Indie-List_V2_N26
THE INDIE-LIST DIGEST! Volume 2 Number 26
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"Digitally Rechanneled For Superior Stereo Sound!"
In this issue:
Yo La Tengo Special
Indie-L exchange announcement
Yo La Tengo/Painful
Chris Knox/Yo La Tengo
Another Yo La Tengo Review :)
I-L: Chris Knox/King Kong/Boredoms et al.
MY DAD IS DEAD, LILYS, SEAM, PAVEMENT, VERSUS.
Zeni Geva/Dazzling Killmen/Feck in Milwaukee 10/22/93
Bagels, Bugles, And Beagles: "It's A Wild Weekend..." + Eggs 'n' BOCS
and more
<------------------------------------------------------------>
EDITOR'S NOTE T MINUS ONE
by Mark Cornick
cornick@delphi.com
At the end of this digest you'll find a diary of Friendly's recording
session and associated happenings of last weekend. It's at the end because
it's quite long. There are some record reviews at the end to reward people
who read all the way through.
One last time: FRIENDLY with MOLLYHOUSE, Wednesday, October 27 at the Metro
in Richmond. FREE. Be there if you can. Free commemorative mini-trivets!
The Ice Cream Socialists' first cassette (the live one of all covers) is
dead and buried, but the other product of the short-lived Lovechild label
may get a second life. Two tracks from the _Frostbite Falls_ EP by Bullwinkle
Sound System have been remixed (and retitled, incidentally) to form the
Off! cassingle. It might (not definite yet) come out on Tenderette. If/when
it does, I'll give you more information. (BSS, as you probably intentionally
forgot, was a dub project on which absolutely no live instruments were used --
it's all samples of other people's songs.)
I'd like to thank the recent giveaway winners for their patience. I will
mail your prizes, I promise. I'd also like to thank everyone who's wished
me good luck and thanked me for doing Indie-List, whether they intended to
write me or not (it always makes your day when someone you don't know offers
to buy you some ice cream... :-) I could go on, but I've already written too
much at the end, so I'll save it...
<------------------------------------------------------------>
Yo La Tengo Special
by K. Lena Bennett
keb@u.washington.edu
Well, this seems to be the Yo La Tengo Special Issue of Indie List! So
I'll put in my $.02. Well, I listened to Painful about 4 times this
weekend. Then I had to listen to _May I Sing With Me_ again. I still
think Sing is one of the most godlike albums of the last 10 years (and
that YLT gets first prize for the Best Underrated Band), but I have to
wonder if Painful will, with repeated listenings, eclipse Sing in my
estimation. I don't think so, but I still have to wonder.... Tom Hart
says, "they always do exactly what you wouldn't expect, which is why
they're great."
The new _Naughty Bits_ comic book is out!
Next up: an announcement of the new Indie Music Exchange List!!! Contact
Harry (address given below) to join or for more info!
Lena keb@u.washington.edu
"I was wasted in a dog and pony show
please release me from this cheap scenario
I'm a mystery even to myself
I'm a kama sutra sitting on the shelf" -- The Christmas
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Indie-L exchange announcement
by Harry Hahn
hhahn@macc.wisc.edu
As hinted in a previous issue of Indie-L, I, with the help of Lena and
other members of the Junta, would like to announce the Indie-L exchange.
+++ What is the Indie-L exchange?
ILx is a mailing list, under the aegis of Indie-L but separate, conceived
as a forum to promote the exchange of indie music. This encompasses sales
and trades of indie CDs, vinyl, and cassettes. Both 'for sale' and 'wanted'
posts are encouraged. The mailings will go out bi-weekly, contingent on the
amount of traffic. Each issue will be a list of items offered for sale or
wanted along with the name and e-mail address of the person to contact. All
business should be done privately; the sole purpose of the list to to
inform you who to contact.
+++ What can I trade?
I'm purposely leaving the definition of 'indie' vague; read the Indie-L FAQ
if you're not sure. However, I'm uneasy with the idea of playing cop so
I'll leave it to your own discretion as to what you think is fair game.
*Bootlegs are not allowed*. This applies to cassettes mostly but to
other media as well.
+++ How do I subscribe?
Send a message to <hhahn@students.wisc.edu> asking to subscribe. A note
with more detailed information will be sent to you as confirmation.
DO NOT SEND MAIL TO ANYWHERE ELSE.
DO NOT SEND MAIL TO LENA.
DO NOT SEND MAIL TO LIZ.
DO NOT SEND MAIL TO BLOOFGA.
DO NOT SEND MAIL TO idol@well.sf.ca.us.
+++ Do I have to be a Indie-L subscriber to join?
Well, no. But I'm not planning on advertising this list elsewhere and I
hope no one posts this in some place like alt.music.alternative. [*] This may
sound elitist but the purpose of this list is to provide a service to
Indie-L readers. From an administrative standpoint, I don't want to get
flooded with "Anyone want to sell me the new Pearl Jam?" messages.
Besides, a.m.a gets it's own 'for sale' postings and rec.music.marketplace
and other mailing lists already cover commercial music pretty thoroughly.
Feel free to tell your friends, though.
[ * Uh, Rob Vaughn is probably chuckling away right now. :-) - Mark ]
+++ Who are you?
My name is Harry Hahn and I'm a gradual student at the University of
Wisconsin in Madison. That should explain the e-mail address and no, I'm
sorry, but I can't get the user account name changed to something more
intuitive. Much like Liz, I'm not a machine so messages like 'sub ilx billy
idol' will put you on my black list ;).
Thanks,
Harry
________________________________________________________________________
Harry Hahn / hhahn@macc.wisc.edu / Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison / Go Bears!
<------------------------------------------------------------>
Yo La Tengo/Painful
by Stephen B. Shapero
socks@wam.umd.edu
Matador has given up on my old fanzine, so I was forced to buy this new
release. They didn't have any CDs left, so I picked the LP out of the
bin, and remembered why vinyl is so cool: it's so damn big! it's so damn
cheap! There's also something to be said for the gritty quality of a
record needle that's been around on a player that's older than me, esp.
when listening to lo-fi rock. This album is a little less daring than
earlier releases like "President", and it's almost a little too polished.
They sound a little too good sometimes, but for the most part, this record
is cold chillin'. It works at so many different times: 3am after a night
of serious debauch; after class when your mind has time to remember how
lonely you are (add 10 pts. if it's raining out); when you're, uhm, really
mellowed out, etc. There's nothing really unexpected, just really good
pop songs with distorted bass and noisy feedback overdubs. The
difference here is that the songs come first, and the noise is put on
later, as opposed to the other way around. *1/2
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Chris Knox/Yo La Tengo
by Glenn Susser
glenns@panix.com
Saturday, October 23 - Maxwells, Hoboken, NJ
Every once in a blue moon it seems, the perfect concert comes along. It's
been a long time in coming, but Saturday the 23rd was such a red letter
day. Starting with my concert-mates, to the ambience of the club and the
first act, right through Yo La Tengo's encore, a better night could not
have been enjoyed in this galaxy. Chris Knox set the tone for the evening
by introducing himself as Yo La Tensky. This New Zealand oddball writes
beautiful pop songs then covers them with an acidic sarcasm. When he got
serious, he showed his penchant for writing and singing. His song about
Sarah reminded me of Country Joe and the Fish's very sad "Not So Sweet
Martha Lorranine." Perhaps he's the Country Joe of punk? His witticisms
in between songs kept the 200 fans in stitches. He told of the Mekons'
encore at the CMJ festival which was so obviously rehearsed it was
repulsive. He then announced he had 2 songs left and an encore. After
the last song, he simply announced he would then do the encore. His
encore was truly the highlight, especially when he neatly wrapped up his
music sheets, put them carefully into an envelope, and threw it on his
guitar to make a "perfect" noise!
If Hoboken is Yo La Tengoland, then Maxwells is the womb that nurtured
them. It was as if they were in Ira Kaplan's basement playing to friends.
>From the ease in which they set up their equipment while joking with Chris
Knox and the crowd and Ira's trip to the bar to buy his beer and Georgia's
bottled water, I knew I was in for a treat. I won't even mention 6' plus,
200 lb. plus, James' cool Sleephead T-shirt. Kaplan has a propensity for
starting shows differently. Last month at Irving Plaza, they opened with
Kaplan, Georgia and James all playing lead guitar. Last night, Ira took
Georgia's place on drums (quite capably,) Georgia played some outrageous
riffs on lead guitar, while James sang lead and played his usual steady
bass. The song was "Bad Politics," or something like that. Next they
flowed quite evenly into "Big Day Coming" from Painful. Without a doubt,
the highlight was my favorite Painful song, "Double Dare." It was
stretched into a 10 minute jam which included some of the best guitar
playing I've ever heard. Kaplan is amazing. At the conclusion, it seemed
there was dead silence, or was that just my ears ringing?? :) The crowd as
well as Kaplan seemed awe-struck. Kaplan merely stated "What can I say?"
Then he said, "What can I say?" Someone yelled out probably the only
appropriate remark, "Play it again!" The concert consisted of a few
surprises and songs from Painful. Which was ok by me since since the cd
hasn't left my player since I bought it. They performed a Neil Young song
as well as their NRBQ cover from Fakebook, "Can't Forget." What a treat!
The only complaint I have about Georgia was that she only sang lead for 1
song, "Nowhere Near." What a great voice! And all too soon, it was time
for the encore. And I couldn't have asked for a more perfect ending to a
perfect concert. After pondering whether to do a song for mom who was
attending, Kaplan thrust the onus on James to remember the lyrics of the
classic "Sloop John B." And by golly, he did remember most of the
lyrics. What a treat. But no, that wasn't the end. Another cover,
Blondie's "Dreaming" was the perfect close to a perfect concert.
glenns@panix.com
and
73424.2630@compuserve.com
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Another Yo La Tengo Review :)
by Daniel Subat
dan@betei.franken.de
YO LA TENGO "painful" [CitySlang/Atlantic]
Well, I think it's far the best YLT album up to now. Wonderful melodies
and an atmospheric sound given by the organ and Kaplans' feedback guitar.
As I listened to it the first time 'Big day coming' surprised me: A noisy
attack slowly transformed into a clouds-like sound with a voice coming out
of the nothing. Ok, there is also a radio-friendly pop song, but I must
admit I like it, because it's not trivial and it has a kind of melancholy
in it, which turns it from a cheap and boring smash hit into a song. So if
you like a melancholic, meditative and noisy sound you'll like it. In my
opinion.
I write for the german zine, called SZENE 31, which is distributed
for free in clubs, shops, schools ... and that gives you the chance
to have a review in our mag. No matter what kind of art your work
is, we'll have a look on it.
Write to: SZENE 31
LUITPOLDSTR. 31
85072 EICHSTAETT
GERMANY
TEL&FAX: +49-8421-6568
Everyone sending a postcard, fax or anything, gets the next issue for
free.
Daniel
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=> dan@betei.franken.de oder auch nicht. Was sonst? Warten wir's mal ab !! <=
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Chris Knox/King Kong/Boredoms et al.
by Douglas Wolk
dbcloud@panix.com
Oh boy has it been busy around here. So much so that I just had to go to
the show at CB's on Friday night to chill out some.
Chris Knox played first. IF YOU EVER, EVER, EVER GET THE CHANCE TO SEE
HIM, DO SO. HE IS BRILLIANT. He played solo, with a little headset-thingie
with a mike on his head so that he didn't have to go where the microphone
was and could wander about the stage at his leisure. He started by asking
the audience if he should change into his shorts on stage or backstage
(answer: on stage), played a couple of old songs and fucked up a few of
the chords, played a bunch of new songs both on guitar and Omnichord... I
should pause and explain the Omnichord. It's a cheap little chord organ
with a drum machine built in: he presses a button and it holds the chord
until he presses another button. He had this nifty new song that's
supposedly on his new album, which only had two chords in it. So he'd
press one button, sing while doing a little "interpretive dance" (i.e.
handwaving and silly dancing) around the stage, then dash back to the
Omnichord and press the other button in time (or almost) for the chord
change. He did a human-beat-box version of "Voyeur" (from Seizure),
interrupted "Liberal Backlash Angst" a bunch of times to explain the
lyrics or to ask whether he should sing it the way he does in New Zealand
or change the topical references to American stuff, etc., and was
generally an incredible showperson. And oh, those songs...
King Kong played next, and while I enjoy their schtick and faux-Booker T.
groove a whole lot, I'm a little annoyed that they played EXACTLY the same
set they'd done at Rachel Felder's birthday party at Under Acme six months
ago. Maybe one new song--but even the same set order. Fortunately, that
means they still start with "Movie Star," the best song Ethan Buckler's
ever written: one eight-line, one-note verse, repeated three times with
breaks, and pure genius all the way. (Well, if you ask Mark Robinson he'll
tell you that he wrote it, and it wouldn't be the best song he's ever
written. But King Kong is a better band than Unrest a lot of the time.)
And the Boredoms were headlining. I'd never seen them before, and they
totally lived up to what I'd heard: they were just plain detonating all
over the stage. Boom boom boom. Yoshimi started it with just about the
loudest scream I'd ever heard, and the rest of them were similarly
hyperactive for all of the show that I saw. Unfortunately, that wasn't
much, because some asshole stage diver pounced on me and my friend, so we
had to retreat to protect ourselves. And after about 20 minutes of
enduring the packed-like-refrigerator-biscuits crowd, we decided we'd
grasped the essence of the Boredoms and split.
A few records to note briefly: there's a new Blast Off Country Style EP,
_Giggles 'n' Gloom,_ which isn't as good as the first and is almost as
good as the second but not quite; a new Shellac EP, Uranus, which is
definitely better than the first one--"Wingwalker" is a genuine,
honest-to-goodness song, even if you can tell that Albini's going to do
all the usual Albini things; a new Mountain Goats tape on Shrimper, whose
title I'm too lazy to go check, and which is--well, it's the Mountain
Goats for fuck's sake, which means you shouldn't expect anything you don't
get on any other Mountain Goats thing, but the legion of us who dig
"their" combination of lo-fi acoustic guitar, lo-fi Casio VL-Tone,
classics-major snobbery and the same two and a half five-note melodies as
on all other M.G.'s releases will love this just as much; and a new
Trumans Water 7", "Skyjacker Floorjacker," which has two tracks of
more-of-the-wonderful-same and one track of something--either a guitar, a
sax or an electric cello, I can't tell--being tortured in a way that
sounds really cool.
And, since it wouldn't be an I-L note from Douglas without mentioning God
Is My Co-Pilot now would it, I can tell you that they have a new CD
that'll be out Wednesday, _Tight Like Fist_ (on Knitting Factory Works),
live stuff recorded at the Knitting Factory. 62 minutes, 42 songs,
including a couple that aren't labeled. It's a pretty good overview of
their first four years, with a lot less of their occasional tendency for
free-improv fucking around than the studio records. About a third of the
songs are previously unreleased in any form; about a quarter of them are
their arrangements of traditional folk songs, which says a lot about the
direction they've been going in the last year or so; the best thing on the
whole disc is a cover of Half Japanese's "Firecracker," with Jad Fair
singing along with Sharon, both of them forgetting most of the words, and
everyone having a great time anyway; and it would've been out earlier, but
they had a LOT of trouble finding somebody who'd print the CD tray's photo
(an Annie Sprinkle photograph--closeup of a woman's crotch with a
transparent dental dam over it).
Anyway. Off to dreamland with me, and if anybody's got a copy of the
Nightblooms' single of "One Weak Moment" that they feel like unloading,
let me know.
Douglas D. Wolk dbcloud@panix.com
"I've been waiting here since Monday. Sunday never comes around."
<------------------------------------------------------------>
MY DAD IS DEAD, LILYS, SEAM, PAVEMENT, VERSUS.
by Paul H Williams
phwst1+@pitt.edu
This is my first ever post, so pay attention 'cause I'll be discussing the
new MY DEAD IS DEAD, VERSUS 7", lily's "Tone Bender EP", SEAM, and
PAVEMENT'S new song. Also, after Sean Murphy's posting of TSUNAMI's
discography, I found "The beautiful Arlington" CD single, but the damage
was $12. About a buck a minute.
*****=awesome, love at first sight
*=yuck!!
MY DEAD IS DEAD "out of sight, out of time" (SCAT32)
Mark has official change My Dead Is Dead to MDID, because he got
tired of people asking for an explanation for band's name. MDID is being
released by his hometown record label, Scat Records, which seemed to have
a faith in his talents. Just by listening to the album, I noticed it's
probably MDID best quality sounding album. Which Mark takes advantage, as
he opens the album with an instrumental called "Untitled". There is, also,
another instrumental, "Racing Heart" with more of a poppish life to it.
"She's in Love" struck me. His vocals are very-stylized from the late-80s,
like Duran-Duran. But you can judge that for yourself. "Never Was", "Razor
Strap", and "The Prisoner" are the picks that will when approval from many
MDID is fans. The last track, "You are the one", will bring in the new
fans. Absolutely the best song from the album. This is a classic MDID
song, just to add to his collections. It's a good 5 minute song. **
lilys "Tone Bender EP" (shine33)
This is an import CD only single from Austraila's Summershine
label. A EP contain: Tone Bender, Threw a Day, February 14th, and Eskimo.
This is only valuable if you didn't have the first single, "February 14th"
and wanted to invest into a un-released song. I ordered it through,
Parasol Records, and I called to get a track listing before I bought the
CD. "Eskimo" is great song. A pleasant compromise of MBV and Wally/Kurt's
song writing. The song drives with fragile feedback for about 7 minutes,
but it's a very awesome song. This song should have been included on the
album, instead of the instrumental "Snowblinder". I didn't have the first
7", so I didn't have "February 14th" either. The only unhappiness about
this EP is the import price ($10). *1/2
PAVEMENT "unseen power at the picket fence"
This seems to be a very rare track, today. It came on a SPIN
magazine compilation, that is only available to college radio stations.
It's a tribute/bashing to R.E.M., which is to appear on the R.E.M. tribute
called "Surprise Your Pig". The lyrics randomly scream "R.E.M.!!" and
various songs by the band. Musically great, too. **1/2
VERSUS "bright light" b/w "forest fire" (narc003)
NYC's VERSUS releases a upbeat, energetic song. It's has a sort of
lilys' sound to it. "Forest Fire" has Foutaine at helm of the vocals. Her
singing and the music reminded of some UNREST tune, but without the
la-la-la sound. *
SEAM "the problem with me"
BRILLIANT!!! Seam's sophomore effort is BRILLIANT!! Maybe it's the
band actually having permanent members. Sooyoung does a excellent job with
crashing the vocals with the melodic-chaos of the music. Brad Wood
produced the album, but Seam's unique sound is always present. All the
songs are great. "Something's Burning" is Seam being uplifted to happier
well-being. "Sweet Pea" is re-released on this album, which fits in
perfect. "Rafael", "Bunch", "The Wild Cat, "Something's Burning", and
"Road to Madrid" are my favorite picks. This is definitely my favorite
album of the year, so far and this should be in many people's choices,
too. It's to bad I didn't get to see them when they played here,
Pittsburgh, during the summer.***
<------------------------------------------------------------>
Zeni Geva/Dazzling Killmen/Feck in Milwaukee 10/22/93
by Chris Fuller
FULLERC@vmsf.csd.mu.edu
Hello all.
This is my first submission. My primary motivation for going to
the Unicorn of Milwaukee was to see Dazzling Killmen. I've heard Zeni
Geva's "Castration" album and . . .hm, honestly, if I didn't know they
were from Japan or that so many people have been raving about them, I
would have given no consideration at all. I was still interested in
seeing them in spite of this. I have the Killmen's "Medicine Me" single
(Red vinyl/comic book/Skin Graft etc.) and I completely recommend it. The
PIL cover on the B-side doesn't totally thrill me but in no way desecrates
the overall sanctity of this fine little record. I met three of them in
Chicago (minus Nick the frontman) about a month ago and reaffirmed my
belief that the harsher the sound of the band, the gentler and more
courteous the manners of its members. Nice chaps. Their drummer was
nursing a hell of a tequila hangover. But this is superfluous I know.
A Milwaukee band named Feck opened the show. Feck, a few years
ago, were Milwaukee's Sub Pop missionaries with bonus death vocals.
Liking them at that time was partly a matter of appreciating their slow
heavy groove and knowing the band member. (There are Feck anecdotes to
fill hours) Time passed and they became Milwaukee's Monster Magnet. Time
passed again into the present and now they are Milwaukee's Black Sabbath
meets Uma Guma/Echoes/Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii. Twenty minute songs,
bluesyness, bulldozer heavy metal grind. . . the whole nine yards. I like
the guys but I don't know what I think. Hm. They should be releasing a
single and a full length soon. A lot of people may like it.
The Dazzling Killmen are absolutely astounding and fit well
visually and sonically within the Skin-Graft scenario. They are fast,
abrasive, employ the multiple change bit, the oddly arranged/timed hardly
repeating guitar riff, and project an intesnse, jaunty, sharp-angled rage
that turns me on. What's more is that these guys are not afraid to wear
their guitars around their adam's apples. And they are as tight as Rush
Limbaugh's ass. One of the best shows I've seen this year and another
fine example of that Skin-Graft psychotic nerd mentality.
I didn't stay for all of Zeni Geva's show and while I thought the
musicianship was there and was intrigued by the absence of a bass guitar,
they just didn't excite me. Maybe they will someday.
Thanks chris fuller FULLERC@csd.mu.edu
<------------------------------------------------------------>
Bagels, Bugles, And Beagles: "It's A Wild Weekend..."
or: The Friendly Session
Plus: Eggs 'n' Blastoff Country Style
by Mark Cornick
cornick@delphi.com
Cast: Me, plus Mike, Cyndy, Lynn, Tim and Jamie of Friendly, Rob, Evan,
Andrew and Ian of Eggs, Chris and Phil of Blastoff Country Style, Rob's
girlfriend Jenny, and other people who might be named later. (Mark Robinson,
who would've undoubtedly figured highly in this story since I stayed at his
house, is away on tour.)
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22
8.00 PM: Although we're not recording until Saturday, I'm coming up early to
catch a benefit at American University which Eggs is headlining. So I cross
the Potomac into Washington, I-395 becomes 14th Street, and I promptly miss
the turn onto Massachusetts Avenue. (A) it would help if I'd driven in D.C.
more than three times in my life, and (B) it would help even more if the
traffic lights would work. Anyway, I turn around and head up through Dupont
Circle towards A.U. I somehow manage to find the place, park in a convenient
spot, and find the building where the show is taking place. I do not, however,
see Rob anywhere. No big deal. I buy a beer and wait for the show. Later on,
I run into Rob in the men's room, and he doesn't believe that I am who I am --
it turns out he thought Scott from Hassan Chop! was me. (Strange. We look,
sound and act almost nothing like each other.) I produce a driver's license
and Rob somehow shakes the confusion. Good thing, too. Scott's a pretty
good guitarist, but not that great a drummer, and lord knows I can't play
"Strong In The Magic." :-)
8.30 or so: The show begins. It's a benefit for AU's chapter of the Audio
Engineering Society (of which Rob is a member, which is how we get to use the
studio.) So the three bands playing have all recorded at the studio and/or
have AUAES members in the band. The first band is called Nixon's Cat, and
reminded me of Mary's Danish jamming with Toad the Wet Sprocket. Dull, but
tolerable, and they did do some cool 12-bar R&B in the middle. **. Next is
World Peace, whose we-wish-we-were-Pearl-Jam-or-maybe-the-Spin-Doctors strut-
grunge annoyed me greatly. Not even 1/2*. Last up was Eggs. They've added
Slow Loris nth-wheel Ian Jones on bongos in the last week or two. Tonight's
show also featured interpretive dance by some guy named Evan (?? - in any
case not Evan who's actually in the band, a different Evan) who apparently is
some figure much like Bernie (Tar/Jawbox 45 cover star) in Chicago. He had
the most amazing orange trousers. Anyway, the Eggs set featured almost all
new and/or recent material -- the only thing over a year old was Skyscraper.
They played many songs from their recent singles, including Obliviist, Erin
Go Bragh, In State, and the brand new smash A Pit With Spikes (more on that
later.) They still don't have a drum set, but Ian's bongo playing was cool --
sort of a Bruiser feel to a mostly-Exploder set. Between songs, Andrew (on
stage) and I (the only person within ten feet of the stage) bantered about
Verve (more on them later too.) A fine show, even if some of the songs which
have been on singles were barely recognizable in drumbeat-less versions. And
the dancing was superb. **.
11.30 PM: After the show, Andrew catches a ride back to the Teenbeat house
with me. Andrew, of course, used to live in Richmond, and his Scaley Andrew
partner Mark Nelson (now in LaBradford) lives about two blocks from my house.
Andrew is a nice guy IMO -- too bad he has kind of a bad rep in Richmond these
days. We get back to the house, Rob arrives minutes later, and just after
Rob shows up, Chris and Phil from BOCS show up. (Chris, Phil, and Evelyn from
BOCS, as well as the former Sexual Milkshakers, are friends of mine from my
JMU days.) Chris and Phil skipped Eggs to see 9353 instead. Feh. Rob, his
girlfriend Jenny (not Gina as I mistakenly introduced her the next morning;
turns out Rob's previous GF was named Gina -- major faux pas there, Cornick),
Chris, Phil, and I make some waffles and watch Unrest's "Make Out Club"
video. It's silly. The left-to-right wipes were good, though. **. I purchase
the just-released-Thursday Eggs 45 "A Pit With Spikes" and the new BOCS 45
"Giggles 'n' Gloom" (reviews later.) I loaned Rob the new Boo Radleys CD
(which we'd discussed on the phone) and he and Jenny disappear. Chris, Phil
and I stay up for a while discussing things Harrisonburgish, before everyone
kinda drifts off.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23
8:00 AM: I wake up. Everyone else has agreed to meet Rob and myself here (i.e.
Teenbeat house) at 8:30. Everyone is here by around 10:00. Hee hee hee. We
pile into four cars, and Jenny and Rob lead the way. Unfortunately, Cyndy
(the final driver in our convoy) gets stuck at a red light and we lose her.
After much agonizing over what to do, we just keep going, make a few calls,
and (due to much providence) everyone makes it. (I should mention that Jenny
has an official Straitjacket Fits Blow whistle. Top that, Liz! :-) It's
pretty cool -- too bad Blow did just that, IMO...)
12:00 or so: All the equipment is set up, all the mikes and cables are in
place, and we're ready to go. We manage to get each song done in about two or
three takes, but some sort of technical difficulty crops up at each opportune
moment. It took us a while to figure out how to mike the electric eggbeater,
but we did it and it sounded good. The four songs we record today (Lighthouse
Keeper, Chubby Little Pinnacle, Marianna, This Air Before) were decided upon
by a vote, and although it might take some rearranging, they should make a
good EP. The actual recording process is not all that interesting, so I'll
skip it. With everything instrumental done other than a few overdubs, we
break for dinner around 6 or 7 (the clock in the studio doesn't have a minute
hand -- Rob calls it the "ish" clock.)
Dinnertime: Rob, Cyndy, Jamie and myself head for Rob's favorite restaurant,
the Mediterranean Deli near Tenley Circle. The falafel is good. Folks, I
personally can't stand the stuff, but you people who eat garbanzo dip need to
decide how to spell it. Hummus? Hommus? Hummos? Hommos? Hoummous? I've seen
all these spellings and more. Anyway. We buy some beer. Rob tells us we'll
have to smuggle it in since A.U. is a dry campus. We also buy a DAT tape. We
get the beer in, have a few, do the remaining overdubs, then the vocals.
Everything is on tape around 10:00. After doing some rough mixes and making
one DAT and two cassette masters, we call it a night around 12.30 or so. Rob
and I listen to one of the cassettes on the way back to Arlington and at the
house and it sounds GREAT. I mean, FANTASTIC. I can hardly believe it's us.
(And I can hear all the vocals too! I always wondered what the lyrics were to
our songs.) Although there a few things that could use some touching up, Rob
and I concur that there's very little more that needs to be done with the
tape. Our EP is about 95% in the can. (We'll be returning later this year to
do the final mix.)
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24
11.30 AM: After seeing Jamie off (everyone else slept elsewhere or went home
the previous night), Rob and I (and Chris, Phil and Andrew) have some peanut
butter, Rob and Andrew go to work, Phil goes back to Harrisonburg, and I
hit the road. I realized that until I got within one block of my house, I
didn't make a single left turn. I am thinking like a true city driver. I
listen to the tape once more on the way home. Of course I'm biased, but I think
it sounds just marvelous. Almost everything is where/when it should be, and you
can hear the eggbeater plenty well. This was the first time I'd been in a real
studio and I did well. (Only Mike and Cyndy, when they were in Hassan Chop!,
had done multi-track stuff before.) I'm happy. END
Ah yes, the singles. Both are on the Teenbeat label, now accepting your mail
at PO Box 3265, Arlington VA 22203 (yes, that's the new address.) Both of
these have been out less than two weeks. I am nothing if not timely.
I guess (_Teenbeat 96 Eggs..._) Exploder is due out in 1995 or so at this
rate. But we now have a new 45, "A Pit With Spikes" b/w "A Sparkling Mix."
You've probably heard talk of Eggs' new disco direction, and this song (it's
two mixes of one song) is the first recorded evidence of such. No live
drummer, but they use this ancient Rhythm Ace drum machine -- Xtra-cheezy.
It's real mellow, real laid back, until with about a minute left it becomes
total Bee Gees. There's an even slower, mellower instro remix on the flip.
This is plenty cool, but I think I like the earlier run of singles better.
But let's wait for the LP and see if it sounds better there. *1/2.
Blastoff follow up their recent _Pretty Sneaky Sis_ EP of, oh, eight hours ago
with a new one _Giggles 'N' Gloom_. Whereas _Pretty Sneaky_ was a little less
giddy (Phil calls it their "experimental" EP) the new one returns to the
bouncy cheerleading of the first EP (now sold out!) A good reference point
would be Bratmobile with Frankie and Annette on guest vocals. The usual BOCS
caveat applies -- this is not going to change your life, and it'll make people
wonder out loud what you see in the band. But Blastoff are definitely the most
fun I've had with a record since Sesame Street. P.S.: like the first two, this
record sounds good at 33, too. **.
Eggs claim that they're not signing to Vernon Yard (Virgin's pet indie label),
for those of you that thought they were. Eggs will, however, admit to being
Verve and Acetone fans (currently the only two bands on Vernon Yard). Put that
in yr pipe 'n smoke it...
Final notes: A fourth (!) Blastoff 45 is due later, with an LP/CD comp of all
four after that. The Los Marauders debut LP (due in 1994) is called _Every
Fuckin' Song We Know._ And there's an Unrest/Stereolab split 45 available to
people who see the current tour with those bands. KYEO for Unrest "Perfect
Coffee" mugs (Teenbeat 118).
Mark Cornick * cornick@delphi.com
<------------------------------------------------------------>
The Indie-List Digest is published every Tuesday and Friday by the
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What Who Where
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please send your articles for the next issue to LENA!
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[Submitted by: Sean Keric Murphy (skmurphy@phoenix.princeton.edu)
Mon, 1 Nov 93 15:09:53 EST]