Indie-List_V3_N13
Ones and zeroes...
virtual paradise.
Just ask your nearest recording engineer about the joys of DAT.
Thpppppt. At least you can cut and splice analog tape...
############################
Indie List Digest
February 16th, 1994
Volume 3, Number 13
############################
Ohio 7" reviews
Swirlies/SM*A*SH/Boredoms/Barkmarket - live
Fitz of Depression, Sick Little Monkey, The Noses
the mighty meat puppets
new horizons in listening, volume 16
I ditch those useful titles and disappear (I-L)
Back to the Future with Suede and Saint Etienne
Surge, Children of Dub
Benefit show, Chicago
----------------------
From: "Rudawsky Don" <rudawsky_don@msmail.muohio.edu>
Ohio 7" reviews
Here are some reviews I've been meaning to send for a long time now:
7"from Ohio:
Out of Cowtown Vol. 3, Anyway Records 011: Four songs from four bands
from four different parts of the state.
Ass Ponys-Earth to Grandma: Psychedelic old REM with They Might be giants
sense of humor, but yet it's starting to grow on me. from Cincinnati
Guided by Voices-Stabbing Star: LoLoLofi uptempo kind of punky, not the
best from GBV, from Dayton
Appalachian Death Ride-North Green: Grungy punk with a rockabilly
southern Ohio/Appalachia feel, pretty decent song, from Athens.
Robert Griffin-Angels Don't Fly: Lofi, kind of chimpy. I really dig this
song. OK time to show my ignorance, I heard that there's some kind of
Pitchblende conection, if so someone let me know and tell me if
Pitchblende sound like this and I shall procure some of their music. from
Cleveland
[huh? Try Prisonshake, Mr. Griffin's full-time band, coming soon to a
venue near you (if you're in the US) or Scat Records, his fine label... no
connections to Pitchblende I know of... - Sean]
Anyway Records
118 E. Patterson
Columbus, OH 43202
(614) 268-1457
Moviola-45RPM MindWalk Music/Eardrop/Anyway combined release
Two excellent lofi tracks that I couldn't reccomend more highly. The
guitar(s) sound like you're caught in some electronic locust feeding
frenzy. If I could, I would force you all to buy this basement 7". The
best thing is that they put an e-mail address on the sleeve. I've talked
to Ted (he will probably be joining the list soon) and he'd be happy to
hear from you all. He also told me that they're running out of 7", so
talk to him soon at: Hatt@agvax2.ag.ohio-state.edu
Guided by Voices-If We Wait/Jenny Mae Leffel-Red Chair, Anyway Records 013
GBV-gives another beatlesque midtempo lazy lofi song that builds to a
great fuzzed out crescendo ending.
[the best song i've heard in ages - it makes me happy, and there's very
little in the world that can do that right now... buy this single now! -
Sean]
Jenny Mae Leffel-turn the dial to the light rock station add some cheesy
synthesizers and if you're like me you'll puke. Jenny Mae has a good voice
and her band Vibralux is pretty good, but why did anyway waste the vinyl when
there's so much more happening in Columbus?
see anyway address above and remember the GBV song may be worth it. You
don't have to turn it over.
Since I've reviewed 3 Anyway 7" I'll mention the rest of their catalog
includes: Greenhorn, Stupid Fuckin Hippie, Monster Truck 5, Gaunt, Log,
Vibralux, New Bomb Turks, Bugman and others. They will be releasing a
CD/LP with many of their first 7" on it and a new 7" for Greenhorn is due
soon.
Throneberry-Touched b/w You Win, Alias A054-S
Throneberry has been around Cincinnati about as long as the Afghan Whigs
and they sound like the happy country cousins to the tortrured city
dwelling Whigs. Touched really sticks in my head for weeks after I play
it. Touched sounds more like the Whigs than most of their other stuff,
because it is a somewhat pained story. You Win is slower and frankly kind
of boring. I still think this 7" is worth owning.
Alias Records
2815 West Olive Ave
Burbank, CA 91505
Feeder-Glub/Liquor Bike-Vicegrip, Uprising 7
Feeder-Heavy and angry. Probably the best band in Cincinnati. There may
be a trend in my reviews to not be able to say much if I like something a
lot and this is definately the case here. Just get a hold of this if
there are any left.
Liquor Bike-also heavy and angry, but a little to punk derivative for my
tastes. They're from Baltimore.
Uprising Records PO Box 4412 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-4412
One last thing: why hasn't anyone mentioned how good the Jawbox Savory CD
single is? I know it's a mersh label, but not a mersh band and it's damn
good. I haven't had a chance to get the full length yet, but I most
certainly will.
[Geez, when I lived in Cincy all we had was Pure Prairie League and the
Modulators. - Lena, Cincinnati resident 1966-1983.]
-----------
From: James Nash <CCX020@raven.coventry.ac.uk>
Swirlies/SM*A*SH/Boredoms/Barkmarket - live
The adventures of James continue with these live reports. Proof if proof
be need be.
Swirlies @ Camden Underworld, London 25/1/94
Hey, hey, they're the Swirlies! Small crowd but the barman told me it was
all new faces and they were quite pleased with the turnout for an American
band no-one had heard of, on a Tuesday night. Good omen for me was
chatting to a despatch rider in a pub nearby about books. I mentioned
Thomas Pynchon and it turns out he wrote a thesis on him two years ago.
Not much to say about the performance - as you may have guessed by now! -
except that it was excellent. Minor grumbles: few new songs, no encore and
the drummer's dress wouldn't stay up. Extra brownie points for a storming
version of "Sarah Sitting". Here's hoping they stick together after all
the rumoured trouble (c.f. a.m.a.). And would Seana please smile? Thank
you.
SM*A*SH / Popular (?) @ General Wolfe, Coventry 5/2/94
Popular (not sure that's their exact name) were quite good. They had a
nice Faith Healers feel to their rhythm section but could have done with a
keyboardist to give the (OK) songs a bit more space; instead they rocked
out too much for my liking. SM*A*SH were crap. On vinyl, their songs
come to life and are heavily addictive self- political pop-punk. Live,
they want to be The Who or The Jam. Shame, shame, shame.
Boredoms / Jacob's Mouse @ Highbury Garage, London 11/2/94
Missed the first support band but arrived on time to see Jacob's Mouse for
the third time in the last six months. They didn't play very well tonight,
probably overawed by the massive turnout for the Boredoms but I'll wager
their presence on the bill was a factor in many people's decisions to go.
Me included. JM play a weird grunge thing, varying style from song to
song. They rock but there's a little glimmer of magic missing. Maybe a few
more penetrable songs would help. Worth checking out though. The crowd
were itching to see what all the fuss was about and if these Japanese
hardcore terrorists were up to anything. At first, it sounded a complete
mess and only a few die-hard fans were moshing at the front. Gradually,
the size of the pit increased, more people started tapping their toes and
nodding their heads then the place went mental. The Boredoms' music is
metal done William S. Boroughs style, as in chop something up into little
pieces, throw it up in the air and see what shape it forms when it lands.
Skewiff is as close as I can come to encapsulating them in one word. I had
a damn good mosh myself and thoroughly enjoyed it; the music was quite
hard to slam to, there were very few clues as to when the guitars would
let rip. Intelligent moshing - never thought I'd see the day!
Barkmarket / Understand @ Kentish Town Bull & Gate, London 12/2/94
Got locked out of Jon Spencer Blues in Highbury, so down the Victoria line
and up the Northern to Kentish Town and the epitomy of all indie venues,
the Bull & Gate. Cold, awful beer, crap sound, small, smelly and the roof
fell in a few weeks back. I've spent many a happy night there. :) First
band we got to see was Understand, a rather boring hardcore bunch. Might
sound better on record. Barkmarket were the ones we were here to see and
they played a half hour set which I couldn't fathom. An American trio with
interesting facial hair, great funky bass playing, hardcore-ish drumming
and a lunatic singer. All very promising but I just couldn't get a handle
on it all. Maybe they were jet-lagged or I was suffering from the previous
nights' excesses (soon to be furthered!). I enjoyed it mainly cos they
were making me think and also cos it was loud. Fun.
Other bits...
I bought an excellent techno CD by Jam n' Spoon when down in London,
called "Tripomatic Fairytales:2001". (TF:2002 is also available and is, I
believe, more of an ambient thAng) Listened to it a few times then left
the bastard on the train back to Coventry. Aaaargghh! Heartily recommended
for the techno beginner, like myself. I will have to go and buy it again -
that's how good it is. Anyone go to the JSBE that I got locked out of and
fancy doing a report? What were Done Lying Down like?
--James Nash <ccx020@cov.ac.uk>
...and to commemerate the end of the crisis, the post office has a
released a special stamp showing the Queen and John Major, kissing.
--------------
From: Jonathan Haynes <haynesj@elwha.evergreen.edu>
Fitz of Depression, Sick Little Monkey, The Noses
The Eastside Club, OLYMPIA, WA
One windy and wet evening, February 12
I don't know if Fitz still have the church bus. On the front, above the
windshield it says, "Church Bus." They have just returned from a West
Coast tour--possibly in the church bus.
The Westside hasn't hosted a live show for a year; this staple of Oly
watering holes proved to be the perfect venue for our returning homeys. I
arrived in the middle of The Noses' set, as they were careening through a
psychedelicized ska tune. I like the Noses. They play like a mod-era
Who, with the same bludgeoning bass and squalling guitar freak-outs. I
spotted the mod-ness of their guitarist--did I mention anything about them
being mod? It's more a state of mind than an aesthetic code with The
Noses. During the following set, in the dankness of the boy's room, I ran
into John, the Noses' guitarist/vocalist. I asked him about Pete
Townshend and as he was zipping up he began to exalt the Who. John has a
slight resemblance to Pete, circa the Smothers Brothers Show--in fact he
looks a lot like Tommy Smothers. (Incidentally, the picture sleeve of
their May '93 Shock Tone single, "Until Then Do I Wait" b/w "My Left
Hanger of Love," features guitarist Jon Merithew in a stylish 60's
blunt-bangs shagg, his eyes two limpid pools of innocence. He has dropped
much of the look since. Oh, the single is pretty weak. Not much of a
representation of their live sound--I guess if you ran the single through
a fuzzbox, you might approximate the vigor of the live Noses...)
Highlight: their sloppy cover of "Rock Me Baby"
Who the fuck are Sick Little Monkey? I began to feel apprehension when I
saw the saxophone--it's one of my hang-ups, sax. I never heard much good
saxophone next to distorted guitars and jackhammer drums. The guitarist
gave me G.G. Allin flashbacks. He appeared in his boxers and black boots,
a little like Gwar without the stryofoam outfits. I soon realized why he
had jettisonned his shirt; besides his magnificent furry shoulders, he
was sporting one of those full-back tattoos. If you sunk all that money
into such adornment, seems like you are kind of obligated to take your
shirt off--even in the winter. Who knows why this band played after the
Noses. It is a fallen world, and we live with such injustices...
Fitz of Depression brought everybody out of the woodwork. (Once I
observed that the presence of Matt Lukin, Bob Mould, or Lori Barbero
seemed a reference to the absolute heaviness of a show--scanning the
audience, I saw Shawn the Tatoo Artist, Oly's benchmark of show hipness.)
Fitz were among friends--pulling out Misfits covers without shame,
crashing into "Take it Away" with moshers a-moshin'. Sharing smiles and
love-pats. I am intrigued by Mike D.'s punkguitar antics. He stands like
he is riding bareback on an imaginary mule, spitting and striking at the
air. This guy is stuck on full-throttle.
Occasionally there is a moment that comes from nowhere, and I'm bowled
over. As the band was crashing into one of the last numbers, the Gibby
Haynes-esque voice of the Eastside bartender came blaring from the PA horn
on the wall, "Last Call! Let's Drink 'em up, etc..." Suddenly this
became a concept song; Fitz meets Rush ("Attention all planets of the
solar federation...we have assumed control.) What's next, an acoustic
trilogy with the Olympia Chamber Orchestra? Religious material? We can
only speculate.
Jonathan Haynes
-----------------
From: 6500ljn@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu (Leonard Nevarez)
the mighty meat puppets
Meat Puppets __Too High To Die__ (London/Polygram)
First, I would say don't wait until it starts showing up the used bins
before you deign to purchase the truly fabulous new Meat Puppets album.
"Too High to Die" is the album you've been waiting, hoping the Meat
Puppets would make. No, it's not a return to their punkest-rock roots, or
a re-hash of their mid-eighties electric campfire pothead ditties, nor
even an exercise in pointless guitar heroics (see "Monsters" lp).
Instead, it's basically the Kirkwoods brothers getting focused, getting
tight, getting in tune, and getting a producer from their neck of the
woods, or their corner of the desert, in Butthole Surfer Paul Leary.
Lyrics are the same as always, that is, unlike anyone else's in their
celebrations of nature and/or the tricks that your mind can play on you,
or the tricks you play on your mind ("We don't exist/we eat our time/we
don't resist/it's not alright"; "you got cobwebs on your halo/in the
closet there are skeletons/lined up ready to talk/and you shine"; "Is this
thing an oak?").
The music is primo Kirkwood: a touch of punk rhythms, a loping cowpoke
bass, catchy melodies, and sub-CSNY harmonies. These are good things, and
they are also rare things; few of the Pups' contemporaries have embraced
successfully as many genres, let alone written as many outstanding songs.
This became clear to me when I saw the Pups at a rare acoustic set last
week in the pizza parlor on campus at UCLA. The songs just kept coming,
from the acousticized metal ditty "Violet Eyes" from the new album, to the
gentle "Severed Goddess Hand" and "Shine" to the oldies "Lake of Fire" and
"Up on the Sun." I would venture to say the Meat Puppets are nothing less
than a national treasure; perhaps 1994 will be the year that the Pups
finally receive their medals.
Jay Babcock
73554.357@CompuServe.Com
---------------
FROM: Mark Cornick (address currently under construction)
new horizons in listening, volume 16
Greetings once again from Richmond, home of Gwar, who were recently
dropped from Warners over "profanity concerns" a la Ice-T, but have scored
a theatrical release of their latest movie through Troma (the wonderful
idiots who brought us _The Toxic Avenger._) I suspect this is meaningless
to a lot of you, but those who want to know more may mail
<gwar@delphi.com>.
I'm giving up the Net for Lent; more specifically, I gave up on Delphi
(regardless of how many people are on, it should never take seven
minutes to start a new mail message) so don't write me at
<cornick@delphi.com> no more.
Anyway, I'm probably not the first to report that there's a new Pavement
LP and single available, both on Matador (without Atlantic logo). I don't
have the LP yet and don't know what it's called (Gerard?) [Crooked Rain,
Crooked Rain - Sean] but the new single is "Cut Your Hair", available on
7", 12" and CD5. So - have Pavement sold out? :-) Well, the title track
should dispel any notions of Pavement's new indirect affiliation with a
major label softening them up; this is indeed the cleanest thing I've
heard yet from them, and light years from "You're Killing Me" in (hi-)
fidelity, but the lyrics, seemingly aimed right at either (a) big-hair
grunge bands or (b) Mch*l Bltn, should keep them off MTV (but let's
face it, they won't...) All that notwithstanding, this is still the
Pavement we know and love (OK, I'm assuming everyone here has heard
Pavement. I apologize to those that haven't.) Then, on the other side and
the other hand, you have "Camera", a blatant R.E.M. cover! Yikes! (It's
kinda neat, with some tasteful wah-wah.) I guess they weren't kidding on
that compilation thing... The other b-side "Stare" makes up for it with
some lo-fi noise that's more typical of the Pavement oeuvre.
Pseudo-corporate rockers or no, they're still Pavement as usual, and I
really can't ask for much more. **.
(BTW, many copies of the "Cut Yr Hair" 45 are ending up severely warped
once they reach the stores due to the shrink-wrap. Yup - a shrink-wrapped
45 - ain't it keen! So if you buy a 7", listen to it first! I do have a
feeling this wasn't Gerard's idea, but...) (And you know what else?
Warners are using those idiotic silver dog-bone seals on their CD boxes
now! Man, fuck that. I could rant for ages about how those things are
useless, ineffective, and annoying, but I'm sure Andy Rooney will take
care of that for me sometime soon. Well, another reason to buy vinyl...)
Those yearning for the 4-track brilliance of earlier Pavement could do
worse than "Down With Refrigerator" from (duh) Refrigerator, on Ajax
Records And Franklin Gothic Indoctrination Project (POB 805293, Chicago
60680-4114). This is the new record from the brothers Callaci's current
outfit (Dennis Shrimper, his brother Allen, and another guy I don't
remember just now.) I've always thought Allen's vocals were a little
hack-ish, so I'll just gloss over 'em for now cause the instrumentation is
nice - less of it than previous Fridge projects, but at least they're
carrying a tune this time. The use of banjo is especially nice, and I'm
not just saying that cause Friendly uses banjo OK? :-) My favorite track
of the seven here (okay, six; one of them is less than 30 seconds) is the
last one on the second side, which is apparently untitled. Overall this
strikes me as the kind of thing that would happen if Kicking Giant merged
with the TFUL282. I'm not big on the "Inland Empire Sound" - would
somebody please explain Nothing Painted Blue's appeal to me? Please? -
but this record should widen Refrigerator's appeal beyond the Shrimper
set. *1/2. BTW, Dennis reports that "the quake didn't hit us too hard
(shook the house & scared the cats.)" P.S. Liz: tell Tim to spend less
time picking on you and more time making sure his record sleeves stay
glued together. My Down w/ Fridge sleeve fell apart in my hands. Doh...
And something that came free with a recent mail order: a recent-looking
issue of "Thrill", a chapbook-sized zine from the guys in the band Crayon
(c/o Brad, PO Box 2487, Bellingham WA 98227 or c/o Sean and Jeff, 722 11th
E., Seattle WA 98102 - send a stamp) featuring a whole lot of reviews of
pop records and zines, plus a Crayon tour diary, a list of bands from
Bellingham, and several nice graphic bits. Not the kind of thing you'll
keep for your library, but it'd be a good read on the bus (or while
waiting for same.) *.
What else - oh yeah, Richmond's Labradford (you know, the ambient guys)
are going to do a 45 for Duophonic - yup, Stereolab's label. I'm told we
should expect it late this year. And Coral (feauring ex-Honor Role
screecher Bob Schick) signed to Cargo and will have an LP out shortly (I
ordinarily would, at this point, recommend that you not buy it, since I
really don't like Schick's voice and the vocals tend to dominate, but
recently they've improved a great deal, so this might be worth a listen.)
And now, because it wouldn't be Indie-List without some old-timer
yammering about DC bands, here's the latest EggsWatch (tm): Los Huevos
will record their first album for Vernon Yard here in Richmond, at the
Turpentine Mill studio, recently purchased by David "What The World Needs
Now Is Another Coke Commercial, So I Can License Some More Cracker Songs"
Lowery. I'm not sure how I feel about this, since it makes the odds very
good that Lowery's business partner John Morand will be involved in the
production, and Morand has wrecked a lot of records for a lot of bands
recently - ask Fudge. Ah, who cares. A quick check of record racks here in
Richmond revealed no copies of _Teenbeat 96 Eggs (You Know, This Record
Has Been Advertised Since January 1993 - I Mean, Things Take A Long Time
At Teenbeat, But This Is Ridiculous) LP Exploder._
!Muy es Olympioso!
--mark
----------------
From: Steve Silverstein <ST201268@BROWNVM.brown.edu>
I ditch those useful titles and disappear
OK. I'm still around. And I still pop up everyone once in awhile. I
caught Purple Ivy Shadows' last show with their then-drummer Tina. An
amazing set, with Alex Kemp filling in on bass. They've got lots of cool
stuff coming out (on spinArt, Watercolour, and more). Look out for it.
This was in Providence at Club Babyhead.
And Roger Miller was totally amazing. He did this stuff with all sorts of
effects. The primary one looped whatever he played, so that it would
repeat and he could solo over it. An amazing set of guitar work, though
far too short, from a true innovator. Included a cover of Sun Ra's "Space
is the Place" in it's half hour briefness.
Another big notable is the new Scarce 7". The B-side is dull, but the
acoustic side, with Joyce (who wrote this) and Chick singing together is
cool. (on All the Money--I don't have the address with me, but can dig it
up as needed). The new Dambuilders 7", on Rockville, is good, but not all
that memorable. I finally got Honeybunch's "Endure Me" 7" (on 4 Letter
Words) and like it a good bit.
Barbara Manning was totally swell live, and Juicy were funny and silly and
dedicated every song to Jud, Scarce's drummer. Joyce, Scarce's bassist,
played Jud's kit on all but one song ("Tainted Love", a total disaster).
Oh, all these shows are of late and in Providence. Sorry no exact dates
or places handy. I could dig 'em up, but it's just too many.
Green Magnet School the other night were kind of dull. Local openers
Pollenate were better--kind of noisy and showed some definite potential.
I'm losing track, but I think that's most of the news of late. Oh, the
Grenadine. The new 7" is totally the coolest packaging job I've ever
seen. The music is quite fun too--a good A side and a B instrumental that
plows thru styles at an absurd pace.
-Steve
------------
From: "A.J. Norman" <nja@leicester.ac.uk>
Back to the Future with Suede and Saint Etienne
One bunch of indie hopefuls, one bunch of major label "indie" stars, two
singles released in the past fortnight:
Saint Etienne - Pale Movie / Highgate Road Incident (Heavenly/Creation)
The Saint Etienne single I have been waiting for since "Avenue". There
are three bands called Saint Etienne - one is a pair of boffins who make
strange dub/electro instrumentals. One is a three-piece who make
lightweight retro-pop singles with "LOVE ME" written all over them in
fluorescent sparkly ink. And the third band, thankfully, made this single
- a perfect blend of Spanish guitar, strings, techno beats, a "la la la"
chorus and a tune that doesn't leave your head for hours after listening
to it. A splendid omen for the forthcoming album. The B-side is a
throwaway cello/piano instrumental, with three remixes on the CD or
12-inch formats - but as with all truly great singles, the B-sides are
immaterial. Which is more than I can say for...
Suede - Come Together / The Living Dead / My Dark Star (Nude/Sony)
Former indie hopefuls, who have now sold their soul to SATAN. The A-side
is a "Bohemian Rhapsody" for the nineties, and like Queen's finest moment
is truly grotesque. A 2-minute song stretched over 8 minutes with a
horrible guitar solo, its sheer monstrosity actually makes it loveable in
an odd way. The lyrics are utter cack, adolescent nonsense about nuclear
skies, poison rain and the year of the horse, which I suspect were stolen
from an old Toyah LP, and the music is broadly similar to everything else
they have done. And the wimps have copped out by including an edited
version for the radio. B-sides are the only thing which holds it up - "The
Living Dead" is a downbeat song which says "hey, kids, heroin isn't much
fun", and in "My Dark Star" Brett does a pretty passable imitation of D.
Bowie (mid-eighties version), a singer I hate. Despite which, it's the
best song on the EP. What's fascinating about Suede is that in barely two
years they have reached the heights of decadence, self-indulgence and
bizarre excess that most seventies groups took several albums to achieve.
Their "interesting period" consists of three (indie) singles, and it's all
downhill from here, I fear.
My other main purchases this week:
Cocteau Twins - "Bluebeard" (Fontana). Past their peak, sadly. The
acoustic version of the A-side is interesting, but the B-sides are
Californian psycho-babble sung over a musical background which hasn't
changed for years.
Polygon Window - "Surfing on Sine Waves" album (Warp) I'm starting to feel
like all those twentysomethings I sneered at in 1980 when they discovered
that, hey, this punk rock thing isn't so bad after all... The single
"Quoth" gave me headaches when I bought it several months ago, then a
couple of weeks ago I played it again, and couldn't get it out of my head.
Pavement - "Crooked Rain Crooked Rain" album (Big Cat) Um, not sure about
this one, having listened to it one and a half times. All the rough edges
seem to have gone, and the rough edges are what I liked about them.
-------------
From: James Perrett <jrp@unixa.nerc-wormley.ac.uk>
Surge, Children of Dub
Surge/Children of Dub. Camden Falcon, London 7/2/94
I'd always had the impression that the Camden Falcon was the place to be
discovered, where half the audience were journalists, the other half were
A&R people hoping for the next big thing. My impression was partly
confirmed when I met Ray, the drummer from Surge who pointed out a couple
of A&R people from well known indie labels sitting in the corner. The
place itself is nothing special, another room in the back of a pub with a
half (but only half) decent PA. At least the bands had tried to help the
atmosphere by hanging backdrops illuminated by ultra violet light all
around the room. Much of the time the UV and the reflections from
Children of Dub's computer screen were the only light in the room.
Children of Dub are setting themselves up as fodder for the indie-list
live versus recorded debate. They looked nervous, almost as if they didn't
really know how they had come to be on this stage and would rather be
playing just to themselves. The computer backing tracks completely drowned
out anything that was being played on stage. The computer backing tracks
were, however, rather good. They started with a slow atmospheric piece,
very sparse with a few long keyboard chords and low bass rumbles in just
the right places. They slowly moved the pace up, they keyboard player now
switching to bass and then guitar. The beats got harder, then funkier and
a few people started to move but I can't help thinking that if a DJ had
put on some of these tunes at a club the floor would be full.
Surge were another matter entirely. If someone tried to describe the
melodic wall of noise mixed with danceable rhythms that make up their
sound I would probably given them a miss. But it sounds right. They look
like they are playing to themselves but they are impossible to ignore,
they communicate without appearing to try to establish contact. They take
influences from industrial, ambient and techno and then turn them into
songs. The lyrics may be buried and treated as just another layer in the
soundscape but there is structure. The mixture of real drums and
synthesised bass locked into solid grooves transforms the event from three
guys working out their angst on stage into something more.
Surge are in the process of recording a single for Sonic Records in the UK
and are lining up a few more gigs around London and the south of England.
This was about the fourth gig of theirs I've seen, they've always been
good, but tonight seemed to have that extra energy and intensity.
James.
-----------------
From: celia bucci <xbuc@midway.uchicago.edu>
Benefit show, Chicago
i'm not sure whether or not this is appropriate for the indie list but i
thought i'd let y'all know. the theater company that i work with is
having a benefit on saturday 19 february at 218 north laflin (two blocks
east of ashland, just north of lake street) chicago, il. we've got MOTO
(masters of the obvious), john corbett and david grubbs, sabalon glitz,
and dolomite. we've also got motion pictures by some of chicago's
grooviest independent artists. $7 cheap. doors open at 8:30. anyone
interested should look at this thursdays critic's choice in the reader or
write to me at this address or call 312.243.6819. oh yeah, the theater
company is called DOORIKA. we're very experimental. our last production
was a brilliantly loose interpretation of walter abish's "in so many
words". our upcoming production, which is currently in the earliest
phases of rehearsal, is being constructed from the framework of 18th
century japanese philosophy on decay, popular culture, and ritual.
thanks
<------------------------------------------------------------>
The Indie-List Digest is published a few times each week (usually
Tuesdays and Fridays) by the Indie-List Infotainment Junta, Unltd.
What Who Where
Editor Sean Murphy skmurphy@phoenix.princeton.edu
Moderator K. Lena Bennett keb@carson.u.washington.edu
Mailings Liz Clayton lclayton@uhuru.uchicago.edu
Archives Chris Karlof karlofc@seq.cms.uncwil.edu
FTP/Gopher /pub/music/lists/indie @ ftp.uwp.edu
Consultants: Mark Cornick and Joshua Houk
Indie-List is not copyrighted. It may be freely reproduced for any purpose.
Please cite Indie-List as your source.
<----------------------------------------------------->
please send your articles for the next issue to LENA!
<----------------------------------------------------->
[Submitted by: karlof chris knox (karlofc@seq.cms.uncwil.edu)
Mon, 21 Feb 1994 12:15:43 -0500 (EST)]