he was an ordinary guy,
like you and me,
until lately.
#############################
Indie List Digest!
May 11, 1994
Volume 3 Number 31
#############################
ADMIN: Cornick / Telegraph submission address shift
Alex Chilton Live
Speed Bumps; Soul Junk
Versus
Crash Worship; Skullflower
Pavement & the 3Ds
Orbital; Swell; Seefeel
Shellac/Rodan/Shorty
ANNOUNCE: Indie Music Request
ANNOUCE: Baffler Submissions
ANNOUNCE: Sebadoh Mailing List
ADV: Wind-Up Poodle Spindle #3
ADV: Jiffy Boy v/a CD
----------------------------
hi frenz,
katherine in ames, iowa, wrote a swell pavement/3Ds review that
actually replicates a good deal of what i would have said about the
show on the 5th at chicago's metro (where the stars go to be stomped
on). and she has a food anecdote, too! anyway, i just wanted to add
a few things that made my pavement experience memorable:
-there were two shows; we went to the late show, which was filled
with pavement-esqe people making pavement-esque faces. sources say
the 3Ds were poppier, the pavesters dronier at the first show. at
the late show, the situation was sort of reversed, which was to my
liking, i guess.
[in addition, in the first set the band played Squirrelbait covers,
I'm told. Anyone here know what? -es]
-the 3Ds are the politest band in the world...at least that i've ever
seen. perhaps it's something in the water in new zealand, i dunno.
my favorite moment: when the skinny guitar-playing singer peeped out
from under his hair, smiled, and said perkily, 'well! this one's
called 'outer space,' they're on merge, and i will look for their
stuff. careening, star-spangled guitar pop, with the inevitable
feedback. as my friend said once of my bloody you-know-who, 'it's
thick, it's layered, it might as well be a candy bar!'
-pavement, everyone's favorite lovable moptops, seemed to be having a
pretty good time, and so did the audience, including the heaving,
sweating, drunken john belushi wannabes next to me who insisted on
moshing to impress their girlfriends. i was amazed, too, how many
people sang along with all the words to the songs. it was sort of
like a hootenany for the 90s. memorable moment: a seemingly impromptu
rendition of a stereolab tune, with unintelligible malkmus lyrics
[Crest - about 1.5 minutes worth -es]. plus all your fave tunes, even
'shoot the singer.' [wait, that old Birthday Party song? -es]
someday i will actually review the records i bought that week, too.
but the IL waits for no one, especially me. see ya!
az
------------------------------
From: Mark Cornick <mcornick@nyx10.cs.du.edu>
ADMIN: fuck-up down TG way...
Due to circumstances beyond my control, I lost access to Digex, and
thus to my e-mail sent there for about the last week. It was supposed
to have been forwarded, but apparently a lot of it wasn't. If you
sent Telegraph stuff to <cornick@access.digex.net> in the past two
weeks, please re-send it to <mcornick@nyx.cs.du.edu>.
(The address change was not my fault. Please! Believe me! :-)
___ _________________________________ ________________________
| | _ . ._.. . __. ._. ._ .__. .... | mark cornick - editor |
| T | t/ e/ l/ e/ g/ r/ a/ p/ h/ | mcornick@nyx.cs.du.edu |
|__|_________________________________|_______________________|
( we did it our way! )
[And don't forget Sean's Address shift for TG or IL subscription
needs! -es]
------------------------------
From: madnbut@vt.edu (Mad and Butch)
Alex Chilton Live
Alex Chilton Live-4/23/94-Howlin' Wolf-New Orleans. Seeing as how it
was JazzFest week in NO, it was kind of tough to find any punk rock
around. The closest things to indie rock at the JazzFest itself were
Dash Rip Rock (who are actually pretty smoking in a progressive
bar-band kind of a way) and...well...that was it. The Howlin' Wolf is
New Orleans' "progressive" club (any New Orleanians please set me
straight), and it seems to host most of the bigger touring alternative
bands, though this week it was definitely on the roots tip.
This was actually the fourth time (or so) I've seen Chilton solo. If
you've never seen him, you're in for a (not necessarily) welcome
surprise. Alex seems to have a thing about confounding his audience;
oftentimes he's downright rude. Once you've experienced this
"attitude," and after you've realized he's not going to play
"Thirteen" or "Nighttime" or practically any Big Star, you can start
to get into his groove.
More than anything, Alex has evolved into an archivist of American
music who specializes in bringing to light obscure blues, R&B and
country tunes. This is kind of odd considering that a large portion
of his "legendary" status is based on the many classic songs that he's
written, but whatever; it's what he's into, and has been into, at
least since 1987's High Priest album and certainly before that.
Having just witnessed probably the worst Alex show ever a couple of
months back at the Birchmere in Arlington, VA, (no encore, many
comments about how he hated the place, making fun of the audience for
giggling, etc.) we were prepared for the worst. Accompanied by his
long-time bass player Ron Easley (and a new drummer who's name I
didn't catch), he took the stage in his now-familiar red velvet jacket
(looks something like a waiter's coat, except totally stylin') and
didn't waste much time getting to the good stuff: "Volare", a
lecherous "Take it Off," Don and Juan's 1962 proto-cheese soul anthem
"What's Your Sign," a Gary Stewart cover that smoked like a Neil Young
tune, "B-A-B-Y" and plenty more. He was in remarkably good spirits
and played for almost two hours. No Big Star, no "Bangkok," no "Make
A Little Love," in fact, nothing you could really even recognize
unless you had followed his post-comeback (1985) career fairly
closely.
The crazy thing is, that's become the greatest pleasure of attending a
Chilton solo show after having been "experienced": most of the people
checking it out expect to hear Big Star, etc., and they start to get
pissed after he wings through a few too many covers of obscure Italian
garage songs, and they start to get vocal, and then they start to
belligerent and violence-prone, and then the fun really starts. In a
way, it's kind of sad that he's so thoroughly rejected a substantial
portion of his musical past, but it's also entertaining (in an
admittedly perverse way) to see him climb up and do whatever the fuck
he wants. If that's Slim Harpo or Isaac Hayes, then who am I to argue
with HIM.
-Ralph Wiley
------------------------------
From: rob <rcarmic1@cc.swarthmore.edu>
two tape reviews
before i get started, i want to urge y'all to go see diskothi-Q if
they happen to pass through your town. you'll not find a better show
or a nicer bunch of guys....
our first review is Speed Bumps' "get sped!" cassette.
speed bumps is one of the bands to rise from the ashes of junket's
demise (look for something junk in the future for another). steve
folta, guitarist and lead vocalist (drummer for junket), is a regular
reader of the indie list and i'm surprised that this hasn't been
reviewed here yet.
anyway, "get sped!" can be summed up with the following word:
pleasant. for those of you who are really into hammerhead and the
like, go elsewhere: this is good, clean pop that makes you feel good
and sing along. perhaps the best comparison would be nothing painted
blue with a slightly fuller sound. the songs are fast-paced (for the
most part) yet are always controlled. best of all, the whole tape is
incredibly catchy (i found myself humming "way, way, way" after one
listen). notable songs are "way, way, way," "hangin in the sky"
(found w/"way..." on a speed bumps 7"), "IWSW," "dosimeter," and "no
point in asking." wonderful summer summer music. write steve. buy
this. **
tube alloy recording, p.o. box 471795, san francisco, ca, 94147 (or
write steve at folta@netcom.com for a catalogue, etc.)
our second review is soul junk's "1950: free shrimp" cassette.
soul junk is the ex-lead guitarist of trumans water (perhaps his wife
and a few others occasionally). he left the band because he got
married and became a born-again christian. this tape, i guess,
documents his change of heart, religiously, and features heartfelt
meditations on god (cf. "father god" and "i turned my back on you").
cynics will immediately discard this tape with the likes of amy grant,
et al, but this would be a grave, grave mistake. i don't buy the
message, but the music is superb.
i suppose the best summation of the merits of this here reel of
chromium dioxide is that it's the best of both worlds: the songs
alternate between senTRIdoh/sebadoh/paste-style sparse lamentings to a
sort of free jazz a la god is my co-pilot, only with longer jams; the
music is more free and purely instrumental. you can tell the emotion
is strong behind each of the songs. the more traditional stuff
usually consists of guitar, drums and vocals, while the improv stuff
is primarily drums, sax, and organ. wonderful listening, regardless
of yr religion, race, creed, or sex. **1/2
shrimper tapes, p.o. box 1837, upland, ca, 91785
i guess that's it. hugs and kisses.
rob
rcarmic1@cc.swarthmore
------------------------------
From: "Min Joo Lee" <94MLEE@vax.mbhs.edu>
Versus are the best
Okay, this will be a review of the brand new Versus LP, "The Stars Are
Insane" and a review of shows they played in Washington, D.C.
Versus "The Stars Are Insane" Teenbeat 142
I think the new LP is great. The songs are, by and large, slower than
previous material. But there is more singing by Fontaine Toups and I
think both she and Richard have very much improved their vocal
delivery. The record is noisy and poppy and the song writing is
inventive and varied. Fontaine seems to sing about being submissive
but then revolting in two beautiful songs called "janet" and "wind me
up" ('wind me up, turn me around... i am not a wind-up doll'). The
songs where Richard and Fontaine share vocals are very good: "river"
is another very poppy and melodic song that seems to be about (maybe)
River Phoenix's death. Allow me to explain: one verse goes "Last time
I saw River, he was lying face down, he fell face down, so believe him
when he says ten bucks won't last you a very long way." Maybe i'm
wrong. Maybe he just new someone named 'River' or it's just a complex
esoteric allusion that I can't possibly comprehend.
Versus at the Black Cat, May 5
They were great but not very glib. They played stuff mostly off
the new LP, a couple of new songs that don't even have names yet, and
"bright light." They tossed in "forest fires" as an altogether-too-
brief encore. Richard told one joke:
"What do you call a fish without an eye? ... Fsh"
There were only about 70 people there, maybe fewer by the time
Versus went on. Audience members included Mark Robinson, Bridget
Cross (ex-Unrest), Jonny Cohen (TeenBeat label mainstay), Jenny
Toomey, Kristin Thompson (Simple Machines moguls and Tsunami members).
They had nice T-shirts...
Richard had a glittery 'R' on his guitar, Fontaine had a glittery 'F'
on her bass, and Ed had a little 'e' on his drum kit, so that was
pretty cute. They were on a 10-day tour and headed south, so if you
can, go see them. One of their stops is Nashville where, according to
Ed, the crowd screams for them. Purple Ivy Shadows and Kicking Giant
both opened for Versus. They were both pretty inventive, but at the
end, annoying.
Versus at Vinyl Ink record store, May 5 (earlier that day)
Played a brief preview of the show in a tiny record shop in downton
Silver Spring, MD, before about a dozen people. They played a great
"that girl's gone."
------------------------------
From: "Theodore A. Khoury" <khoury@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu>
Reviews: Crash Worship, Skullflower
I know that many guys who contribute to this played D&D in the 6th
grade, making beasts, elfs, imps, and other fantasy shit. It was a
little fantasy world, created by a piece of paper, with dragons and
druids. This 6th grade spiritual out-of-body experience is instilled
in the CW cd and the new Skullflower single.
CRASH WORSHIP ADRV: "!Espontaneo!" (Charnel House) This is the only
Crash Worship full-length CD out (66 minutes), but they also have a
tape only, a 12" single, and a couple of 7"'s. The CD has been out
for over a year now, but I just got around to picking it up. They have
like 3 drummers, a guitarist, bass, howling men, and troop of loin
cloth dancers covered with painted blood who pickpocket your ass
while they dance around. I always wondered how they could afford to
take an entire troupe of dancers on the road when they tour 6 months
every year. This CD is live and brings to life every ounce of evil
in their live show, and it scares the piss out of you. You've just
died, and been sentenced to hell, and a line of under-earthings with
tight-stretched gut drums are lined up on each side of you for miles,
screaming and wailing in your face, you can feel each voice as if it's
right next to your ear, whispering crazily. The dynamics of this CD are
amazing and it blew the shit out of my speakers. Don't mind this
review if you're afraid of the dark or if you are saving up for the
next K release. ***
SKULLFLOWER: "Ponyland" 7" (Sympathy F. R. I.) Over the years there
have been a share of bands that are demented to the point that they
scare you--the God Bullies, for instance, but deep down you know that
Mike Hard is a decent white man. Other bands today--Cherubs, Today is
the Day, Drain--do this well, but I still get the feeling that they
make an 'effort' to be demented, as opposed to being demented, unlike
Crash Worship or Teenage Larvae. Skullflower is one of these truly
messed up bands. A trio with occasional violin, not like a Thinking
Fellars string, but more like a tone you'd hear playing out of a
broken music box. 'Ponyland' goes back and forth from this light,
tinkering demented music box to explosions of ripped-up sound. The
singer comes on like a telecaster at armageddon--warning everyone, but
you can barely hear him over all the chaos and commotion in the
streets. The song does this for over 7 minutes on a 7". The flip
side, 'Fake Revolt' sounds like two different songs mixed together
perfectly, so that one is a droning loop of feedback beating and the
other one sounds like some obscure Stooges tune picked up on
short-wave radio, both mixed well over 5 minutes for this song. With
high singles prices these days, and shorter songs, this release is a
little something special for the kids. It's great. I know these guys
have other singles out and at least one full-length release; I don't
know how the other stuff is, but this single is nice, and the cover is
pretty nice too. Buy and prepare to die. ***
-theodore
------------------------------
From: spiffyk@aol.com
Pavement and the 3Ds in Ames
Hi. This is my first time posting to the list, but I'm already
infamous among some of you, I guess. Here in Ames, Iowa, (good) indie
shows are few and far between, so I was quite thrilled to find that
the Ames Independent Music Society got Pavement to come here. You're
probably tired of Pavement live reviews (you could always read Rolling
Stone for that) but I can't help it, what a night...
The show, held 5/4/94 in the basement of the ISU State Gym, was
wonderful. I missed the openers, Clear, an Ames punk band, but I can
always hear 'em on the radio or something. The 3Ds put on a solid
set, half of which was songs from their latest, _The Venus Trail_.
Splendid versions of "Ritual Tragick," "Sunken Treasure," and "Outer
Space" as well. I wish they would have moved around on stage a bit
more--maybe that way the crowd, who mostly didn't know who they were,
would have gotten into it a bit more. I picked up the new CD at the
show and have been playing it incessantly ever since.
Until about 30 seconds before Pavement's set started, Steve West and
Scott were taking turns racing around on some guy's bike backstage. I
figured that would set the mood for a fun show, and I was right. I'd
never seen Pavement before and didn't know how entertaining Bob is.
He fooled around with a Moog, played tambourine and cowbell, shouted
out the choruses, and once in a while played drums. Best part of the
show was when Bob was singing and Malkmus came up to him, put him in a
headlock that looked kinda uncomfortable, and kept on playing guitar
in that position. Pavement played six and 1/2 (they started "5-4"
twice but never finished) songs from _Crooked Rain_, a couple new
songs, including the mesmerizing "Fight This Generation," and such
crowd favorites as "Box Elder" and "Here." The crowd was so good (no
moshing really, just a lot of adoring fans mouthing the words to even
the OLD songs) that they must have been from out of town.
My first band interview (it'll be in the next issue of my zine) ever
consisted of talking to Mark and Bob about Pavement's Tonight Show
appearance, CompuServe conference, Peel Sessions, etc. I gave them a
bunch of things people on the Net and Prodigy have written about them,
and they seemed amused. And Bob and I debated about who has worse
record stores, Louisville or Ames. (The money's on Ames, every
time--at least Louisville has vinyl.)
My mom wanted to have Pavement and Gerard over for dinner ("Oh, we
could all sit out on the patio! It's so nice!") but I knew that
wouldn't happen, so she "catered" instead with homemade lasagna,
salad, and two chocolate mousse pies. One had a "P" written on it,
the other an "M." She explained, "Matador gets half and Pavement has
to split the other half." Yeah, she's a riot. At least half the 3Ds
and Pavement had the food and seemed grateful for it. Highlight of
the evening was when we were watching Pavement "practice" before the
show. A guitarist, a tall, spindly young man, stepped offstage. At
last, my big chance to introduce her to Scott--we had this running
joke about the name "Scott," long story. So, grinning confidently, I
said, "Mom, this is Scott!" A bemused grin spread across his normally
placid face as he said, "Actually, it's Steve." Gerard tried to
reassure me, "Even their own friends and relatives get them confused
sometimes...well, maybe not." After the show I showed Steve my
hand-painted, one-of-a-kind "i'm the only kid in america who doesn't
love pavement" T-shirt and he grinned.
There are other things I could mention but I've already gone on way
too long...sorry if this got kinda gossipy, but HEY, it was the most
fun night of my life.
Katherine
------------------------------
From: pjoe@grafix.wlink.nl (Joep Vermaat)
See, Orbital feels Swell!
Hi guys and gals!
High time for another collection of reviews by the Two Pure. I hope
you enjoyed the last posting, later Joep thought that he made the
review a bit boring. But we did receive a few positive reactions
anyway. No inquiries about the meal, though. You should taste it,
it's great!
We won't bother to write a Rodan review, because those guys get quite
enough attention in the list already. We think the album is great,
but we expected something of "Spiderland" proportions, which it is
obviously not. Still one of the better releases this year. But the
following are even better.
Swell - "41" (Beggars Banquet/American) 13 tracks 53:53
41 Turk Street, San Fransisco. That's the address of the building
Swell recorded their three albums, creating their own atmosphere,
their own world. All the recordings breathe the space of the
building, the sound of the walls, the floor, the ceiling and above all
everything outside. A Swell record gives you a view in a world they
only know, a city which is theirs, you only are allowed to taste a bit
of their creation. They make you want to be a part of it, a place you
can never reach, Swell's world.
Still, their world doesn't exsist. It's a parallel universe full of
wise, literary drunks and bums. A world dark, scary but still
comforting. Climb the stairs, open the door and you're inside. A
world where sin is essential ("Thank god for sin to show the way" -
'Forget about Jesus'), where the telephone rings endlessly ('Don't
Give'). A world where you can hear the sounds of a city, trucks
unloading, drunks calling out loud. And when you step outside,
there's a man who reads all the lyrics for you out loud. He sounds
like a drunk bum, but it's Swell's dentist.
Seefeel - "Stare through EP" (WARP 45CD) 4 tracks 26:43
An electronic label signs up a guitar band, who could have thought of
it? Still, it's not that strange; Seefeel fits into picture perfectly.
Warp has always been an outstanding label, wanting to expand the
boundaries of music. And Seefeel will help them, having a lot more in
common with Warp's Artificial Intelligence project than with most
guitar bands of this moment.
If you hear the record you can hardly tell it's a guitar band. The
sounds seem all electronic. If I hadn't seen them do it live, I
wouldn't have believed it either. Daren really plays the bass lines
on a bass guitar, Sarah actually sings, Justin lays down rhythms on a
normal drum kit and Mark and Sarah touch their guitars.
Seefeel are reaching for new horizons. The layered guitars have
almost disappeared and the music emphasizes rhythm. The title track
is otherworldy, beautiful dub reggae. "Air-eyes" creates an Oriental
mood, with snippets of harmonica. "Spangle" seems like a quiet sister
of Orbital's breathtaking track "Halcyon," where the sounds of organs
take care of the flow, accentuated by the drums and above the virtuoso
voice of Sarah. The last and best track of the EP, "Lux 1," could have
come from Aphex Twin's "Selected Ambient Works volume II." The song
doesn't seem to have any structure, rhythm or melody at all, at first
hearing. Not more than a uneasy scary rumble out of the speakers.
Still there is a rhythm to be found in the waves of sound making it
rumble, and under that you barely hear a two or three-tone melody.
Ending with a rumbling climax.
In contrast to some critics, we think Seefeel make very exciting music.
The band only has one peer at this moment and that's the Aphex Twin,
the uncrowned king of ambient techno music. It isn't that strange
that the band have a good friendship with Richard James. And
soon we can expect the first fruits of an alliance of
Richard James, Seefeel, Reload and Autechre under the name of Gescom.
Until that time we're very pleased with this EP and if this is the
first warning of things to come. Then you should be really afraid.
Seefeel is about to take over the torch that has been carried by My
Bloody Valentine for so long.
Orbital - "Diversions" (ffrr) 6 tracks 65:33
This is not a new record but an American compilation album of two of
the most recent recordings of Orbital: the "Lush" single and Peel
session. If you buy this it will be lot cheaper than if you buy the
other two. Because every good thing is featured here. "Impact USA"
is a mix of pure genius, the first five minutes of the track are
almost identical to the original only using some other sounds. But
then when you expect a rhythmic 'chorus', you get very disoriented,
instead of it you hear a very loud techno-break that would send a
dancing crowd through the roof. "Lush 3" of the Peel sessions is
unrecognizable but long and exciting. "Semi Detached" is the best
track Orbital have made 'till now. All conventional ideas of
contemporary dance music have been set aside. The rest of the "Lush"
mixes are very good, especially the Underworld mix, with in the end a
beautiful guitar break.
Okay, I think this is quite enough for this week. Next time we hope
to review the Shiva Affect album and the new EP of Bark Psychosis.
Maybe the new Flying Saucer Attack single too.
-=> The Two Pure <=-
Joep Vermaat pjoe@grafix.wlink.nl
Lawrence Pit pit@WI.leidenuniv.nl
-- Via Xenolink 1.90
------------------------------
From: jodi@dsm.fordham.edu (Jodi Shapiro)
Shellac/Rodan/Shorty
'Nother one of my skewed reviews. Disjointed due to chemical
imbalance (you'll see).
The pack of them strode down Broadway, trying their best to look cool.
They only succeeded in looking nervous. Several spoke of Steve and
his anticipated mood. Others were too busy with their own thoughts to
notice the pierced and tattooed college kids squatting on the
sidewalk.
Up some stairs, into a large gallery space. I flashed my ID for the
first time (never got carded before).
After an hour, Shorty took the makeshift stage and started cranking
out their post-Jesus Lizard-esque groove. It was a sight to see--their
singer has facial tics like an epileptic, and his voice does
gymnastics that leave you wondering what drugs he takes, and why
doesn't he share? Band- wise, the music is tight, tense and
aggressive. Recommended highly.
Rodan were up next. If you've ever heard Rodan, you know that
stage-diving and/or slam dancing is IMPOSSIBLE. Anyway, some brain
surgeon decided to try it and ended up on my friend Thad who
promptly deflected him. The brain surgeon fell on my nearly-bare
feet. Last time I wear sandals to a show...
Rodan pumped out some equally tense rock, laced with angular guitars
and a thundering backbeat. Girls were cooing over their cute
guitarist (who looks about twelve), guys were forced to respect their
female bassist. Beauty. Go see 'em whenever you can. Dynamics were
never so dynamic.
Thad: Did that asshole hurt you?
Me: [trying to walk] I don't think so. [falls on floor] No.
Thad: Neither do I.
Brick Layer Cake, Todd Trainor's band. I remember _Call It A Day_
having real songs on it, songs I liked, but this was just plain awful
to me. I busied myself with a young single guy and watched _Legend Of
The Overfiend_ on the screen in the back of the gallery. BLC was a
good soundtrack to it, BTW.
Shellac. The crowd was restless; the room hot and sweat-filled. Bass
that goes boom, drums that go crash and guitar that squeals like a
pig, shrieks like a frightened child and buzzes like a head full of
Jagermeister. It's the sound of pain. Groov-y, rhythmic and
unstructured, Shellac were the stars of the evening, no doubt. Steve
pulled his smarter-than-you trip, but couldn't really keep a straight
face. Bob Weston should be a stand-up comedian because he answers
heckles with grace and style.
Of course, all the songs were great (My Black Ass, some bird song),
but I was waiting for "Wingwalker" (shoulda been last). They did not
disappoint. Stage antics and a kick in the head to boot. Shellac
aren't the best band in the world, but they made me feel real good.
I'll bet I'll be screaming "Lookat me! I'ma plane!" for weeks to come.
Thad: I haven't seen you this happy since Dave asked you out.
Me: That long? Wow.
Thad: Stop smiling. You're scaring me.
Summary: Three cool bands, one iffy. A few assholes, one broken toe.
Stargazing: Cosloy, Jon Fine, Judah from the Blues Explosion, Rikki
Rachtman, assorted record-label scum, one ex-Prisonshake bassist.
Just another night in New York, the town w/o pity and even fewer
public bathrooms.
-Jodi
--
Jodi Shapiro---CIMS Fordham University (Lincoln Center). 113 West 60th St.
NYC, NY
jodi@dsm.fordham.edu Support your favorite crew team!
"She missed the last train to Mars, she's out back counting stars."-Hum
------------------------------
From: tmburke@student.umass.edu
ANNOUNCE: Indie bands wanted - WOCH
My name is Mike and I am on the managing staff at WOCH at UMASS
Amherst. I am in the middle of compiling a music library that features
indie bands from all across the US, Canada, and Britain. If you know
of any bands that would want airplay on a large college radio station
could you plese give them my address. Thank you very much.
Mike Burke
362 Hillcrest Rd
Needham MA 02192
------------------------------
From: Seth L Sanders <feste@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu>
ANNOUNCE: Baffler calling
If you're interested in the "culture industry" (that's like record
companies and shit, the reason you heard of Pavement, etc.) check it
out.
The Baffler magazine invites submissions on the subject of BUSINESS
CULTURE and THE CULTURE BUSINESS Culture is the biggest business of
all these days. Mergers between entertainment conglomerates are the
stuff of front-page news; movies, TV, and magazines are brought under
ever-tighter monopolistic control; and our elected leaders threaten a
trade war with France unless they agree to come to us for their sex
and violence. Meanwhile the book-publishing industry collapses,
newspapers fawn slavishly over "synergy" and the "information
superhighway," and academics reiterate the banal sweetnesses of
pop-star press-kits as serious scholarship.
The nation is hurrying industriously along towards the greatest
augmentation in business power since the rise of mass communication,
and from every side we hear joyful accolades. Our owners have spoken:
the penetration of corporate culture into every aspect of human life
is a fantastically liberating development. And yet we at THE BAFFLER
have our doubts. Help us give these developments the debunking they
so richly deserve!
THE "INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY"
Everywhere the term is used, it's regarded with the most profound
reverence of anything since television. But will staring at a screen
all day under the tutelage of some benevolent corporate sponsor be as
wonderful as that annoying child from MCI says it will be? Is it
progress? Or just another step in the happy march towards consumer
brain-death and the final obsoleting of dissent?
"SYNERGY"
How did "popular culture" come to refer to something manufactured by
corporations? How can the ongoing concentration of every major
cultural outlet into fewer and fewer hands possibly be understood as a
public boon or as an asset to American culture? Hm? How about it?
SCANDALS, HOAXES, GENERAL CORPORATE BLUNDERINGS
Nobody knows business culture better than its seemingly pliant data
slaves, the temps whose no-benefits labor makes possible the whole
ridiculous spectacle of the Noble Businessman and Corporate
Benevolence. Give us the dirt on your employer. Purloined memos,
anecdotes, ad campaigns, corporate strategy. Join us as we piss on
the millionaires' parade.
CYBER-LUDDITE!
Write to THE BAFFLER before July 1 at
P. O. Box 378293
Chicago, IL 60637
Resume-builders:
One of the "Ten Best Magazines of 1990"
was how Library Journal described THE BAFFLER in April 1991.
"Brilliantly Angry"
is what Elizabeth Pochoda of The Nation thinks of our story on the farcical
"20-something" debate.
"How Irritating!"
exclaimed editor Penelope Green of the New York Times Styles section
when informed of the validity of THE BAFFLER'S story on the Great
Grunge Prank for which her paper had fallen.
But then THE BAFFLER doesn't intend to make a lot of friends with
people in the business of Big Culture. Because while 99% of the
culture-products in the United States are dedicated to celebrating
celebrity, administering mental anaesthesia, or rhapsodizing about the
eternal reign of business over the minds of men, our intent is exactly
the opposite.
As an intentionally abrasive journal of literature, criticism, and
review, THE BAFFLER is dedicated to exposing the endless fraudulence
of what passes for "culture" in America; to articulate a resistance to
the Official Styles of the day, be they Grunge, the Gap, the "Twenty-
Something" debate, Details magazine, or MTV. THE BAFFLER is
especially concerned with the efforts of the culture industry to take
for its own purposes the trappings of the once-adversarial and
transform them into pitches for consumerism as a way of life.
THE BAFFLER is not the slick and shallow mass-market product of a
giant publishing house. Nor is it an unreadable collection of
academic jargon and introverted poesy. Simply put, THE BAFFLER's goal
is to take a creative critical stance towards the "condition" of
postmodernism and its American cousin, consumerism. THE BAFFLER
aspires to be to the 1990s what American Mercury was to the 20s or The
New Masses to the 30s. Its application of rigorous literary standards
to the sensibility of punk have yielded a uniquely style of criticism
which is applied in each issue to a different aspect of the flatulent
moronicity we call culture.
Join us...gabba-gabba we accept you gabba-gabba one of us...one of
us....
------------------------------
From: kbillus@world.std.com (Kathleen Billus)
ANNOUNCE: Sebadoh mailing list!
She brought you Sebadoh, Sentridoh, Deluxx Folk Implosion show
announcements! She brought you the latest news about new Sebadoh,
Sentridoh, DFI, FI, Sparkalepsy, Belt Buckle. She even did her best
to summon up the strength to answer your anal record-collector
questions about the 4th chord in the 4th song of the first edition of
the Sebadoh cassette (limited edition of 50), etc. etc. God, I hate
answering those questions. She even brought you Lou Barlow himself
responding to criticism of the first DFI show!
Historic!
Now, she brings you the Sebadoh mailing list:
Rules:
1) This list should not even remotely resemble the Pavement list. I
don't want to see encoded, personal messages passed back and forth
such as "Chad, I'll meet you at the Grand before the show. I'll be
wearing suede. Rock on." Also found on the Pavement list:
unconscionable amount of messages composed exclusively of boot and
tape trade information.
2) Please do what you can to substantiate claims and to qualify
criticisms. The Sebadoh mailing list should not resemble the
invariably inane alt.music.alternative.
3) I hope to institute some kind of giveaway or contest in an effort
to accommodate people who are clamoring for currently nonexistent
Sebadoh merchandise. This is only one reason why you should be nice
to me. You may also be nice to me by following these rules, including
but not limited to: Support your argument! Don't be boring. The
Sebadoh mailing list should, ideally, be at least as exciting as
instrument changes during those early Sebadoh shows. A fine tribute
to the band, I'm sure you'll agree.
4) Go ahead and be self-reflexive; talk about other bands, though I
caution you to be interesting and witty and not boring and to keep the
complit comparisons of Sebadoh and Archers of Loaf to a minimum.
To subscribe, send a message of the form
subscribe list-name
to Sebadoh-L-Request@world.std.com
To post, send a message to Sebadoh-L@world.std.com.
This list is not currently being archived, so if anyone would like to
volunteer, I would be grateful for help.
Kathleen Billus
kbillus@world.std.com
------------------------------
From: Liz Clayton <lclayton@uhuru.uchicago.edu>
ADV: Wind-Up Poodle Spindle #3
Yeah, it's me, the girl that used to fuck up your subscriptions to
this list all the time. Believe it or not, I'm much more useful with
the US Mail somedays, which should prompt you to order up a copy of
Wind Up Tizzlehopper number THREE.
featuring the Extra Glenns, Guided by Voices, King Loser, Yo La Tengo,
the Coctails, recipes, car trouble tips, letters, page numbers,
photos, live reviews, a table of contents, fucking EVERYTHING man!
Send $2.50 to Liz Clayton / 5201 S. Cornell #27c / Chicago, IL 60615
Thanks
------------------------------
From: blue slurpee junky <whitebrd@eden.rutgers.edu>
ADV: I'm a hog.
i hate to be a hog in the ol' announcement department, but i'm just so
darn senseless. once summer comes i'll start writing real submissions
and not be just another corporate ho-ho. uh: jiffy boy records has a
15 band (16 song) cd out now for just $10 ppd. all songs are
unreleased (sans a demo version or two) and the bands are: grifters,
poole, all about chad, lilys, barnabys, sugarshock, viva satellite
(rob of eggs' other band), schwa va, paint, melba, grit, slow children
playing, apple-o, ultra cindy, and china pig. 63 minutes of detuning
and stuff. lilys have created their best song ever (according to many
and not just me) and the grifters reserve their place as the most
lo-fi, high-fi ban