this year's Pazz and
Jop poll in the Village Voice?
Reckless had a copy of the older Truman's Water CD, Of Thick Tum, but
not the new one. I've decided I want the new one since it's longer,
78 minutes. I realized I'd like to find a copy of the new PJ Harvey,
produced by Steve Albini. They didn't have it, but they had a CD
single. I think CD singles suck. They have no magic, like vinyl
7"s. I've also been wanting to hear the New Radiant Storm Kings CD.
I passed up a $10 copy here a couple months ago, and haven't seen
another since. I hate paying $10 for a cutout that some junkie rock
critic got for free and sold to the store for $3.
Reckless generally has a pretty good selection of singles, and I've
even got some fairly rare stuff for cheap. Nobody seems to have
Nothing Painted Blue's "K is for Karnival", which i heard on the
radio a few months ago. Incidentally, Robin Edgerton knows Franklin
from when she went to college in Pomona.
I went back to Recycled to look through their H bin for PJ Harvey. I
found a cutout copy of the new His Name Is Alive, which I decided to
get. I've been into Gothic New-Age recently, what with the new This
Mortal Coil box and all. I asked them about PJ Harvey, but they
didn't have any.
I went to Rough Trade. I'd missed a Robyn Hitchcock in-store that
afternoon. (Not to be confused with you-know-who.) I think his
in-store shows are better than the real concerts. I looked for the
copy of the Del tha Funky Homosapien CD I'd passed up a while ago,
but didn't see it. I bought a Big Black t-shirt, doubtless a
bootleg, with the guys from the back of the Songs About Fucking
sleve on it. There was a big line of people buying tickets to
Fugazi.
Oh, by the way, Robin Edgerton quit working at WMMR, the University
of Minnesota radio station, because they're going to become a
"modern-rock" "format" station. Kind of like what happened in
Seattle.
I stopped by a bookstore and got a copy of "The Emporer's New Mind"
by Roger (?) Penrose. It's about AI and how over-rated the
posibility of machine intelligence is.
Robin Edgerton had a good article in Artpaper about Forced Exposure
records, Ecstatic Peace, and some other Boston-area labels. In the
most recent issue, she wrote about that Lego that's marketed for
girls.
See, a big part of CD shopping is looking at things, and asking
yourself, "Do I really need this?" And then looking for stuff you
already found and already decided once or more that you didn't need,
but now actually do need it.
Larry-bob
lroberts@bellahs.com
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From: elabow@csugrad.cs.vt.edu (Eric Labow)
Well, a great month for shows here in Rock City (Blacksburg). Whew!
So much to see and hear. First,
* Fastbacks/Crackerbash/Meices @ Cellar
Shit. I missed this because I was on the radio that night. Heard the
Meices rocked, Crackerbash was ok and Fastbacks were ok. Duff from
G'n R blessed nobody with his presence (he drummed for the Fastbacks
at one point in time), seeming to be pissed when people came to him
for an autograph or whatever. (Hmmm could the white stretch limo
parked outside have tipped people off that G 'n R was at the Cellar?)
* Unrest/Blast Off Country Style/Milk Badger @ South Main Cafe
I caught potluck dinner a little late and missed out on the croquet
match and drinking beer. Damn. But talked to Blast Off guys for a
bit. They're funny guys and have great western-style outfits and
hats. Milk Badger opened and sounded piss poor. The sound guy was a
moron. No vocals, lots of drums aaargh. Not the band's fault. Blast
Off sounded better and actually did a really fun set. Did most of
the 5 songs on their Teen Beat single. Ya gotta love a band that
applauds themselves after each song. Unrest came on and did a 50+
minute set, twice as long as they played last time I saw them in
Chapel Hill. They did the 10+ minute version of Hydroplane which
worked really well, also did "Skinhead Girl","Christina", "Bav.
Mods", most of Imperial, and a couple of soon-to-be hits off their
new album (due out in August) and their new EP (due out any day now).
Mark and Bridget seemed to have fun mocking each other on stage and
drinking more beer. Bridget was pretty lit by the time the night was
through. I'll drink to that.
* Tsunami/Milk Badger/Steppe Children
The Tsunami guys got into town pretty late just coming off a 2-day
thing in Chapel Hill/Raleigh but managed to catch the now world
famous Blacksburg potluck dinner. Jenny seemed surprised that people
actually cooked food these days saying that their diet mainly
consists of bagels, noodles, and steamed broccoli. But they ate
heartily and were ready to rock out on full stomaches. The Steppe
Kids opened with their usual awesome pop 'n roll set but almost
nobody saw it since final exams started the next day and most people
came out late to the show. Milk Badger played a great set and had
decent sound this time. Tsunami seemed impressed with the Badger's
geeky indie pop stylin' - I caught Jenny shakin her booty, along with
the rest of the crowd. AND THEN Tsunami hit the stage. Wow! They did
a fabulous set that started out with the first public Tsunami butt
kickin' jam session and moved on to "Load Hog", "Genuises of Crack",
Kristin's "Gold Digger", the songs on the new matchbook single, and a
bunch of newer stuff I've never heard before. Didn't play "Punk means
Cuddle" or "Answerman", but I was satisfied with the hour long set.
Great band, great people!
And onto thee records...
* Gas Huffer "Integrity Technology and Service" Lp (eMpTy)
The Huffer finally delivers with a full long player after a slew of
singles on Empty and Sub Pop . 13 songs that fly by as quick as a
single would. No stand out singles like the "Hotcakes!" Sub Pop
single, but entertaining in a beer-swilling, blue collar sort of way.
Also comes with a great 24 page comic book. Album *, Comic book
**
* Man or Astroman? "Possession by Remote Control" 7" (Homo Habil!s)
4-song assault on the world of garage rock from Auburn, Alabama.
Sort of a mix between Southern Culture's slick guitar and Phantom
Surfers garage sound. Great cover art, rivaling Southern Culture's
"Santo!" with really great descriptions of who plays what instrument
like: Star Crunch on Lead String Scratchin' and Dr. Deleto and his
Invisible Vaportron on Bass Sterilized Rhythm guitar. They give
thanks to the Woggles, so they must be cool. Anybody know anything
else about these folks? ** (PO Box 636 Auburn, Al 36830)
* Shadowy Men On a Shadowy Planet "Sport Fishin'" Lp (Cargo)
Another outstanding slick-rockabilly jam record from these Canadian
members of the International Pop Underground. This album really
kicks butt! If you liked any of their other stuff, this delivers the
same, if not a little better. Includes the studio version of "They
don't 'em Chihuahuas Anymore" which was their track on the IPU
convention LP. 50 minutes worth of slick, don't call it surf music,
motherfucker!
Also heard the new Fall record coming out on Matador/Atlantic. Much
of it sounds like a continuation of the Code:SELFISH sound but they
blend in some new electronic beats that I could do without. I dunno
about this one.
Upcoming music events 'round VA...
American Music Club is playing the Birchmere in Alexandria, VA on May
19, and Charleston WV on NPR's Mountain Stage on Sunday May 16.
Digable Planets is playing in Charlottesville on the day I graduate:
Saturday, May 8. I'm upset.
And the pop loser news of the week:
The Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill will have its last show May 20th (I
think). The club's lease is up and the owner wants 'em out. The town
is trying to help them relocate. Maybe someone down in Chapel Hill
can find out more about this tragedy.
Sony and Warner-Atlantic distribution are trying to make it harder
for record stores to buy/sell used Cd's because they think people are
buying less new Cd's and their profits are suffering. They may use
this as another reason to jack up prices on new releases. This
sucks. Its as unAmerican as the 55 cent vending machine candy bar!
The local chain store here, The Record Exchange, has gone into action
by boycotting WEA and Sony releases from any window displays and
in-store play. It gets to be a long and complicated story from here
so I won't go into it any further. But the good part is that YOU can
let the corporate ogre know what you think about the buying/selling
of used Cd's by writing to:
Paul Smith, President
Sony Music Distribution
550 Madison Ave.
New York, NY 10022-3211
[ I personally have stopped buying anything (except Mercury Rev) from
Sony since they started putting those Jah-forsaken "factory seal"
silver tabs on the CDs. Same goes for any label that puts those
things on their discs. In the interest of defeating their purpose,
here's how to open the boxes without breaking the seal: Grip the CD
box with your thumb and forefinger directly over and under the seal.
Now carefully loosen the hinge tabs on the other side of the box --
pull them out from the box _very gently_ or you'll break them. Now
open the box "backwards", i.e. pull up on the side you just loosened.
This also makes it easy to remove the seal without leaving residue
all over the box -- just pull the two halves of the box apart
slowly. Death to The Man and his factory-sealed CDs! :) - Mark ]
If you haven't heard already, this summer's Lollapalooza will feature
(on side-stage) Tsunami, Sebadoh, Superchunk, Unrest, Velocity Girl,
Come, Mosquito (Jad Fair, Steve Shelley) Hmmm. I wanna know if I can
still wear my "Lots of Pop Losers" t-shirt with pride?
[ Not only that, but Pier Platters will have a booth, selling all
matter of indie records. But that still doesn't make up for having
Alice In Chains. :) - Mark ]
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From: Joshua John Buergel <jbbb+@andrew.cmu.edu>
First, I'd like to point out that the new Negativland album, Free,
is out, and so far (four tracks into it), it's something else. I'll
do a better review later, but I will say that Negativland needs your
money so you want to buy it.
Second, later today (Saturday) I'm going to finally type up a FAQ
list for alt.music.alternative. I got blindsided by a ton of work
for a while here, but I now have tons of time weighing kind of
heavily on my hands. Among other things, this means I finally have
time to type this up (and I'll probably be able to type stuff up
weekly for the Indie list instead of every other week). Anyway, I
know at least some of you doggedly read a.m.a (much like I do) in
some bizarre, masochistic attempt to glean some information from it.
Anything you'd like to see in the FAQ?
[ Thanks for the plug, Joshua! :) - Mark ]
Third, anyone know anything about a new Rocket From The Crypt CD?
For some reason unknown to me, I picked up the newest _Maximum
Rock'n'Roll_ and in the top 10 lists for the staff, several of them
list a CD called _All Systems Go_ by Rocket From the Crypt. Seems to
me this would just about have to be a singles collection, and I'm
interested. Anyone know anything?
Okay, now for some record reviews. New ones from the Grifters,
Polvo, Pitchblende, Bailter Space, Primus, Sebadoh, Shadowy Men, The
Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Sleepyhead and an old one from Neurosis
(phew!).
Grifters, _One Sock Missing_ (Shangri-La 004)
What are you doing, sitting here in front of a computer? Go run out
and buy the best LP of the year so far, the new Grifters album. What
do I like about this so much? Damned if I know. It's lo-fi indie
rock, sure, and the Grifters have drawn more than their fair share of
Pavement comparisons, but this is not a Pavement rip off. This is
just pure indie rock that manages to sound completely fresh. It even
has this vaugely bluesy feel at times. Suffice it to say that I
listened to it no less than five times the day I got it, something I
haven't done since I bought Foetus' Nail. ***.
Blearghphoonblowie.
(Shangri-La, 1916 Madison Ave., Memphis, TN 38104)
(Side note: "Happy The Harmonica" on the new Negativland is
absolutely brilliant. A story narrated by the Weatherman. This one
is sounding pretty damn good to me)
Polvo, _Today's Active Lifestyles_ (Merge Records mrg040)
This is the second LP from Polvo, and it sees them getting even
wierder and less tuneful than last year's _Cor-Crane Secret_.
Polvo's sound bears shades of mid-period Sonic Youth, but you're not
going to mistake a Polvo record for anything but a Polvo record.
Demented guitar action with loads of effects, lots of really
herky-jerky rhythms, stops and starts and just some of the most
different and original guitar rock around. Unfortunately, this
doesn't hang together quite as well as the last record. I think this
record suffers from a lack of anything really tuneful, while
_Cor-Crane Secret_ had a few toe tappers. I'm all for
expirementation, but there has to be something that at least stands
out. *1/2
(Merge Records, P.O. Box 1235, Chapel Hill, NC 27514)
Pitchblende, _Kill Atom Smasher_ (Fistpuppet/Cargo Records FIST-012)
I've been wating for this album since I saw Pitchblende and Polvo
early last year. I bought the single on Land Speed Records ("Lacquer
Box" b/w "Sum"), but this wasn't enough. I wanted a full lengther.
I finally got one, and I was not disappointed at all. Sure, these
guys show the standard range of influences for American indie rock
bands, but that's okay by me. About thirteen or so real songs on
here (including the two songs from the aforementioned single) with
assorted little snippets of random filler type stuff, twenty two
tracks in all. Guitar rock, but none of the songs really sounds
completely alike. One of the best indie bands operating today, and
their live show is something else also. This one just flat out
rocks. Unlike the Polvo one, there's some quite tuneful stuff on
here as well. **1/2
Bailter Space, _Robot World_ (Matador Records Ole 050)
Praise be to Matador for releasing this domestically. Gerald Cosloy
may be a dink for never releasing things on time, but he does release
some damn cool stuff. This is among the damn cool stuff. Fuzz,
fuzz, fuzz. Take a poppish song structure and fuzz up the guitars in
a big way then add some fairly understated vocals, and you've got
Bailter Space. Ear candy, sure, but this is high quality ear candy
indeed. Just really nice listening, great for the spring. **1/2.
Where in the heck does New Zealand get all their talent? Is it the
water?
(Matador Records, 676 Broadway, New York City, NY 10012)
Primus, _Pork Soda_ (Interscope Records, which is a major, so I can't
be bothered to look for the catalog number)
So help me, I like Primus. We got the promotional 10" at WRCT a
while back, so I knew the record was going to be pretty demented.
And it is. For those of you who haven't been paying any attention,
Primus plays some of the wierdest funk-influenced stuff around. Les
Claypool does some very bizarre things with his bass, Herb and Ler
are no slouches at wierdness. This is a strange record, but it has
some strange appeal regardless. But then, Primus has always had some
strange appeal. Suffice it to say, if you like Primus, you're going
to like this. *1/2
Sebadoh, _Bubble & Scrape_ (Sub Pop SP192)
Sebadoh is easily the best thing to ever come from Dinosaur Jr. Lou
Barlow writes some of the most amazing songs. Songs good enough that
even one Barlow song could carry the record. And there are seven of
them on here, including gorgeous duet with Seana Carmody of the
Swirlies. These seven songs are plenty reason enough to go out and
buy this album pronto. Then you've got Jason Lowenstein's songs,
which are sounding more and more like Lou's as time passes, and that,
in my mind, is a good thing. They're more rockish, but they're still
great. Then, there are Eric Gaffney's songs, which are strange as
always and provide a nice contrast to the other songs. This album
hangs together better than anything Sebadoh has done in the past, and
proves that just because Sebadoh is recording their stuff better
these days does not mean they've sold out. Gimmie indie rock,
indeed. ***
(Sub Pop Center for World Domination, P.O. Box 20645, Seattle, WA
98102)
Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, _Sport Fishin'_ (Jetpac/Cargo
Car017)
I was vaugely concerned when I heard the Shadowy Men were recording
with Steve "World's Busiest Dude" Albini, but my concerns turned out
for naught. The only apparant consequence of Albini recording the
Shadowy Men is that the drums sound slightly higher in the mix. No
biggie. The Shadowy Men continue to play their instrumental surf
rock type stuff, and fans are not going to be displeased. As usual
for Shadowy Men records, there is a ton of material on here and it is
easy to get lost in the sheer volume of songs (24 songs is alot).
But, I guess I can't complain about too much material. I don't think
this is quite as strong as the last two albums as the material
doesn't seem quite as distinctive, but it's still fun stuff. *
(Can't find an address for Cargo. Sorry.)
[ Anything from Cargo Records is available for mail order from
Parasol, 201 North Coler, Urbana IL 61801. - Mark ]
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, _Ska-Core, The Devil and More_ (Mercury,
a mersh label)
This is a (mostly) covers EP, presumably released as a teaser to get
college radio in a lather prior to the release of an LP. Whatever.
Enjoyable stuff here by the Bosstones, who continue to play stuff
ranging from ska to straight ahead punk. The covers range from Minor
Threat to Bob Marley, and they're all delightful. There are a couple
of live tracks tacked on for good measure, and the sound quality is
great. All in all, this was quite a nice buy for six bucks. The
Bosstones are also primo summer music. *1/2
(Pain In The Ass Dept.: After the two live songs on track six end,
there are about thirty minutes of silence, and then another live
track begins. How obnoxious.)
Sleepyhead, _Punk Rock City U.S.A._ (Slumberland Slr-21)
Indie rock. I guess that's the only way to describe this. Although
it isn't anything new, it's still fun stuff. I find myself at a loss
to describe this other than "indie rock". I guess that sounds like a
bad thing, but it's not. Good songs, well played...this is nice
stuff, just not groundbreaking. But does everything have to be
groundbreaking? Oddly enough, the song "Punk Rock City U.S.A." does
not make an appearance. Oh well. *1/2
(Slumberland Records, Box 14731, Berkeley, CA 94701)
Neurosis, _The Word As Law_ (Lookout! Records 21)
Damn, this is some dark, angry stuff, especially for something on
Lookout! Very, very angry hardcore stuff with extremely negative
screamed lyrics, metalish guitars and solid rhythms. This took me
sort of by surprise, although I was expecting something along these
lines. Neurosis hits hard and doesn't let up for the entire CD, and
it's a long CD. That's my only complaint, really. The songs tend to
be a bit on the long side, and you kind of become numb after
listening to it for too long. Still, it's quite the powerful record.
****
(Lookout! Records, P.O. Box 11374, Berkeley, CA 94701)
My fingers (and bank account) hurt,
Joshua Buergel - allroy@cmu.edu - jbbb@andrew.cmu.edu
"Anybody who thinks we overstepped the playground perimeter of lyrical
decency (or that the public has any right to demand 'social
responsibility' from a goddamn punk rock band) is a pure natural dolt,
and should step forward and put his tongue up my ass." - Steve Albini
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From: "K. Lena Bennett - Slacker Goddess" <keb@u.washington.edu>
[...] do me a BEEG favor and post on the indie list that I'm looking
for discography information on the Young Marble Giants? I have an LP
of Colossal Youth; what else did they release?
Thanks.
Lena
la diosa de los slaqueros
keb@u.washington.edu
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From: DAN MORONE <LPD5002%NYSHESCV.bitnet@UACSC2.ALBANY.EDU>
Subject: New Labels
Hi! I'm Dan 'itchy n scratchy' Morone a new subscriber to the indie
list. I'm from Albany, NY (the capital) in upstate NY. Albany's got
a couple big colleges SUNYA, RPI, Siena, and a couple of decent clubs
- the 'QE2' (booked some now famous up and comers like Living Colour
and Miss Crowes Helpers - Now Black Crowes, this week - The Barbie
Complex) and 'Bogies' (just had Jeffrey Gaines, has had Spin Doctors,
Bob Mould, Material Issue, this week - Souther Culture on the Skids),
and a little further North 'Saratoga Winners' (bigger & more metally,
this week - Edan & Lost City, Testament&Pro-Pain&Green Jello, Warren
Zevon, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Aztec Camera, Vicious Rumours). I
realize to most of you this may seem totally mainstream but these are
just names I'm picking out so you can idea what the place is like. So
the cool clubs are QE2, Bogies, and Winners. The schools get a
couple decent shows (SUNYA just had digable planets).
There are three decent indies which come to mind here: ERL Records-
they are the best distributed, and may be gobbled up, Blue Lunch,
which did a ton of stuff, and now is broke, and my fave:
Nitrous Records
322 Albany-Shaker Road
Loudonville, NY 12211
(518)426-9813
I have a CD of theirs on my desk so I know their address, the group
is "Sound Asylym", no not Soul Asylum. It's pretty cool stuff. Lots
of funky bass, and cool flute and Hammond organ. **1/2 I recommend.
Came with a card said Tapes $6 CD's $10 at above address. Check it
out.
ERL is also a store - mega alternative. Supposedly they made their
sign out of bong resin. They did something with Thurston I think.
Condemek. They cross carry some Nitrous stuff.
ERL Records
418 Madison Ave.
Albany, NY 12210
(518)432-0851
Blue Lunch has had Private Plain, Plaid, and many others, I don't
think any have toured past NYC.
Blue Lunch Records
237 Park Ave.
Albany, NY 12202
(518)449-2161
My fleas are bothering me. I must take some Pro-Ban. I'll get some
more titles from ERL and Blue Lunch 4 ya L8r. I can do song list from
the Nitrous 'Sound Asylym' cut if ya like. Real scary 'Hitchcock
eyeball through the peephole' is looking at me from the back cover.
Scary.
scratch scratch - DPM
---------------------------------------------------------------------
From: SIERACKIR@vms.csd.mu.edu
>From Rob Sieracki
in Milwaukee WI
DOLOMITE _... Of the Angels_ (Fiasco Records)
A courageous, quirky effort from this CHICAGO four-piece.
Original, though a bit sloppy, in the vein of Confusion era SONIC
YOUTH, PUSSY GALORE, and early SWANS, with a bit of Tweezy SLINT
thrown in for good measure. What they offer is a mix of studio,
live, and practice room recordings, in varying measures of cohesion,
all filtered through the basement studio of Steve Albini. The studio
tracks, especially the SLINT-like "Ich Dien X Men" and Velvety "Sit
Down and Taste the Coffee" captured my attention the quickest--the
rest of the disc (available on vinyl, too) is more of an acquired
taste. The whole recording is flavored by a cheap guitar through
Fender amp sound, which works best in the studio songs. (3 *)
(Fiasco P.O. Box 34416 L.A. CA 90034)
ZOOM "Ernst and Son" b/w "Planet Pinball" (LotusPool Records)
At the radio station here in Milwaukee (WMSE), someone wrote
something like this "if Slint tried to sound like Fugazi and hailed
from Seattle they'd sound like this" which is a fair description.
ZOOM is phenomenally tight, jumping time signatures with two guitars
and a skilled bass player. They hail from Kansas and have a full
length out I haven't listened to enough yet to review. This and the
full-length recorded by Brad Wood at Idful. (4 **) (LotusPool P.O.
Box 442277 Lawrence Kansas 66044)
HUM "Hello Kitty" b/w "Roar I'm a Tiger" (12Inch Records)
"Hello Kitty" is one of the few perfect songs I've heard in a long,
long time. A pretty, noisy, slow builder full of feeling and self
doubt (as in the whimpered lyric, "I'm stupid, I'm ugly, I' weak,
and I'm poor"). A comparison to POSTER CHILDREN's _Daisy Chain
Reaction_ is in order, primarily because Jeff Dimpsey (guitar on
_Daisy Chain_) plays bass for HUM and both hail from Champaign.
[12Inch is the label name, 7" is the size of this release.] (5
*** for the a-side 3 * for the b) (12Inch P.O. Box 4083 Urbana IL
61801)
STEEL POLE BATHTUB _The Miracle of Sound in Motion_ (Boner
Records)
I band whose records I liked increasingly less really surprises me: I
thought their _Butterfly Love_ e.p. was amazing, and then was
disappointed with their following releases. They really come through
with this record. The songs are memorable for catchy hooks and
catchy lyrics, and what's more, they're each distinct. From the
properly paced, sneaky chuuga chuuga of "Train to Miami" to the fast,
repetitive blast of "Thumbnail", to the poppy (yes, I used the word
POPPY to describe STEEL POLE BATHTUB) cover of "Down All the Days"
(which reminds me in vocal style somewhat of an Irishman singing
POLVO's "Channel Changer"), all the songs have their own feel, and
all are worthwhile. (4 **)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
From: EARN@PORTIA.CALTECH.EDU
At Last!!! What at least some folks have been waiting for (and only
three months behind schedule)...... It's the release of the second
7" single by:
* The Primordial Undermind * ->
Aenesthetic Revelations / Day Drained
on Dionysus records, in six flavors of see-thru colored vinyl,
sporting a fine Mick Dillingham (Bizaartvark) sleeve, in a strictly
limited edition of 900, and, for non-collector skum, it even contains
two large chunks of psyche/punk/pop/noise with bleeding edges.
Available in a couple of weeks at your finer Mordam-serviced stores
(wherever you get Alternative Tentacles, Lookout, Flipside, or Estrus
records) or *right now* by mail order ($3.50 ppd.) from Dionysus, PO
Box 1975, Burbank, CA 91507.
If you are associated with a radio station that would like to play
such a thing, or a publication that would review it, email for
promotion info. Also recall that "*", the Primordial information
newsletter is available for the asking.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
From: MGANGLOFF@Gems.VCU.EDU
saw sebadoh twice this week, bliss is mine... show #1 was at the rev
in baltimore. the band came out with lou playing guitar, jason
playing bass and eric on drums, charged through MANY songs --
including a bunch that i'd never heard (and i have a fair amount of
sebadoh stacked around my stereo :) maybe the coolest thing about
the sebs is that there always seems to be more music to find...)
lou's singing was right on, as always, and his guitar playing rips!
some songs: "really insane," "ride the darker wave," "reject," "2
yrs, 2 days" (or whatever that title is), "scars, 4 eyes," "soul and
fire" (i had doubts about this one, but hearing/ seeing it live
convinced me!), and of course "brand new love" followed by "it's so
hard to fall in love" -- "we're going to play all the songs with
love in the title," lou says. they didn't though...
then eric comes out and takes over on guitar, lou moves to bass and
jason to drums and things get crazy. eric is a noisy motherfucker...
"crisis," a bunch more. eric screaming and growling, lou pounding the
bass... wonderful.
show #2 was at lewis' in norfolk 2 nights later and was somewhat
disappointing. the crowd wasn't nearly as much fun and when sebadoh
opened with the eric-out-front lineup, a lot of people got scared and
left. those who stayed had a definite "play yer hits!" mentality...
"brand new love!!!" "brand new love!!!" "soul and fire!!!" ugh. after
a while eric decided he'd inflicted enough hurt and they did the
instrument swap. lou started singing, which pleased the crowd, and
they did play "vampire," but the set never reached the levels it did
in baltimore... but i did get to talk to the band for awhile and
learned the proper pronunciation of sebadoh, who bob fay was, and
other interesting facts!
they're apparently swinging south, then west to texas then back north
through the midwest to chicago.
have a good week...--mg
---------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "Josh Ronsen" <rons@midway.uchicago.edu>
Here are reviews of things that I have gotten recently:
Ten Bright Spikes, "Astro Stukas" CD (New Red Archives). A somewhat
short (9 songs, 30 minutes) interesting record. They remind me most
of Vivian Section, but with a bit more variety. Multi-guitar stuff
with many tempo and mood changes. The lyrics are obtuse to obscure,
but generally pleasent. Even when reading along with the lyric sheet,
I cannot understand them. The lyric sheet claims that the song "King
Of Sweeden" contains the chant "Ecce Homo!" at the end, although I
cannot hear this (in my old dorm, a known homophobe, who was assigned
to read Nietzsche's "Ecce Homo", asked the resident classicist what
the title meant. The classicist calmly replied, "Well, it's Latin,
and loosely translated means 'Hey Fag!'" The homophobe was apalled
and got by the quarter without finishing the reading... (sorry for
the diversion, but for some reason I find this very funny)). There
are usually three guitars on each song (all played by a Mr. Nicky
Garratt, whom I think used to be in U.K. Subs): one very distorted
following the chord changes, one clean tone, more jangly, and one
somewhere inbetween doing melody bits. The vocals (sung and written
by Jason Honea) are good, and are best when are backed up by the
occasional violinist, "Lovely" Previn. One of the songs has an middle
interlude section similar to the one in Sonic Youth's "Scizoprenia"
(where the woman starts singing). This is very enjoyable and the
songs are arranged so that they get better as the disk goes on,
ending in a 9 minute, three-part bit that is quite nice, with pianos
and guitars. When I first heard this, I listened to it three times
without interruption. This record is not brilliant or particularly
note-worthy, but a very nice listen.
Felt, "Splendor Of Fear" EP (Cherry Lane?). This is not "new", but I
have been looking for this for a long time. This is early Felt, 1983,
with Maurice Deebeck's pretty guitar providing most of the mood for
this record. This is very similar to the EP before this ("Crumbling
The Antiseptic Beauty") and the LP after ("Strange Idol Patterns And
Other Short Stories") and is worth getting if you like those (Felt
have put out some real stinkers, but all three of these are great).
The lyrics are not as noticable as those from "Strange Patterns..."
on, but are nice and quietly blend with the music. There are two 3
minute songs, two three minute instrumentals and 2 7'+ "jams" which
Felt at this time were so good at producing.
Polyphemus, "Great Village Trip E.P." EP (Placebo). This is basically
an English one-man revivalist show in the vein of The Bevis Frond.
Whereas the Frond takes its point of departure from Jimi Hendrix and
'60's garage bands, Polyphemus starts at Led Zeppelin and other 70's
heavy music. Brian Leary plays guitars, bass, drums, organ and sings
with much success, considering that he is doing really nothing new.
The results are pleasing, but always familiar. There are parts of
this record that seem like they were lifted from Led Zeppelin's "hey
hey what can i do?" and others from the Pink Floyd's "Atom Heart
Mother"-era stuff. Everything is polished, but still wild and noisey.
I sort of like this, and it sounds better at the volume increases.
and it only cost me $5. Placebo, PO Box 847, London SW18 1XA
Swell Maps, "Jane from Occupied Europe" CD (Mute/Elektra). This is
part of a series of reissues of some very great music. With some
luck, one can find these and the other Swell Maps CD's at Tower
Records for $6 in the bargin bins. This is a deal considering that
all reissues have as many as 8 bonus tracks. Anyways, the Swell Maps
are loud, noisey, experiemntal, weird, and most importantly
intelligent. On this record there are loud, punky vocal songs
interspersed with experimental noise works, featuring wind-up toy
robots, concrete, typewriters. Epic Soundtracks is a great drummer
(has anyone heard his solo record? I am half-way tempted to buy it at
$20) and Nikki Sudden has a great snearing vocie. Highlights: "Cake
Shop", "Helecopter Spies" (they make me cry, too), "Let's Buy A
Bridge", "Let's Build A Car", "Big Maz In The Desert" and, let's face
it: the other 17 songs as well.
Dead C. "DR503" CD (Flying Nun/XPRESSWAY/Feel Good All Over)
(re-issue city...). The Dead C. makes noise and plenty of it. Lot's
of screetching and whining and overly distorted guitars, with drums
and strange vocals. The first song, "Max Harris" sounds like Jandek
makes a guest appearence in singing. This is a really good album. I
highly recondmend this. It gets quiet at some places, and has cool
voice sample from somewhere or the other...
Jandek, "Twelfth Apostle" LP (Corwood). Yes, new Jandek! There is no
date on this, but I assume that it is a 1993 release or a very late
92 release. WHPK just got in last month. Jandek, well, Jandek, what
can one say? This is ol' style Jandek, just a voice, an acoustic
guitar, a tapping foot and lots of depressing obsure lyrics. I am
much more partial to Jandek's electric style, with the two electric
guitars and drums, but it is all good.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Sean <skmurphy@phoenix.Princeton.EDU>
Short one this week; I bought a bunch of records but don't feel like
reviewing them, and I skipped the Swirlies/Velocity Girl show tonight
up in Hoboken.
So, I will get right to the point: my semi-official "Musical Crush
Of The Week." I find that as I go shopping and dig through record
bins and think about music stuff, that there are a lot of cute people
in the music world. I guess there are cute people everywhere, but I
don't get out much, sorry. :) This week's crushworthy person: Petula
Clark. I realize she's not indie, and now pushing 50 or so, but I
just picked up a copy of her greatest hits LP, and it has pictures
from about 5 different Pet Clark LP's, each of which is really cute
in its own way. It's that lost little girl look that really does it
for me, though...maybe someday I'll find my own lost little
red-haired girl (yeah, Pet's blonde, but redheads get bonus points
with me :) and everything will be ok.
I apologize if this concept (the "crush of the week" bit) offends
anyone; I mean it in the most innocent way possible. See ChickFactor
#2 for 3 small-print pages worth of indie-people crushes and such...
:)
Until next time, I'll just listen to "I Can't Live Without Your Love"
thirty more times...
Sean
[ This bears no relation to what Sean just wrote, but it somehow seems
appropriate: Lulu (remember her from _To Sir With Love_?) has just
released a new album. Eeeeeyouch! :) - Mark ]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
* THE INDIE-LIST DIGEST *
"Feast on the sacred punk pop implosion. Pump the tunes. Crank the
volume and ride the rocket through the euphoria of a noisy pop
rockin' overdose." - K
"Just Gimme Indie Rock!" - Lou Barlow
"La la la la la la, la la la la la la, la, la..." - Pavement
EDITOR (send your questions/comments/etc here)
Mark Cornick <cornick@access.digex.net>
SUBMISSIONS (send your articles here)
Joshua Houk <houk@athena.cs.uga.edu>
SUBSCRIPTIONS (send subs/signoffs/address changes here)
Liz Clayton <lclayton@uhuru.uchicago.edu>
ARCHIVES (send back issue requests here)
Sean Murphy <skmurphy@phoenix.princeton.edu>
FTP/Gopher archive is at <cs.uwp.edu> /pub/music/lists/indie
Thank you for reading.
--
Mark Cornick | indie-list co-manager (for information,
cornick@access.digex.net | finger bloofga@uhuru.uchicago.edu)
Now I know what I wanted: another chance to reach too high - Sebadoh
[Submitted by: Mark Cornick (cornick@access.digex.net)
Sat, 8 May 1993 16:24:16 -0400 (EDT)]