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* * * THE INDIE-LIST DIGEST #7
* * "100% instant indie-rock for the coffee generation!"
* * * Moderated by Mark Cornick, Joshua Houk and Liz Clayton.
* * * Mailed worldwide weekly. Over 100 subscribers! (just slightly more
* * * than the Winona Weekly, but still less than Between The Lines :)
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From: Mark, Joshua and Liz, the moderators
OKAY, FOLKS. ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, IF YOU ARE A UNITED STATES CITIZEN,
AT LEAST EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD AND REGISTERED TO VOTE, YOU'D BETTER DAMN WELL
DO IT. IT'S (Y)OUR FUTURE. TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY FOR IT. VOTE.
"Get yourself registered, hit your polling spot, grab a cookie, pull the
curtain, hold your nose, and aim for the hole that you believe in." -
Jennifer Finch, L7
"When the election is over and your worst nightmare is in office, you'll
have the satisfaction of proudly (and honestly) saying 'I did my best to
keep that creep out of office.'" - Mark Arm, Mudhoney
"Just take the time to do it. Be heard or shut up." - Bob Mould
(Quotes reprinted from SPIN (ack) without permission.)
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From: Mark and Joshua, the founders
It is with a glimmer in its (virtual) eye and a great big "Glurp!" that the
Indie-List announces the addition of Liz Clayton to the staff as
address-list wonder-bloofga and co-moderator. You have no doubt noticed the
new mailing system, which was Liz's idea. (For those of you into techie
details, we set up a new account at U of Chicago which forwards stuff to
everyone on the list without the infinitely long TO: line.) From now on,
send anything related to your subscription to Liz (her address is below.)
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From: Mark Cornick, I-L co-moderator <stu_m1cornic@vax1.acs.jmu.edu>
Well, here we go. I've got my spine and I've got my Ben & Jerry's Heath Bar
Crunch. Packed digest this week. Cool new mailing format, too. Thanks Liz.
Okay. Fall Break (all 24 hours of it) was pretty cool. Bought a few new
records I'd like to tell you about:
Superchunk, "Mower" (Merge 7"): A couple of old 70s-style riffs give this
song a little different feel than the Chunk's past work. I liked it.
B-side's cool too. Where's that new album? Nice picture sleeve, too (an
actual picture sleeve, not a folded piece of paper in a plastic bag) with
Dear Sweet Laura on the back cover. There's a CD single too, with a so-so
live version of "Fishing" on the back.
"Royal Trux" (Drag City CD): Again, a different sound. Kinda Stones-y, as
Joshua put it. I guess that move out west must've done something to 'em. I
haven't quite made up my mind on this one. It's not bad, but not what I
expected. Give it a shot nonetheless. There's nothing really wrong with it.
Various, "Neapolitan Metropolitan" (Simple Machines triple 7"): I've been
waiting for this one for the longest time, and here it is... one 7" each of
bands from Richmond, Virginia; Washington, DC; and Baltimore, Maryland.
You're probably gonna recognize a few of these bands (Fudge, Bratmobile, the
Lilys) and wonder about a few of them (Slack, a Tsunami/Hated side project;
and Late, aka Dave Grohl of Nirvana.) I'm kinda partial to all of these
bands, but I can still safely say BUY THIS, whether you live in the
Neo-Metro area or not. There's some really great and eclectic stuff here.
(By the way, I ordered this last week and got it this week. Zow! And the
address label? "Take Fast-Acting Simple Machines." Fast-acting, indeed...)
High-Back Chairs, "Share" (Dischord 7"): This is a two-song preview of the
upcoming HBC mini-album. Guitarist Jim Spellman recently left the band (he's
now drumming for Velocity Girl full-time) and it shows--the guitars aren't
as interesting as on the debut mini-album _Of Two Minds._ Nevertheless, this
is a fine bit of power-pop. If only we could get a full album out of these
guys, we'd be set.
Mercury Rev, "Yerself Is Steam" (Columbia double CD): The mersh reissue of
this twisted masterpiece is available in two versions--a single CD with the
"Car Wash Hair" single added, and a double CD, the bonus disc of which
contains a slightly different version of "Chasing A Bee", the Peel Session
(4 songs on one track) and a cover of "If You Want Me To Stay" (some funk
band, I can't remember which, did the original.) (Also, I could be wrong,
but I think the double CD is only for radio. However, I've heard rumors that
the bonus CD could be available separately to the retail market.) Anyhaw,
indie or no, this is an album you should own if you enjoy the
noise/psychedelic/Flaming Lips sound at all (Rev-ster Jonathan "Dingus"
Donahue is, incidentally, an occasional F.Lip.)
Therapy?, "Teethgrinder" (A&M import CD single): Who won't the majors sign
next? This 4-track CD5 is a preview of the upcoming LP. These guys have
always kinda sat on the grunge/metal borderline, and this single could go
either way. It's definitely got the Headbanger's Ball guitar thing going,
but the vocals are grungy and the rhythm is pretty damn hyperactive. I liked
it.
Still on the review list is a Heavens To Betsy/Bratmobile split 7". Should
have it ready for next time. But now...
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From: Joshua John Buergel <jbbb+@andrew.cmu.edu>
I seem to be the first person around to have this, as everybody seems to
think it is coming out on the 24th. It, of course, is...
The Young Fresh Fellows, _It's Low Beat Time_ (Frontier)
This record mainly harks back to YFF's middle period stuff such as _This
One's For The Ladies_, and not so much _Electronic Bird Digest_ (which I
didn't care for so much). It is pretty mellow for the most part, with the
occasional tune that sorta rocks. Pretty low key, which is why I like the
Fellows. There is even the occasional serious song on here, and they work
pretty well. Then there are the songs that are just plain wacked out. If
you like mellowish music that doesn't take itself seriously, you'll probably
like the Fellows (I think _This One's..._ and _The Men Who Loved Music_ are
their best, though). Good stuff. One and a half thumbs up.
The Nation Of Ulysses, _Plays Pretty For Baby_
I like this stuff, probably more than anything else Dischord has put out
recently (am I the only one who doesn't really like Circus Lupus' most
recent one so much?). NOU, for those of you not familiar with it, play punk
music with fairly sparse guitar and a really manic edge to it. This record
also features blatts from a trumpet, which just adds to the whole
atmosphere. Good songs, well executed music, and just a good album. Highly
recommended, especially given Dischord's fair pricing scheme. One and a
half thumbs up.
Mudhoney, _Piece Of Cake_
I really like this album a whole lot. I'm not sure yet if I like it more
than their classic self-titled release, but it is definately better than the
last album (which reminded me more of the YFF than Mudhoney). Some really
rokkin' tunes on here, in the Mudhoney tradition. As Jodi pointed out, this
is no sell out. If you like Mudhoney, get it, now. Mug old ladies. If you
haven't heard Mudhoney, get their self titled, and then get this if you like
that. Oh, Mudhoney takes a jab at techno with their first song that cracks
me up. Two thumbs up. Mudhoney rules.
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From: Chris Sievanen, Seattle BC <doomgirl@U.WASHINGTON.EDU>
Well, there are TONS of shows going on in Seattle in November. Tons.
Here's a list:
November 2nd - Breeders/Unrest at the Rrrcckknnndy
November 6th - The Gits - Rrrrrcccnnnnndddy
November 13th - Hammerbox/Clyde - Rrrrrrccckkknnddy
November 17th - Sugar/Throwing Muses - Moore Theater
November 21 - PJ Harvey - RRRrrckknnddy
November 25 - Gits record release party - Off Ramp
AND there's a Flaming Lips show in there somewhere as well, and the best
band in seattle, Seven Year Bitch, will be playing a Rape Relief Benefit
with lots of other bands at the Moore Theter at the end of the month. There
are probably even more small band shows this month, but the rocket hasn't
come out yet, so we'll wait and see.
There goes all my money!
Also, Seven Year Bitch's CD, "Sick Em" on C/Z is out on Halloween! I heard
it! I like it better than L7, really!
The Gits album will be out Friday November 13th on C/Z as well.
Dan and Davpar's mag, Ten Things Jesus Wants You To Know is looking really
good. Issue number two!
AND our only good radio station, the UW station KCMU, is turning into a pile
of poop. People are protesting the format changes that will make it more
mainstream, but we'll see.
That's about it for now!
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From: Molly Bancroft <mjb@media-lab.mit.edu>
What are the different ways a band can release a 7" single? Is it always the
case that the band pays for the pressing of the records, and then the label
does the distribution... or do labels like Slumberland actually have MONEY
to pay for the pressing too, if they take on the band as their own?
[ Well, when my friends Sexual Milkshake did their 7", they kicked in about
half of the money and TeenBeat paid the rest. I'd guess that for a small
label like TeenBeat and a (then) unproven band like the Milkshakes, this
would be fairly common. Your mileage may vary. - Mark ]
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From: Lindsay Watt <lindsay@maths.ed.ac.uk>
The Jesus Lizard, 23rd October, Glasgow King Tut's Wah Wah Hut. The first
thing I noticed when the band clambered on to the stage was how sober Yow
looked. From what I'd read beforehand, I'd expected a gibbering, drunken
slob, but he seemed pretty collected, chatting politely with the front row.
When they started playing, they weren't as loud as they could have been, but
they were pretty damned impressive nonetheless. McNeilly looked like he
was going to demolish his drumkit, and Yow was writhing all over the place.
After about 10 minutes, however, the stagediving started, and it became
almost impossible to see the band, what with drunk punks prancing about
stage and the pit security fighting with anyone who came near them. I had
to leave after 40 minutes to catch my bus, by which time Yow was stripped
to the waist and starting to get a little pissed off with some people in the
audience. I've no idea what this was about or how it all turned out.
Anyway, ignoring the shenanigans at the front, the music was excellent, and
I was sorry to have to leave early. It would have been better without the
morons in the crowd though.
Lindsay.
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From: Sean Murphy, New Jersey BC (more like Maxwell's BC :) )
<skmurphy@phoenix.princeton.edu>
Well, a couple neato shows at Maxwell's, a road trip to DC, and a slew of
single reviews (if I can remember them all...)
10/16: Beat Happening and Gravel
Grea show. I had never seen either band, and we packed 6 people into an
Escort for the hour drive up to the show. Totally worth every penny of the
$6 I paid (plus the ticket for my friend Rebecca that I split with Matthew
Robb [he should be on the indie-list, but is too much of a slacker to do
it]). Gravel plays a good healthy Neil Young/flannel rock set, with a
couple of real standout songs (Halfway, Stoneyard). They were drunk as
hell, and pretty fun. Nice guys too. And then Beat Happening appeared.
Calvin is so damn cool - his dancing and wandering on stage is great. He
can also play guitar, drums and maracas, while Bret sticks to guitar mostly
(and sometimes drums) and Heather drums and sings. "Godsend" is amazing
live - almost as good as Unrest's "Imperial" can be on a good night. They
even did "I Love You", but ignored pleas for "Sea Hunt", unfortunately.
And they had tons of records for sale. Rebecca had a major crush on Calvin
before the show, and seeing him just made it crazier, leading to...
10/17: Beat Happening, Gravel, and Candy Machine at the 9:30 Club, WDC.
Yeah, DC is out of my jurisdiction, and Mark probably wrote a lengthy review
of the show already. So, I'll just say that I and Rebecca drove 4 hours to
see BH again. ALL the DC people were out (with the notable exceptions of
Mark Robinson (Unrest) and Jenny Toomey (Tsunami).) - all of Fugazi, anyone
left in DC from Nation of Ulysses (R.I.P.), Lois Maffeo, Erin and Don Smith,
Andrew and Rob from Eggs, Chris Albee (he runs Land Speed Records), some
guys from Pitchblende, Andrew and Kristin from Tsunami, and probably a few
I didn't see or recognize. Again, BH ruled enormously. I got a set list
this time (I was a little afraid of climbing up on stage, but if Erin Smith
is gonna run up, I can too :) ). "Look Around" was great, as was the newer
material. Gravel was noticably less drunk and more competant this time
around, but no less enjoyable. Candy Machine was cool too, sounding like a
cross between Fugazi and Honor Role, playing a really energetic set. I'm
glad I made the trip.
[ Er, no, I didn't make it. I had band practice. Besides, I was bummed that
Ulysses split. And I had no money. Such is life. - Mark ]
10/24: Stereolab, Versus, and Grenadine at Maxwell's
Coolness. Grenadine (Mark Robinson, Jenny Toomey, and Rob Christiansen)
started out by playing most of the new LP, "Goya". The set was well played,
funny (they play it off like a cheesy lounge act, neat outfits and all),
and altogether great. Get the LP NOW (or as soon as it comes out on Shimmy
Disc). Versus played a great set as well, their first with their new
drummer (Richard's little brother, Ed). I hadn't seen the in about three
months, and the sound was very good. Fairly tight, strong, nice vocal
tradeoffs, and one of their new songs reminded me of Mission of Burma (high
praise from a native Bostonian). And then there was Stereolab. They
weren't thrilled with the show, using all borrowed equipment and with a sick
bass player. But the wall of sound was most definitely there, with two
guitars, bass, drums, and farfisa organ (Seaya also plunked at her organ
occasionally). The encore, "Difficult 4th Title", left my ears ringing for
most of the next day. Wow. If they come to your area, see 'em.
Record reviews:
Olla - "Septic Hagfish" single (Flying Nun)
The next members of the Dadamah school of NZ Noise rock - less spacey than
Dead C, but far beyond the typical NZ jangly-guitar sound. Lesley Paris
used to be in Look Blue Go Purple, but that is no indication of Olla's
sound. Listen and learn. Buy today.
Versus - "Bright Light / Forest Fire" single (Pop Narcotic
Unpaid plug - I bought this when I saw them last saturday. It's great. No
two pieces of vinyl look the same (all colored and streaked and such), and
the songs are two which I've been waiting to see on vinyl for a while.
Nice job, Bill (indie-list member that he is...). More of that guitar stuff
you've been waiting for since the first demo tapes started circulating.
Neopolitan Metropolitan - compilation (Simple Machines)
Excellent box set - one single apiece for DC, Baltimore, and Richmond. I
like the DC single the best, with Whorl, Bratmobile, Late (solo stuff by
Dave Grohl, recorded after he left Scream but before he joined Nirvana), and
Lilys (but why "Claire Hates Me again?). Richmond comes in second with
another great song from Fudge, good ones from Coral and Burma Jam (these
folks have put holes in their copies of Black Market Clash) and another
"math-rock" blast from Breadwinner (description courtesy of Franklin
Bruno). Baltimore: well, Slack is fine (but there's better stuff on the
cassette), Candy Machine is good, but there's a Tear Jerks song with drums
(it doesn't work at all) and then the one complete clunker, False Face
Society. Why didn't Linda Smith contribute a song? Overall, a good one,
with stellar packaging and artwork. I can't wait for the Working Holiday
series to begin.
Now that fall break is almost over for us and I'm missing all the shows at
CMJ, the mail has really begun to pick up - new Sebadoh LP, new Harriet
singles from Wimp Factor 14 and High Risk Group, new singles from Flying Nun
(well, new to us in the States...), even a new Seaweed single. Maybe the
Tsunami LP will be done in time for our concert on the 19th (it's definite -
we've signed the lease and all). Need info or directions? Mail me.
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[ NOTE: In the past we have followed a policy of placing "self-promoting"
articles at the ends of digests, so that our anti-commercial readers can
skip them. After some debate between the moderators, we have decided that
the following article belongs in that category. As always, your comments (if
any) are welcome at <stu_m1cornic@vax1.acs.jmu.edu>. Thank you. - the
moderators ]
From: Bo Orloff <bo@igc.apc.org>
Greetings, all. Before I jump in and say anything about any music, a brief
disclaimer seems in order:
I make my living toiling away for the Hornblow Group USA, an artist
management firm headquartered in the deceptively placid village of
Palisades, NY. We represent the following artists: They Might Be Giants,
Pere Ubu, the Meat Puppets, Yo La Tengo, Freedy Johnston, Eric Drew Feldman,
the Band of Weeds, the Beautiful South and the La's. You may wish to
consider anything and everything I say about any of these bands as carrying
the taint of shameless (or is that "shameful"?) self-promotion, but hey, I
was a fan long before I started working in the business and at least you
can't say I didn't warn you...
OK, that out of the way, on with the muzak-
The highlite [sic] of this weeks' live activities for me was the David
Thomas/Petit Ubu shows opening for They Might Be Giants on Thurs and
headlining at the Knitting Factory on Fri & Sat nights. David spoke, sang,
ranted, recited and played accordion in his usual desultory fashion and was
accompanied by Ira Kaplan (of Yo La Tengo) on guitar and Garo Yellin (of the
Band of Weeds and a former member of the Ordinaires and, as those with
memories that stretch back as far as the early 80's can attest, David Thomas
& the Pedestrians) on cello. The big guy was in great form and Ira and Garo
made excellent scratchings & groanings and even some pretty cool music For
those nattering nabobs of negativism who feel Pere Ubu's recent live shows
have come to resemble ROCK too closely, I highly recommend catching David's
solo show should you be lucky enough to live somewhere he comes to play.
Look for David, Ira & Garo to do some more dates sometime in the new year
(and maybe I can talk David into adding Georgia's drumming to the act). By
the way, Pere Ubu proper have recorded a really swell new album which,
goddess willing, will be released in the US early next year (those who pay
attention to such things may recall that Ubu had a rather nasty falling out
with their American label, Mercury Records, and are currently, though
hopefully not for long, without a US record deal).
Looming extremely large on my own personal live show agenda this week (and
next) has been TMBG's eight-night all ages stand at a small off-B'way
theatre (the Variety Arts) on Third Avenue. Rocktoberfest 1992, as the
Giants have dubbed it, has been a lot of fun for those of us in the TMBG
camp. John & John and the band wanted to take a little time off from their
"Don't Tread On The Cut-Up Snake" World Tour and do something a little
special for the hometown fans (with the not inconsiderable fringe benefit
that they get to sleep in their own beds for a couple of weeks).
Rocktoberfest featured a different opening act for each of the 8 nights (Syd
Straw, David Thomas, Boss Hog, Brian Dewan and Eugene Chadbourne were all
great) The Giants have been inviting a lot of their friends to join them on
stage for guest appearances and all in all it's made a very pleasant change
from doing gigs at bigger venues like the Beacon or the Ritz. On the last
night of the stand, the Giants are going to play all 19 songs from their
1987 debut album live in sequence.
Sean Murphy already plugged the Yo La Tengo show at Maxwell's in beautiful
uptown Hoboken, NJ on the 23rd last week in INDIE-LIST #6, so you ca