More coffee, sir?
#############################
Indie List Digest!
August 13, 1994
Volume 3 Number 47
#############################
In this delightful issue:
Horn of Plenty
Man or Astro-Man?
Scrawl, The Lois, Sputnik
Orangutang, Swell, Madder Rose, et al.
Mekons, MOTO, Spiny Anteaters
Stereolab, Lois
Merge Fest
Slitbreeze Extravaganza
ANNOUNCE: Musician Request
ANNOUNCE: Tulip Roadtrip
Real Jobs. Gotta love 'em.
------------------------------
From: Joanne Merriam <ILION@ac.dal.ca>
Subject: Horn of Plenty on Stoy
Brunswick Hall, 30 July 1994
Playing: Horn of Plenty, Big Picture, Black Pool
"HORN OF PLENTY will commence tonight's summer mid+sectioned
celebration concert with a piece performed on the STOY. THE CRYSTAL
SECTIONED will follow beginning with its first portion. .long pond.
& clickety clack is the second in the two part performance just
performed at this part of tonight's summer equinox mid-section
celebration concert performance. DOGERELLE will DOGROLL in 9's to
trilogize tonight's performance to hear New Math Four You ONETY ONE
TWOTY TWO THRITY THREE FOURTY FOUR FIVETY FIVE SIXTY SIX SEVENTY SEVEN
EIGHTY EIGHT IN 9's the quarter will remain to be filled by the final
repertoi in tonight's repertory BEWARE THE FALLING FLESH DOG"
Okay, it didn't make much sense to me either, and I have the advantage
of knowing 2 of the band members. The text above is the complete text
of the somewhat dog-eared flyers on the tables. The other bands did
not provide pre-concert literature. The performance began with the
"special mystery guest" who had been advertised in CKDU's promotion of
the gig. (CKDU is Dalhousie's campus/community radio station). It
was a plant in a box, which played a tinny, musical box version of "To
Dream The Impossible Dream." The audience got very quiet and seemed
fairly bewildered; most of them were there to see Black Pool, I think,
who are a Celtic-influenced bar band. Then Horn of Plenty came on.
They started by playing the Stoy, which is a collective instrument
consisting of one of those plastic keyboards that sets off bells in
different pitches, a tin whistle, a plastic flute/organ/thing, various
percussive instruments of the kindergarden-school variety, and those
plastic tubes with balls inside that go "whooong" when you turn them
upside down. Day-care attendants probably drool over instrumentation
like this. They had a heavy backbeat going as well, I didn't see
where it came from but it sounded electronic. The effect was very
unique, wall-of-sound techno, and was probably danceable, although
nobody tried. (This is Halifax, after all; people are way too cool to
actually do something fun like dancing; but I'm not bitter.)
Then I guess the next part was the Crystal Sectioned, which was two
basses, a guitar, and drums, played in various interesting ways. The
drumming, although frantic, was fairly straightforward, but the
guitarist used a fork to grind out electric-violin-type melodies, very
fast, and the bassists were heavily into using their hands as slides
and into very creative feedback. Whatever had been making the heavy
backbeat before now pounded out the occasional snippet from films or
wherever, I could hardly hear (let alone identify) them. Watching the
whole process of this music being made was really what interested me;
on a CD it would probably bore me, but it was fascinating to see it
done.
Then the Big Picture came on, very good musicians (I think the
violinist did a year at Julliard), but their vocalist has way too
breathy a tenor for me, and as it was getting fairly late, I left. The
Big Picture have a new CD out though and I think if they had a
different singer I'd really love them, they have a unique setup for
such a poppy band, what with keyboard and violin. So I missed Black
Pool, who were no doubt superb.
Joanne Merriam
------------------------------
From: David Gershwin <gershwin@hollywood.cinenet.net>
Man or Astro-man? Mon. 8/1 Hell's Gate, Hollywood, CA
Man or Astro-man? -- 8/1/94 -- Hell's Gate, Hollywood, CA
First off, Hell's Gate may be one of the better venues I've been to
recently. HG has Jagermeister on tap, gold-painted skulls embedded in
faux-Corinthian columns, and restrooms that aren't clearly marked (we
are in Hollywood, after all). Local amenities include Playboy Liquor
next door, a 7-11 across the street on Cahuenga, teen-age runaways on
Hollywood Blvd., and, safely assuming by the bevy of street signs with
the word "Dope" in a circle with a slash through it, a cavalcade of
drug dealers. Shows are under $3 -- Mon. night was free.
Now -- Man or Astro-man? -- Alabama's own -- are part of this Estrus
records/trash/garage rock thing, along with the Monomen and other
bands of this ilk.
MOAM? are completely into sci-fi trash culture. They're from "a place
called outer space," all technical difficulties were blamed on the
fact that they "weren't used to the earth's gravity." When in a real
bind, band members chide each other to use their "transponic powers"
to create the sound they need. The outfits/get-ups were great -- the
bassist was in scrubbies and a stethoscope, the sampler/vocalist was
in a Six-Million Dollar Man-era orange jumpsuit, and the lead
guitarist (amazing -- incredible musician -- like Dick Dale on crank) was
bedecked in a Pepsi delivery-man outfit. Nerd glasses on 2 band
members.
The stage came decorated with black & white TVs running tapes of old
'50s trashy sci-fi movies (as the MOAM? name would imply, no?), a
mural of the band in the sci-fi movie poster format, and these four
absolutely crazy kids who, I swear, must inhale rocket fuel, inasmuch
as they jump, scream, convulse, and otherwise play "loud fast rules"
as well as anyone. I still can't figure out how the drummer managed
to keep a beat while jumping up and down, eventually landing on his
own snare drum.
Starting off songs with counts like "One, Two, FUCK YOU!", doing a
cover of the theme from Mystery Sci. Theater 3000, using digital
samplers with dialogue from Gargantua's Last Stand and other delights,
performing cowboy numbers with one of the sampler/vocalist screaming
"Yip Yip YOOOOO!" at the top of his lungs the entire time, MOAM? were
a treat indeed, especially at the low-dollar price. They were so
fast, they made the Ramones sound like Lawrence Welk.
-- David Gershwin
gershwin@hollywood.cinenet.net
gershwin@pop.com
------------------------------
From: <jac15@po.cwru.edu>
SCRAWL, "THE" LOIS, SPUTNIK in Cleveland
Scrawl, "The" Lois, Sputnik : Euclid Tavern, Cleveland Ohio, 8-1-94
Boy, what a fun time I had last night, even after my car's
transmission died yesterday afternoon on the way to a band practice
that never happened...I was totally bummed out, but this show really
helped a lot.
The first band up was a new local band called Sputnik, which includes
Alan Grandy (from other fairly popular local band, Jehovah's
Waitreses, and formerly of the Terrible Parade years ago) on acoustic
guitar & singing, Jay Benthoff (of the Jay Benthoff band, of course!)
on fretless bass, and another guy apparently named Jeff on a
minimalist drum kit (kick drum, snare, tiny little crash cymbal);
their songs were really quite good, much to my pleased surprise.
Very upbeat, a little jazzy (maybe a little too jazzy for my tastes,
but they kept it to a minimum, really -- mostly the jazziness was due to
the fretless bass and Mr. Benthoff's showingoffness), and almost --dare
I say it?-- Beatlesque! I hope they play out or record soon; they were
good. Oh, this is kind of interesting...the drummer played the whole
set with brushes, which I guess is not so odd, but he used them
exactly as if they were drumsticks, not brushes, and they sounded too
loud to be brushes...what's the deal with that?
Well, Lois, or "The Lois," as Lois Maffeo introduced themselves as
took the stage with another minimal (though less so) drum kit and the
drummer Heather from Tiger Trap...who also played with brushes,
though she was a bit more up on brush technique, it seemed. (This
profusion of brush-using drummers reminded a friend of mine, who used
to work in a record store, of the time a customer brought back a John
Coletrane record he had bought there, complaining of a big hiss going
throughout a particular song on the record...Turns out it was just the
drummer playing with brushes, sort of "sweeping" the snare drum like
jazz drummers used to, and this guy had never heard that before! Where
and how did that technique ever get developed anyway?)
Anyway, Lois was great, and the audience of almost if not more than
50% female (Scrawl has a big female audience in Cleveland...I heard
some politically incorrect guy calling the evening "Lezbopalooza") and
even many males very much appreciated her sorta quiet but moving and
dynamic set. Some of their songs rocked pretty good, too, and Lois
has a very expressive, interesting face to watch while she's singing.
She even demonstrated her powers of concentration by singing a very
cool a capella song whilst changing and tuning a string on her guitar!
She had a lot of interesting things to say between songs too, and even
did a song in which she disclosed that she was originally inspired to
pick up a guitar and sing songs by a Scrawl record, and that her dream
had always to been to play opening up for Scrawl! I like hearing that
kind of stuff.
Then Scrawl played. I haven't seen them in probably 4 or 5 years, but
I thought there were more than just 3 of them. (Didn't there used to be
3 women and their guy drummer?) Anyway, there were only two women this
time but they still sounded great, greater than I remembered hearing
them sound before. They have quite a nice variety of different kinds
of songs, not just all punk noisy things, not just ballady soft
things. A real healthy variety. Nice vocal harmonies too, which make
some of the lyrics--which sometimes I have to admit seem a little
trite to me-- palatable. Which is just what a good voice needs to do
anyway.
Anyway, I was getting very tired from trauma with my car earlier in
the day, so I left after about 35 minutes of Scrawl, and on my way out
the door I got a chance to talk with Lois for a little bit next to her
t-shirt/cd sales area. She was really nice and affable, and
pleased at the nice response the Cleveland crowd had given her. She
said she loved Cleveland, and had just spent an hour or so driving
around looking at things when they had arrived here earlier.
It was a really nice time all around, it seemed, which is just what I
needed; it's been a while since I really have seen a show like that
too. It seems like everyone is trying to astound you with their
loudness or complexity or rhythmic trickiness these days.
JC
------------------------------
From: "Steve Baragona" <baragona@ariad.com>
Orangutang @ Middle East, Swell, Madder Rose, Info Request
My very first Indie List submission...
So I've been in a very anti-show mood these days. I've seen too many
mediocre shows lately, and all my own attempts to put a band together
have been falling through. So I've just generally been down on music
in general. But my friend Kim dragged me out to see Orangutang and
Smackmellon upstairs at the Middle East last week.
I've seen Smackmellon before. They're a power trio fronted by Duke
Roth, who, along with every other guitar player in Boston, did some
time in Bullet LaVolta. I knew they rocked. They didn't disappoint
me. They played a bunch of really great new stuff. Comparisons to
Husker Du, which plagued them early on, aren't really relevant
any more. They've continued to harden and define their sound (at least
live) and I don't hear the Husker thing at all.
So I was getting that warm feeling back. Then Orangutang came on.
After killing time waiting for their drummer to show up (he was
downstairs checking out the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, who sold out 5
straight nights), they started up and rocked real hard. They've got
a single out on the commercial progressive station up here
(WFNX...it's OK if there's nothing on the college stations), but, as
usual, it's the wimpiest song they do. Really good and very catchy,
but wimpy compared to their live show. They didn't play it. I was
glad.
I hate trying to categorize bands, but to give you an idea, maybe
cross Helmet with Sloan. That's not fair at all, but it's the best I
could do. Basically, they've got a pretty hard sound, but they've got
a great melodic sense and do good harmonies. The guitar players
jumped around a lot, which I like to see. I'm tired of stationary
indie rockers. Have some fun, folks. Get some exercise. Also, the
drummer hit hard. His stroke started above his head. Then, 3/4 of
the way through their set, they left the stage to make room for...
Chucklebucket. Or something like that. I've forgotten
what exactly they called themselves. It was Chucklesomething.
Basically, they played a tape of some Olivia Newton-John song (I think
that's who it was...anyway, you get the idea), and performed an
awesome choreographed story in full Western garb. Y'know, Boy meets
Girl (actually, another Boy dressed up as a Girl...hardly a novel
concept, but good for a dime-store laugh), Bad Guys take Deed to Farm
from Boy, Girl chases after Bad Guys, Fight Scene, Girl gets Deed,
Girl dumps Guy. You've got to see it. It sounds pretty cheesy, and
it definitely had potential to bomb big time, but they pulled it off.
You know what they say: it's such a fine line between stupid and
clever. Apparently Act II will be performed at their gig at the
Paradise in a week or so. I'll be there.
So I left with my faith in music restored. Just in time for Swell at
the Middle East. As if I would actually miss that one.
Swell, Madder Rose:
I'd been looking forward to this Swell show for a while. As
with Well?, 41 took a while to really grow on me, but now it's one
of my real favorites. I actually still haven't decided how much I
liked the show, though. I'm definitely glad I saw it, and it was
definitely very good. The only disappointing thing is actually a good
thing in a way: they really reworked almost all of the songs. There
are certain little things about Swell songs that take several listens
before you pick them out and appreciate them, like those great
textural electric guitar chords that come in at just that certain
point, or a certain lead guitar part, or whatever. They didn't
reproduce the songs on the album last night, which is very cool, but
when you want to hear that lead part come in at that one particular
point and it doesn't, it's a little disappointing. If I had a bootleg
of the show, I'm sure that after a few listens it would never leave my
tape deck. But at the show I found myself thinking, "Hm, that's an
interesting take on this song," more than really being swept away.
By the way, does anyone have Swell bootlegs? I'd really love to get
one. Email me: baragona@ariad.com.
Madder Rose was the headliner. Standard 4-piece, 2 guitars, woman
singer, rhythm guitar player. They're from here in Boston, I think.
They were good, but I thought Swell was better. Swell got a more
enthusiastic encore. Madder Rose had some really great songs, a few
with real potential, but they also did several of these dirge-y things
that I didn't like. A little bit like Helium in that respect. Y'know
when somebody starts a song at 33 rpm that's supposted to play at 45,
then realizes after 30 seconds that the speed's wrong and puts it on
45 and out jumps this great song? I felt like somebody set about 1/3
of Madder Rose's songs on 33 when they should have been on 45. They
would have been great at 45. Otherwise they were definitely worth
checking out.
Also: I need a favor. I'm going down to Chapel Hill at the end of
August or the beginning of September with an eye toward moving there.
I'd really appreciate it if anyone who lives there or has been there
could suggest cool places to check out. Let me know at:
baragona@ariad.com. Thanks a lot.
Steve Baragona
baragona@ariad.com
------------------------------
From: patrick monaghan <patrickm@phantom.com>
Mekons, MOTO, Spiny Anteaters
Mekons/Spiny Anteaters/MOTO II
Lounge Ax, Chicago, IL
7/23/94
This was the second night of a Mekons weekend at LAx. I missed Friday
'cuz I was too damned lazy and didn't really want to hear Cynthia
Plastercaster read poetry.
MOTO
MOTO opened, and for those of you not in the midwest, this is a little
secret we have we're not really sharing. Formerly just a guy and gal
guitar/drum garage pop combo with the catchiest uptempo songs done
haphazardly you'll ever hear, they've now turned into a full,
honest-to-goodness band. Beck, former drummer, (not that Beck either,
this is the original Beck, and she should sue that fucker) is now in
law school and can't make the gigs any more. So Paul has a new
drummer and a second guitarist and I guess they actually rehearse now
because they sound like a real band! Thus my moniker, MOTO II. It's
quite good and all, but when you're used to the previous sound for the
last 4 or 5 years, it's gonna take some getting used to. All the
songs are still uptempo as hell though and overall they were good.
Different, but good. Closed with their hit "(Don't have to be a) Dick
about it" an oldie but goodie. I think that's the title anyway. If
not, it should be. It's the first MOTO song I remember hearing when I
moved here.
Spiny Anteaters.
Hmmm. Drove here from Ottawa and just bored the living hell out of
me. Noisy without being threatening or even attention-grabbing. Sort
of pointless meanderings that ended up blending into the background
noise of the full bar while I had drinks and caught up with friends.
Don't get it. No I don't. I'm sure they're nice folks and all, but
then again so are a lot of people I don't really want to hear again.
Mekons.
Not a huge fan. Respect their body of work and import to the We'll
Never Ever Make It Big But We're Still Hip As All Get Out crowd.
Talked to Steve the ex-drummer, who's back with them as a hired gun
for this tour, before the show and he reported the their bass player
was so drunk on Friday night that she had to sit down on stage and at
one point was a whole song behind what the rest of them were playing.
Tonight they played a bunch of stuff that they didn't play on Friday
which included some really new stuff and some really old stuff. Don't
know the songs well enough to give you a list. Sorry. I will say
that they rocked. There were moments when I thought the bar had been
transported back to about 1978 and there were moments when I expected
to look up there and see Sid playing bass. It wasn't and he wasn't
but I guess what I'm trying to get across is the sheer punk rock
energy that this band can generate when they want. None of the folk
trappings that they've tried on in the past, just some good, often
catchy, limey (punk) rock and I must say I've a newfound appreciation.
Side notes:
The bass player stood the entire show and as far as I could tell
played the same songs as the band all night.
Still got to hear Cynthia Plastercaster read poetry anyway.
Jon Langford thought he was 20 again and lept into the crowd. Left at
the end of the night holding his left shoulder and neck. Hope he's
ok. Probably won't do that again.
Steve Goulding proved again why he's one of the best drummers I've
ever had the honor of seeing/hearing perform. Wow.
It appears from the massive amount of merchandise they had for sale
that they've still got tour shirts for every tour going back to 1979.
Not literally, but damn, do they have a lot.
The local free weekly New City had the Mekons on the cover this week
with a headline that read something to the effect of "Bringing the
Revolution to the Chicago Underground" since Jon has moved here now.
Funny thing is, there was an accompanying ad for their record release
in-store appearance at Tower on Saturday. Can't get much more
underground than that. Hell, it's even on the second floor.
By for now,
patrick
------------------------------
From: Apple-O <adelucia@eden.rutgers.edu>
stereolab/lois live
STEREOLAB w/ LOIS @ Maxwells, Hoboken, NJ 8/3/94 9PM by Apple-O
----------------------------------------------------
First I'd like to comment on how fast this show sold out- weeks in
advance! A few months earlier I recall much smaller crowds for
Stereolab, and the band's guitarist Tim being psick with numoanya and
not able to afford a doctor... glad to see things working out for
them.
The opener, Lois Maffeo, now backed by ex-Tiger Trapper Heather, put
out some truly sweet sounds. Acoustic and with a solid backbeat,
songs from the "Strumpet" album sounded much fresher than on the
(overproduced) record. Where last year, shows with drummer Amy were
sonically harsher and uncompromising with Lois trying the electric
guitar and Amy's more experimental style, creating a real rift between
live and recorded sound, this marked a return to the days of Molly and
the lullabye like quality of Lois' songs, brought out by the softer
sound. In addition to songs off Strumpet, were some golden oldies
("Uncrushworthy", "Valentine"), the b-side "Page Two", and several new
songs which sounded like, well, Lois. Though the show was sold out,
it was hard to tell at this point because the room was relatively
empty. Contrary to the headline of the recent issue of Time, rest
assure that people are NOT hipper- many of those there didn't shut up
and listen while Lois played, and were seemingly ignoring and missing
a great set.
Enter la Lab. On the walls were some strange round posters for the
new album, a double with the usually strange futeristic title which
you'll probably have heard by now (something like "jupiter
space-rock", I don't know!). The single's out, but I have yet to see
it. But I heard it! ...
Live, Stereolab is like taking part in a group hypnosis. Not only are
they trance inducing, but they've also got one hell of a danceable
beat- I'd like to see this band play for aerobics classes. When the
first combo gym/club opens, Stereolab should top the bill. But what
did we hear?
New songs! Lots of them. Loads of them. Mary Hansen said the band is
much happier with this new album, which promises to be less noisy than
the last one, but no less interesting... Live songs truly brought the
entire room into a unified state of mind. One day I'm sure there will
be those who will speak the name Stereolab with much disdain, kind of
like how punks slagged the Grateful Dead and Zeppelin, saying how lame
it is to play songs with only one note... but they just weren't
there, and they just don't know.
Not all songs had the trademark spacemen effect; it seems Stayreeoh
Lahb ees mooofing eentoo ay new deemenshun. One song echoed off the
back of my skull, returning as one word, "Abba;" many moved beyond the
two note blues-based Modern Lovers "Roadrunner" melody that is the
trademark of so many of Stereolab's past tunes. Some well-known hits
were thrown our way ("Super-Electric", with hellfire keyboard duels
toward the end, "The Seeming And The Meaning," "Crest," "French
Disco") as well as the pleasant surprise of "John Cage Bubblegum."
They seem to have gotten much tighter, with lightning snare rolls by
drum powerhouse Andy Ramsay signaling the end of each song. The music
has taken on less of a noise element, though they can still crack the
whip when they need to.
The band took a break towards the end, to much applause, but the
encore was obvious. I think they ended with "Stomach Worm," jamming
out on it for several minutes (or was it hours?). I'm not sure
because at this point my mind was clouded, ecstatic and ready to pick
up the new album as soon as it hits the shelves.
------------------------------
From: "David N. Hackney" <dh4v+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Merge Fest
Babble about the Merge Fest @ Chapel Hill and other stuff:
My friends and myself thought we were all cool and shit to take this
long of a road trip to the indie rock Mecca (11 hrs. from
Pittsburgh), but we were out-shown by the more faithful. For example,
a buddy of ours spent $50 on a round trip train ticket from Philly to
D.C. where we picked him up, and upon arriving we encountered people
who had driven 20 hrs. from Wisconsin. The city (really just one
street and a large campus as far as we could see) was pretty much as
good as advertised: a 12.6% beauty rating among the inhabitants, cool
record stores, friendly middle-aged women and neat-o southern accents.
The presence of local Pittsburgh vinyl in the stores there does
represent an advancement of sorts for our scene. Anyhow, on to the
bands:
Friday (Didn't make the Thurs. show):
Bricks: Very cool set that was much too short as far as I was
concerned. Low-fi acoustic and electric guitars with two folks
beating on what appeared to be a wooden box, an instrument case and
empty plastic bottles. Featured Mac from Superchunk, of course, and I
discovered that the Superchunk Laura and the Bricks Laura are actually
two different people. (Excuse my ignorance). Something about them
reminded me of the folk group Ed's Redeeming Qualities. Great show.
Lambchop: Unexpected and pleasant surprise. I guess I should state
here that I arrived unfamiliar with the lesser know Merge acts and had
kind of expected 10 Superchunk/Polvo clones. Lambchop was an 11 piece
ensemble that featured everything from a clarinet to wrenches of
different sizes hanging from strings. The songs were very mellow and
dreamy, thanks to a slide guitar played by a man with the most
feverish concentration I've seen in a while. They probably could
stand for a better pianist, however, seeing how their current one
looked completely stoned/disinterested and struggled to stay awake
while playing with only one hand. The last number was pretty upbeat
and wild; even the pianist cracked a smile.
Coral: After the first two acts, a standard four-piece rock outfit
didn't do it for me. Either the singer had an incredibly nasal voice
or was singing through a voice box, but I didn't stick around to find
out. Someone who did stay said someone threw a cup at him however.
(Side note: Their song on the new Merge comp, however, does stand out
as one of the better songs on the tape. They just didn't groove with
me that night, though.)
Magnetic Fields: Great performance from a great band. The unique
instrumentation that had been exhibited so far was continued here with
an excellent cellist. The singer was a very deep baritone which
matched the deep cello and complemented the beautiful voice of the
female drummer/vocalist. The lyrics were so sad I almost felt like
seeking out the woman who broke his heart and killing her. The best
part about them, however, was the hand-painted pet "indie" rocks they
were selling. (Indie Rock, get it?)
Superchunk: Not much that can really be said here that a reader with
any familiarity with them couldn't have guessed. High energy
performance with lots of body language; even on the slower songs.
They played a very good mix of old and new tunes, and even poked fun
at the Internet. Worth the drive in itself.
Saturday:
Double Dynamite: Strange, strange, strange, and quite fun. Singer
wore bright, flamboyant clothing and heavy makeup and played covers by
the Talking Heads and other great '80s bands. He had the voice of the
Shudder to Think vocalist and the persona of Dr. Frankfurter. Laura
(from the Chunk) played a synthesizer on one song while the singer
went to put on clothing to replace that which he had tossed into the
crowd.
Odes: Excellent rock trio headed by a female vocalist/guitarist. They
fell somewhere between Autoclave and Yo La Tango. Good, solid guitar
work, but it could of stood for a bit of lyrical help. Basically, it
seamed as though she was straining to find rhyming words in order to
preserve an AABB scheme. They said they had a 7" out which I would of
purchased had I not been concerned about it warping in the car the
next day.
Portastatic: Maybe I'm just suffering from a Superchunk/Mac overdose
(my friends played their stuff the whole way there and back), but this
didn't quite do it for me. One must wonder why Mac would go though
the trouble of forming a side band that sounded so much like a
mellowed 'Chunk. The best songs in the set were the acoustic ones Mac
did by himself and with Laura (the Bricks one) at the beginning.
Airmiami: I'm 81.5% sure from talking around that this arose from the
ashes of Unrest. [-yes, they did. details escape me, though. Sean? -az]
Unfortunately, this didn't really click with me at the time.
Most of the songs were mellow in a drab, repetitive sort of way. The
upbeat ones became dull after a time also. The crowd seemed to dig
them, however, so it might just have been me.
Polvo: Despite my deep, heartfelt hatred of the term, I must say that
this band kicked ass! Incredible stage presence and an energy that ran
though the crowd like military shrapnel. By and large, the audience
had been fairly mellow for the other acts, but went wild during this
set.
After the show we drove back through the night. We had briefly
considered attaching beer cans our car and painting "Just married" in
soap so that people would wave and smile to us on the way back, but
were too tired to do so.
------------------------------
From: hatt@agvax2.ag.ohio-state.edu (Ted Hattemer)
Silt Breeze Extravaganza
August 5&6
Khyber Pass
Philadelphia, PA
1. Alan Licht/Bassholes/Strapping Fieldhands/The Temple of Bon
2. Bruce Cole/TJSA/Hairy Pussy/Guided By Voices
First off, I'm a recent member of one of the bands (Thomas Jefferson
Slave Apartments) featured the 2nd night, so if you don't believe that
it was as bizarre and as interesting as I tell it I'll understand...
We arrived Friday night around 7:30 because I wanted to see the
Bassholes (another Columbus, Ohio band) because they never play live
any more. We were greeted by T.J. and Mac, co-owners of Silt Breeze,
with food, food, more food, and beer. They are thoughtful. Alan
Licht started the whole event off with an hour or so of noise guitar
feedback. Between his guitar resting on his lap, a screwdriver in
one hand, and his fist making up the other hand, his feet plunging at
pedals (5 or 6) on the floor, he managed to make more weird noise than
anyone present thought possible... But alas, as so many performers
today do not understand... "always keep them wanting more..." He
played about 20-30 minutes too long.
Next up the Bassholes. They recently added new bassist and it has
done nothing but add more power to an already blast of a hillbilly
blues-roots outfit. Included in their set was a tounge-in-cheek
version of "Candy Man." They are the kings of short sets 30 minutes
total clock time... and that included the sound man running home real
quick for an extra power chord.
At this point I went to go get a sandwich at a diner up the street...
Met a really nice waitress and cook who promised to show up the next
night... (she did & thanks :-)
Upon returning we heard the end of the Strapping Fieldhands' set...
they are rock/pop/punk sort of thing... drunks... no just kidding.
They own the best vinyl record store I have ever been to. It's around
5th and South St. (where all the hippies meet). 80% vinyl. Mostly
new releases. The next band was indescribible... and so much so I
forgot their name. Chris somebody was kind enough to give us a
place to stay... "The Temple of BON" I just remembered.
Day two/round 10
TJ and Mac threw a great picnic party before the show on the 2nd
day... roasted PIG, crab, shrimp, pasta salad, beer, and such... I
guess it is an annual Philly event... There certainly were enough
people there to name the thing something... Maybe they already
have... There was a certain thing of gluttony going on... so I
retreated to a music store in China Town for drum sticks and bass
strings while Ron House went to see a movie in order to stay sober for
the show.
Bellies full, we went to the the club for another night... Up first
was Bruce Cole... A cynical older blues/punk from St. Louis, MO,
whose first recorded song back in 1969 was entitled, "My mom's a
coward" ... First record he released was in '76 or '75... A strange
bird playing blues anger music.
Then we played our set... If anyone has seen Ron House perform, you
will understand what I mean when I say he knocked over the drums three
times. He is all over the stage, screaming out poetic lyrics that go
over your head, but then fall on it just in time for you to pick up on
the metaphors. We played for just over 35 minutes... Leaving plenty
of time for the next two bands.
Up next.... Hairy Pussy. Noise band from Miami, FL. Two guys on
guitars and a female drummer who doesn't hardly use any cymbals...
instead a double bass drum pedal and large floor toms. If you like
noise bands, you'll love them.
And finally what all the reps, schmoozers, and boozers were waiting
for-- GBV. They started off slow... Looked tired (later I found out
it was the bassist's last gig--opting for a law practice rather than
rock) but as the set went on they picked up the pace... And the
whole place was chanting "do you see me dodododododo... like I see
you dododododod?" & "I am a scientist I seek to understand me."
After an hour of standing outside of the bar until 3 a.m., we went back to
our new friend Chris' house, slept, and then drove back to our
small lives in Columbus, Ohio.
more news in the fall...
TED
------------------------------
From: Apple-O <adelucia@eden.rutgers.edu>
ANNOUNCE: Musicion request
Apollo (AKA Apple-O) is still looking for musicians for a band. I
suppose no one out there who ever reads my ads can relate to
influences I stick in, so this time there won't be any. If you "know"
how to play (no theory neccesary), live somewhere near New Brunswick
and write songs in no one genre, then maybe we ought to jam! Finding
musicians is not the hard part- finding good ones is!
------------------------------
From: mhibarge@chipcom.com (Mike Hibarger)
ANNOUNCE: Tulip's Roadtrip
*Tulips' Midwestern Humdinger Roadtrip*
featuring several dates with Milwaukee's
obtusely-named, scientist rockers Dis-
Sat Aug 13 Buffalo, NY South Loft w/ Tugboat Annie, Lollipop
call (716)842-6530 and dial 3 for info
Mon Aug 15 Minneapolis Uptown Bar & Grill
Wed Aug 17 Madison, WI the Chamber w/ Pachinko
Thu Aug 18 Milwaukee the Globe w/ Dis-
Fri Aug 19 Chicago Empty Bottle w/ Craw, Dis- (we're first)
Sat Aug 20 Minneapolis 7th St. Entry w/ Hammerhead
Mon Aug 22 Cleveland Euclid Tavern
Say "hello" and pick up our new 7" featuring a
cover of Killdozer's "King of Sex"!
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