Indie-List_V3_N9
I'm not ready to face the light.
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Indie List Digest!
February 3rd, 1994
Volume 3, Number 9
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Message from the Moderator: T-Shirts, Surveys
Ani Difranco in Edmonton
"Cute"ness & 7 Year Bitch, Scorn, age, etc.
checkered cabs/edsel/house of freaks
Albini comment
Seefeel News!
Tackhead + BubbleHead + Fun-da-mental Live
New title-ing schema
rocket from the crypt, scrawl, the grifters
SM*A*SH Live - (Well, just a piss take of the support really!)
NEW TRUMAN'S WATER CD...whoopee!!!!
NEW/CHANGED INFO: Pavement list moved (already)
Advertisement: Log 7" Available
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From: "K. Lena Bennett" <keb@u.washington.edu>
Message from the Moderator: T-Shirts, Surveys
I'm ready to buckle down and ask someone else to take over the survey
collating project completely. There are 215 survey responses, just so you
know what you're getting into. Contact me if you're willing to help. I
just don't have the ability to handle it.
As for those of you who have asked about T-shirts, about 15 people have
expressed interest so I can't imagine that we would make more than 25 or
30 of them. We have no money to spare, after all. I'd like to have final
say on the design/wording (with approval from other junta members, of
course), but if anyone wants to take over the production, give me a
holler.
No record reviews this week, I still have no money, no time, and am
freaking out about turning 28 (my birthday is on Saturday, send money
please, or help me find a real job, or at least convince Dave Grohl to
come give me a full-body massage with sweet almond oil).
Lena keb@u.washington.edu
"Frances' bike was called Rory and it had a rough saddle."
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From: Greg Pohl <gpohl@nofc.forestry.ca>
Ani Difranco in Edmonton
Greetings from a mostly-lurker in the frozen wasteland of 24 hour
video stores and mega malls. It's great to see some interesting
discussions on the I-L, like the "live vs. recorded" debate, and the
"sexism in alternoidea" issue. Regarding the former, I have to agree that
they are very different kinds of music, to be appreciated in very
different ways. As a listener and creator of both, I'd say they are coming
from different worlds. But I am interested in trying to merge the two.
Anybody with some advice/experience with this? Our garage band ("The
Same") is made up of some people who "just wanna jam" and others who are
really into the layers and textures thang. So we try to hack out a basic
rhythm track, and then add overdubs. Results are pretty variable...
As for sexism in music, I kinda thought that independent circles were
mostly setting an example; a place where women can finally be accepted as
viable musicians in their own right, not just an interesting twist in a
band's line-up. On that note, I went to see Ani Difranco here in Edmonton
last night. She was billed as a "feminist folk singer" which I guess she
is sorta, because alot of her songs deal with gender issues. But instead
of just putting all her energy into blaming people and feeling victimized,
she just points out incinsistencies and suggest ways that everyone can try
to make the world a better place. As a man, I never feel that I am being
blamed, or that I am not welcome as a listener, when I listen to her,
which is something that many so-called "feminist artists" leave me
feeling. Let's face it, men are half the population, so nothing's gonna
get much better without their help. And since women are half the
population too, they have to accept sme of the responsibility for the
state of the world today too. Anyway, the show was great. Ani is really
funny; very relaxed with the audience. She performed with just a drummer;
she wears a handful of finger picks, and can really fill out the sound
with lots of fills and percussive hits and stuff. She's a really hot
player. Lots of new material too, which she sez ought to be out on a new
recording in a couple months. She was really refreshing to see; for anyone
out there that doesn't know what she's about, don't be scared by the
"folk" label (she owes more to Kim Gordon than to Joan Baez) or the
"feminist" label (she's witty and constructive, not just pissed off at
men).
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From: eck@syl.nj.nec.com
"Cute"ness & 7 Year Bitch, Scorn, age, etc.
On the discussion regarding Sean's "cute" comment...I'm happy that the
involved parties were able to discuss the issues rationally. It seems
much more useful to talk things out rather than leaping off and flaming
from stage one...
(Note: please excuse any obvious statements in the rambling below. I'm a
bit bored.)
On that note, my $0.02 on the matter. I can't believe that there is
anything wrong with simply stating that one finds another person
attractive. For instance, I enjoy 7 Year Bitch very much; I love _Sick
'Em_ to pieces, and have sweated through their sets four times now.
Besides the fact that they make great music, I like 7YB because they are
intelligent, powerful, direct, and no-nonsense. They also happen to be,
gosh darn it, attractive, and I can't see anything wrong with my saying
that. Not that I go around rating every person I see in terms of how much
I am attracted to them, but if asked, I'd like to think I'd be honest
enough to admit it.
Simply liking a band because of its members' looks is a bit iffier, but
can 50 million New Kids on the Block/Samantha Fox/Joey Lawrence/ Cathy
Dennis fans be wrong? ;>
Admittedly, a band's physical appearance has little to do with my liking
or not liking them - I'm a big Fall fan, and no one could call Mark E.
Smith an attractive man. But I also enjoying seeing Keanu Reeves movies,
and it sure ain't for his acting skills...;-)
I think the real issue that caused the discussion posted in the last
Indie-L was that it appeared that Sean was disregarding Jenny's presence
in the band as anything but a pretty face, while the real work in Tsunami
was being done by Andrew. Now, I've never met Sean, but from reading his
I-L posts over the past seventeen months, I didn't read Sean's post that
way, and it's come out that such an impression was patently false. In
hindsight, of course, it's fairly obvious that someone could have gotten
that impression. Chalk it up to humans' wonderfully ambiguous use of
language, I guess.
What to learn from all this? 1) That I'm excessively verbose and silly
sometimes, and 2) Always try to read yr email with an objective eye before
sending it out. Better to offend on purpose than to offend by accident, I
say.
Oh yeah. 7YB's _Sick 'Em_ really is a great record, but it definately
takes seeing them live to appreciate it. The production is simply
abysmal. From the dozen or so new songs I've heard them do live, though,
their next album should be just wonderful, assuming they get with a better
producer.
Other ramblings:
Here's a review of the new album by a band called Scorn, who are on
Britian's Earache label. I am fairly confident that Earache are an indie
label, even though they have been distributed by Relativity in the U.S. -
please feel free to correct me if not. Anyway, the review:
Scorn Colossus Earache Records MOSH91CD 1994
Yippee, first purchase dated 1994. This is Scorn's second full-length
release that I'm aware of. Colossus follows in the footsteps of _Vae
Solis_, but is noticably different. Where their first album was highly
Godflesh-y, heavy and dark, this one is a bit more Loop-y, with guitar
effects layers on top of processed guitar with a bit of guitar added for
good measure. A few of the tracks are much more "song-like" than anything
on _Vae Solis_, most notably "White Irises Blind" and "Nights Ash Black",
both of which feature an almost peppy bass line and undistorted vocals.
I'd give it a +2.5 on the -5 to +5 scale, except that it's too long (70
minutes) and one of the tracks ("Scorpionic") uses a tired old Led
Zeppelin drum sample. So, make it a +2.0.
Sean's revelation of only being into indie music for three years dates me
a bit too - my first show was seeing Manitoba's Wild Kingdom in 1986. But
who cares? It's not how long or how much that matters - look at Greg
Ginn, for instance. He was a veritable pioneer in the early days of
hardcore, but he's revealed himself to be a scum-sucking money- grubbing
pig after all.
[Sorry, to clarify, the first indie-show I saw was 3 years ago... but I
had already sorta started buying vinyl... maybe I'll trot out the long,
dopey story someday about the summer of 1990 and my radio... but not
today. - Sean]
I must echo the call for Simple Machines to produce a bootleg of the
Working Holiday show, for stiffs like me who didn't get tickets in time
and/or were stopped by the Ice Storm...I know at least one group of people
(not affiliated with SM) taped the show, but perhaps the SM gang taped it
off the soundboard. Of course, releasing the entire weekend would be a
bit silly (like 18 hours or so, right?) but two or three hours would
probably work.
[Bob Weston and Geoff Turner recorded the whole thing themselves,
separate mics from the PA/soundboard - the plan is to release a CD of
stuff, depending on how the tapes turned out. As long as it has Franklin
Bruno and the Coctails on it, I'll be happy. - Sean]
Here's to hoping for a speedy revival of the live music circuit - these
past few weeks have been dead! Darn those holidays.
brian
--
Brian Eck NEC Systems Laboratory Princeton, NJ eck@syl.nj.nec.com
How much rain could a rain drop drop if a rain drop could drop rain?
[Only Seattleites know for sure.... - Lena]
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From: SOLOMON FALLS ON HIS FACE IN LOVE WITH ME <STU_KEFITZGE@VAX1.ACS.JMU.EDU>
checkered cabs/edsel/house of freaks
well, checkered cabs, edsel, and house of freaks played here in
harrisonburg on campus (mark, it was in pc ballroom...will they ever find
an accoustically appropriate place for shows?) on january 28, 1994. not
many people attended which kinda took some o' the fun out of it.
checkered cabs started things off. there a pretty hep ska band from dc.
the singer is the cutest little woman i've ever seen. she started the set
off by saying that she wasn't feeling too great and then proceeded to
shake her little bootie off. she really rocked out. the guitarist was
cool and actually played along with the joke when a coupla guys started
doing headspins and stuff. but it was all in the spirit of fun so they
the c.cabs were ok with it. you can't have a good ska band without a
great horn section and they had it!! the horn section was fantastic!!!
edsel came up next...boy they really look like the nice little boys next
door and then they just start rockin' out!! it was nutty. very guitar
backed this time around. they played a pretty good set but i'm not at all
familiar with them, so i can't say what they played.
house of freaks....man, what can i say. these guys are really
rock-n-roll. for two guys, they really crank out some serious noise. the
drummer is the best i've ever seen. the guitarist/singer was pretty cool
but seems to be almost an sidekick or even just an ornament to the
drummer. but they were still pretty cool. by-the-by, the singer is an
alumnus of jmu and actually remembers it from when it was still madison
college. snicker they were selling floor cleaner and candles in the
back of the room with house of freaks written on them. it was really
pretty funny, i must say.
a good time was had by many and edsel are rumoured to have asked to come
back to harrisonburg to play at a local bar (joker's).
--daedalia
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From: burck@nyplgate.nypl.org
Albini comment
Before I begin to ramble I'd like to mention that Amphetamine Reptile has
just released Clusterfuck the CD in order to finance the european leg of
the Clusterfuck tour. It includes four songs by each of the three bands
on the tour -- Guzzard, Today is the Day, and Chokebore. New songs from
each band as well as material from their AmRep lps, debut singles and the
tour only 7". If you haven't heard these bands, this is well worth the
money. Today is the Day, as I have already commented on the I-L, is just
about the best thing in the world right now (if you like big big big
guitars, rhythmic shifts, tape textures, monster drums, and super intense
vocals).
As far as Albini's comments are concerned, he's right in his evaluation of
Urge and Liz Phair (I've not even bothered to try to hear Smashimg
Pumpkins, so I'll reserve judgement -- although Steve's generally on the
mark a lot of the time) in that their recent records suck in a major way.
U.O. hasn't made a really good record since Jesus Urge Superstar (a truly
remakable example of the power of the electric guitar) and Liz is just
plain bad. That being said, I couldn't care less if the industry
promotion machinery pushes them or if they are shameless self promoters on
their own. Everyone involved in music has to be a self-promoter if they
want their music to be heard. You have to convince people to book your
band at the very least. I suppose there is a problem when the
self-promotion becomes an end itself -- for Urge Overkill it has evidently
become the crative focus. Vaguely amusing, but not more than that. Aw
gee, I thought I had something interesting to say, but I don't. I guess I
really just wanted to register my opinion that Liz Phair's record bites
(sorry to offer so vague a criticism, but upon listening to the record I
could not find a single interesting or commendable element).
- Ben
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From: "Jens Alfke" <jens_alfke@powertalk.apple.com>
Seefeel News!
OK, for my second-ever Indie-List posting I must share the news
with you all that the mighty SEEFEEL, UK masters of ambient spacey
guitar-wash dub, have a US record deal and will have their product
released in the US on the Astralwerks label, which I understand is
Caroline's techno/ambient offshoot that also puts out the excellent
"Excursions In Ambience" series.
Seefeel's "Quique" album will be out in April, and a compilation
of the "More Like Space" and "Pure/Impure" EPs in July.
We are also promised a US tour "later in the year". (There have
been rumors of Seefeel opening for the lately-debased Cocteau Twins in the
US, but it doesn't look likely.)
Speaking of "Excursions", the third volume will be out in April
also.
**
James Nash <CCX020@raven.coventry.ac.uk> writes re. UK charts:
>We have all sorts of ridiculous regulations restricting how many songs you
>can have on a "single" and how long it can be; if it goes over the limit
>it has to be classed an album, etc.
This does have some fun aspects, viz. the many hidden bonus tracks on
ostensibly 4-track EPs. It's always fun to take one home and find extra
stuff on it that you didn't expect (esp. when you paid over $10 for it.)
And of course there's the Orb's "Blue Room" single, one song that clocks
in at 39:50.
>I believe the American charts have an element of radio airplay in them;
>luckily in this country it is based entirely on record sales from a
>supposedly random selection of shops equipped with the adequate technology
The US charts now work that way too, since about three(?) years ago.
Supposedly when they switched over to this system, rap and metal jumped a
lot further up the charts since they were selling a lot without much radio
play. The charts still look like shit to me, though...
Somehow my impression is that the US populace just doesn't care about
music as much as the British do. The majority of people I know don't care
about any current music, they just listen to all the "Classic Rock"
stations that feed them the crap they grew up with: Bad Company, Boston,
Journey, Eric Clapton...
--Jens Alfke jens_alfke@powertalk.apple.com
Apple Computer "Uh, guys ... that's not cheese!"
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From: davidb@dbadmin2.amgen.com (David Bennison)
Tackhead + Bubblehead + Fun-da-mental
-------------------------------------
Live at the Forum, London 22/01/94
----------------------------------
Found out The Forum is just The Town and Country Club under new
management, but with the same nazi doormen, refusing entry if you have a
camera as though you're going to smash someone over the head with
something that took all year to save up for. So, I have seen Fun-da-mental
3 or 4 times now, the last time at Glastonbury in June 93 where they were
great. Since then, they have suffered a split in ranks, with Propa-ghandi
(big chief of the Nation Record Label) better known as 'the tool who wears
a rug wrapped round his head' being the only original member (the other
guys have been working with Transglobal Underground amongst other things).
In their place is a guy who looks like Snoop Doggy Dogg (evil look in his
eyes), a really slick dressing Indian guy with an immaculately kept beard
- so dark I think he used boot polish to achieve it, a drummer/rapper who
looks the spitting image of Angelo? from Fishbone but only about 5ft
5inches. To top it off, there is the most cliched White-Rasta (looks like
Gary Oldman did in True Romance) who plays a digeridoo!? while making
shapes with his arms. Twat. If you can get over the ridiculous lyrics and
embarrasing between song preaching ("We don't want to be treated
differently. We just want THE TRUTH. RESPECT.") they actually make a
fairly decent noise, heavily sampled racist comments mixed with rap/chants
and powerful drum samples. None of it is live, you have to sometimes
accept this, the nearest musical reference being a sort of multi cultural
Consolidated (what an awful thought). They went down pretty well but my
interest in them has long since gone - I just thought they were
ridiculous. Even the genius that is Adrian Sherwood was initially
impressed but rapidly ignored them and went back to his mixing desk.
Bubblehead were next, some sort of semi-Tackhead with a couple of pals I
was lead to believe. Doug Wimbush (THE greatest bass player), Skip
Macdonald (one of THE great lead guitarists) and Keith Leblanc (one of THE
great drummers) from Tackhead plus two backing singers singing an extended
jam version of "It's a Family Affair" which was the best thing on this
night. Just watching Doug Wimbush is a treat, pulling faces like BB King
while coaxing all sort of sounds from his bass. Don't know why Tackhead
haven't worked with George Clinton in the past, they have the Pure Uncut
Funk in their veins, and they seem to be heading in this sort of direction
(Clinton/The Family Stand) rather than the taut, clean and political
Tackhead sound of yore. A brief history lesson here about the 3 Tackhead
guys. Doug Wimbush was an original member of The Sugarhill Gang, seminal
rap/funksters of the late 70's/early 80's and the other guys have worked
closely with Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mell, the Sugarhill Gang and the
other early rap/scratching/dj pioneers. So, Melle Mell and The Wheels of
Steel (the original Terminator X I guess) were wheeled on to an
underwhelming reaction, decked out in Fila gear with the original Fila
trainers with no laces look! It was a bit of a timewarp and they were full
of more cliches "Wave yer hands in the air. Wave them like you just don't
care", even though the cliches probably originated from them in the first
place. The Wheels Of Steel then frankly bored everyone with a 15 minute
virtuoso display of his scratching technique. Wow, watch him go! (he looks
like that fat club owner in Purple Rain. The one that Prince wanted to
impress to keep his job there. The one that looked like he wouldn't know a
decent song unless it came with a dozen hamburgers and fries.) Records
were flying from turntable to turntable as he waggled that little joystick
that these scratching hip-hop sucker-MCs from the early 80's waggle.
Boring. Tackhead were next, resembling Bubblehead 100% but with Melle Mell
and the Wheels of Steel refusing to piss off. Didn't recognise any of the
songs, which again, resembled extended jams with simmering basslines from
Doug Wimbush pierced with short rapid searing guitar screaches from Skip
Macdonald. All the while, Keith LeBlanc keeping up an amazing sharp,clear
metronomic drumbeat - pretty much trademark Tackhead. I preferred their
earlier LPs and EPs when they used samples rather than vocals, although
Bernard Fowler (ex Peach Boy) certainly added something to their live
shows. Now he's left (touring with the Rolling Stones when I last heard -
payola time) they need to decide where to go to next. I don't recommend
dragging out old friends from the early days, it just sounds dated.
Anyway, overall a decent night, nothing startling but plenty to keep me
amused, Children of the Bong on Tuesday and then a 9:00pm to 6:00 all
nighter at Club MegaDog this weekend. Things certainly are picking up in
London.
David...
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From: Steve Silverstein <ST201268@BROWNVM.brown.edu>
New title-ing schema
There's a Wing Tip Sloat song called "Wish I'd Been there to Make it a
Cliche". With my message titles, there was obviously no need, so I figure
I'll stop with them, since I'm sick of jokes about them. When it's the
first thing someone asks you when you meet them in person...
Anyhow, other stuff. I haven't written for awhile. I really haven't seen
anything/one huge. A list of some bands I've stumbled across at different
dates and places in Providence last month. Kustomized are on Matador. I
don't really know why. They're good, and they have one or two really
great songs. A combo of 80's lo-fi noisy punk and the 90's noise bands.
Kind of original and solid, and I like them, but they don't thrill me.
Peter Prescott on guitar, Kurt (Yukki Gipes) on drums, and a couple other
folks change instruments too. The Mole People feature 2 ex-members of
Flower Gang, do a more punk thing, have a fun, geeky stage presence, and
keep improving. Speed Queen will change their name soon. They feature
Priscilla from Pie Wagon on bass, and have a good but unoriginal sound.
The lead guitarist's solos seem quite out of place. A couple songs stand
out some. Usalos are kind of a punk NRBQ, which sounds sort of bizarre,
but I pretty much like them. I'm curious to hear their 7". Linoleum 235
have a sort of cheesy 60s influenced feel to them, but are doing some
really original things in a way and I like Rory's songwriting a lot,
actually. He's got a solo 7" on SOL and a new 7" too. And it was odd
seeing all sorts of folks playing acoustic at the Met on Monday night.
It's a blues club, but they do something called "Mod Mondays". Sean and
Tim from Non Pareils both did acoustic sets, Sean showing that even
drummers can do so. I haven't seen them as a band in awhile, but Tim's
songs are strong and I'm hoping they've improved since Sept live. Dave A.
recorded some stuff of theirs on 8 track. He also recorded Boss Fuel
(garage-y) who have a 7" due on Estrus (I think) and finished mixing a
Honeybunch 7" due on K and a PIS song for some Spanish comp of Galaxie 500
covers. The PIS stuff on Watercolor is finally starting to trickle out; a
test pressing of a comp with a song from the EP and a song not from the EP
seems on its way soon on CD. Back to these acoustic sets, Purple Ivy
Shadows did one too (beautiful transition). They played 3 songs (playing
last), a Kris Kristofferson song, a new original (with Alex Kemp on bass),
and "Speeding Motorcycle". Tina couldn't find a babysitter for Electra so
no drummer this time. And Alex did some acoustic stuff too, some with
Dave McCaffrey on bass. His set included some new small factory songs
(one of which Dave A said was too slow), Halo Bit tune (I think), and one
or 2 more. I also caught Parsley's set. Sarah has a great voice, but the
music is un-amazing. It's sort of country-ish, but unoriginal.
Sean, the Eggs album is called Eggs TeenBeat 96 Exploder, which is just
the catalog no. (in usual TB weirdness, Ocelot is 56, Bruiser 76,
Exploder 96, and A Pit with Spikes 116). Hits shelves Valentine's Day.
[Um, actually, Ocelot was 66 - Unrest's _Black Power Dynamo_ reissue is
56 (remember, Unrest gets the 7s...) but thanks for the tip - I knew
there was some funky Eggs number trick too... unfortunately, it doesn't
follow for Andrew's other stuff (Jungle George, Scaley Andrew) (yes, I
did consult a TB catalog... I'm still trying to get up the nerve to
compile a full one on the net) - Sean]
More Providence news: Michael Cudahy/Liz Cox from Christmas have a new 7"
with their new lounge band Combustible Edison, on Sub Pop [Is this "Cry Me
A River"/"Satan Says", or something new new? I hear there'll be a
full-length CD soon too. - Lena]. And then in May or so Sub Pop does the
new Von Ryan Express 7". It's going to have "Lucky 7s" and "Ghetto Pose".
Word is that the recordings, which are done, came out great. Last I heard
they were doing 8 track with George Dussalt again. The first 7" was
great, so look out for it. That makes 3 Providence bands on Sub Pop!
New Dambuilders 7" is not really as good as most of the other stuff
they've put out, though I like it overall. It doesn't really do either
the noisy thing or the soft poppy thing, but sort of sits in the middle a
bit. The new Scarce 7" is better recorded than the first (again at Studio
Red). The A-side, "Hope", is by Joyce and features a lot of cool
harmonies; a really solid song. Chick's new one "Something" is acoustic
and a bit different for them, but one of their weaker tunes overall.
Pitchblende finished recording their new album, called something like
Tales for the Angular Set. Word on it is that it came out well. No
further info.
Sorry to be a bit long-winded and gossip-y and such.
-Steve
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From: Clark McCabe <beastie@gibbs.oit.unc.edu>
rocket from the crypt, scrawl, the grifters
1/31
cat's cradle
carrboro, nc
i had been excited about seeing this show for a while and was glad that
the day of this show had finally come. as i walked in, i was ecstatic.
for it must have been pavement playing...no, it was sonic youth, wait no,
that's the grifters. oh well, the band was still pretty good despite
their obvious influences. unfortunately, i was late to the show and i
only caught the last two songs of their set. the songs had a slower
tempo, but i was much more impressed seeing them this time than when they
played with the (godlike) flaming lips last year. they seemed utterly
disinterested in what they were doing though, and didn't get into the
music they were playing. but this type of non-chalant stage presense
complemented the music they played very well. from my perspective, they
sounded great. (as i watched them play, i couldn't help but notice that
the bass player looked just like kevin bacon from the lost boys).
the band i was really there to see was up next. scrawl came on about
11:30 and played for almost an hour. i had never heard anything by them
previously, but had heard so many great things about them that i wasn't
about to miss the chance to see them live. i was so impressed with their
show that i went out and bought their new single and the velvet hammer
album. anyway, the structure of their songs was very simple and tight,
yet very catchy. i couldn't help but shake my head and dance around to
the catchy beats (despite all the "expert music critics" there who seemed
to be bored and critiquing/analyzing the band). the great thing about
scrawl is they have a fun and happy kind of sound. during certain parts
of their songs, the two girls in the band would harmonize so perfectly
that i was taken away by the beauty of their voices together.
after this great performance, rocket from the crypt was up. i wasn't too
excited about seeing them. i bought a copy of their "pigeon eater" single
and just wasn't impressed. but like so many other bands, their recorded
material was nothing like their live show. all 6 members came out in
style--each rocketeer was wearing brown slacks with the freshest of blue
short sleeve, button down shirts. but the great thing was that the shirts
were all sparkling! they promised to deliver punk rock, and they surely
did. musically, they had a ska-ish flavor, and reminded me of the mighty
mighty bosstones--with a saxophone and a horn player and all. but the
guitarists played chords much harder than most ska bands and in that way
they were more reminiscent of helmet. they also reminded me of the cramps
in some odd repsects. so i guess, musically, they were kind of generic.
despite this, i really liked them. the best thing about them was that
they were pure energy. on stage, every member was totally into the music
they were playing. they had the audience jumping up and down and dancing
madly. for once, it wasn't all that bad watching people slam dance. for
the energy this band put into their set and music made it appropriate. i
think the best thing about the show was when someone from the audience
managed to toss a stone temple pilots tape on stage. the crowd was
demanding that the band destroy it, but the lead singer said he'd rather
trade it in for 3 bucks. it was funny, but i guess you had to be there.
*******************
i do have a comment on the article published in the last issue regarding
steve albini's opinions on liz phair, smashing pumpkins, and urge
overkill. i share in his frustration at the corporate treatment of music.
i think that it is absolutely vile that the major labels sign and promote
bands only to make money. i find this sick, which is why i am much more
partial and prone to buy music from independent labels. for generally,
indie labels will only sign bands because they are good, not because
they will make money off of the albums they release. there is something
much more honorable and true of the indie concept. this is something that
the corporates and mtv (and unfortunately, it's viewers) don't really care
about. it seems like the corporate "system" is set up on appearances,
rather than the real thing below the surface and it's much easier to
accept these appearances to be the real thing (or then again, maybe i've
been studying immanual kant too much).
anyway, the point is that indie music is for real. there is no hype, you
either like a band because you like the music, or you don't like them
because you dislike it. this is the real way to like music (or anything
else for that matter) as opposed to liking a band because mtv plays their
video. indie music, for me, is much more intelligent, because it forces
us to push aside the appearances of hyped/promoted music and find music we
truly like without the outside influence.
this isn't to say that bands on major labels are all hyped and all suck.
i personally really like a lot of bands that are on major labels. in
fact, my main critique of albini's letter involves this. i don't
understand how he can say that urge overkill, liz phair, and smashing
pumpkins are all "frauds" and for the mainstream. in case he hasn't
realized, all these bands have put out albums on indie labels. the fact
that they are now on major labels doesn't mean that they are for a
"bullshit" audience. in fact, i (and many others i'm sure) was listening
to these bands long before the mainstream knew how to spell nirvana. and
yes, i liked these bands and still do.
to deny the musicianship of liz phair is absolutely asinine. her lyrics
are great, and she practically invented the music she plays. is this a
"fraud"? urge overkill released their major label debut with a huge indie
following, and got 100% artistic control of the music for saturation.
smashing pumpkins wanted to go mainstream, but their musical style didn't
change any with siamese dream. in fact, the time, money, and effort that
billy corgan put into the album is commendable. and he got everything he
wanted out of signing on a major label.
now, i don't deny that signing to a major label kills the greatness of an
independent band (look at dinosaur jr.), but if that's what the artist
wants, then you certainly can't bag their listeners for the artists'
political move. how the corporates promote thier artists is their own
(sick) business, but you can't say that all the audience is "bullshit"
because a band they like is on a major label. you can say this of people
who only bought siamese dream or saturation because they saw the videos on
mtv, but what about the people that liked these bands before they were on
major labels and played on mtv? am i part of this "bullshit" audience
because i like liz phair, or the flaming lips, or th faith healers? i
have seen videos of these bands on mtv before (though that's not why i
bought the albums).
i really empathize with steve albini here. i really do because i hate
those god damned, money grubbing, scum labels just as much as he does, if
not more. i hate it when i buy an album that is super hyped by major
labels that really sucks (like stone temple pilots or pearl jam). it
seems like a tremendous plot to suck our money out from our pockets and
feed us a bunch of appearances. that's fucking shitty. but i just wish
that steve albini would be a bit more careful in his considerations of
"bullshit" people. for i certainly don't consider my self to be bullshit,
and i am going to be the first one in line when the new liz phair album
comes out.
-clark
"and if there's one thing i can't stand, it's up"
-mercury rev
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From: davidb@dbadmin2.amgen.com (David Bennison)
SM*A*SH (known as SMASH to friends) / Spacemaid / The Sway
At The Boat Race, Cambridge, UK - 2nd Feb 1994
------------------------------------------------------------
'The Sway are a guitar driven four piece from North London. Their debut
single "Silk" - ("A Bone Fide Classic" Ian Fortnam - Making Music) is
released on Bad Habits records on February 21st. The diversity of their
music, powerful lyrics and dynamic stage presence ensure that the band
will be around for a long time to come...'. Sorry, I was just reading the
4 page leaflet that comes with every Sway concert. I only caught the last
song so it's unfair, but it's only fair to let you know the views of the
band. David Casson, 21, says "I try to write from personal experience
about the pleasures and hardships of life. When I perform I want the
audience to take it with them forever." What about James Kook, 23,
apparently the stringsmith and musical wizard - "If I'm not playing
guitar, I'm painting or writing. I've a million things to do and I want to
do them all." Paul H, 20, a reformed altar boy whose pounding Bass and
wicked humour drives the band on reflects thus - "I discovered that making
music was a spiritual experience in itself, and the Bass is the soul of
the band." Hmmm, just ask Jon Spencer. Best is Sean Kelly, 22, the
perfectionist in the band who graduated to 'The Sway' via Royal Tournament
Drumming! "To me, the ultimate kick is the perfect performance." You want
lyrics, they're all printed in this leaflet for us to sing along to,
"Beautiful creatures, you just don't understand. And I'm not sure I
understand. I'm just one of the confused ones, with flowers in their
hands. Crawling on your floor, and knocking at your door. Gimme some Silk.
Coz I've had enough wine, to last a lifetime. Why has it taken 3 million
years, to get men off all fours. To break down so few doors. Wake Up!" Oh
my god, this is hilarious. They finally wish to thank their tour sponsors,
russprint translation services (Russian-English / English-Russian),
Hopkinson Gardening Services and Bunns Lane Welding ('For all your band's
Welding needs') Unintentionally more amusing than anything Nation of
Ulysses put together. Good luck to them, perhaps they'll suprise me and
produce a perfect performance, somehow I doubt it. Tonight, the one song
was dull. Spacemaid next. With a crusty old name like that, there had to
be a guy bassist with long blond rasta-hair and a waif like hippy girl
singer who never washes and 3 other anonymous band members trying to sound
like a rockier Back To The Planet (Spacemaid clones for all you non-UK
folk). Anyway, I've written a lot so far, Spacemaid were dull also and
didn't even have an amusing leaflet. SMASH are a three piece who, to my
ears, sound a lot like The Jam mixed with The Only Ones (vocals seemed
very Pete Perritt, delivered by a guy who looks like Ian Brown - A Stone
Rose) but incorporate the style sloganeering of the Manic Street
Preachers, all working class lads (look like they're in their thirties)
decked out in blue denim. Apparently they incorporate a 'dole queue
glamour' in their look (never found being out of work that glamourous
really). However, the show was very good and very energetic. The crowd
were pogoing, the singer gobbing now and again, staring into the crowd (50
of us as usual), and ripping into 2 or 3 minute punk pop songs. They did
the 'Love Your C**t' single which was OK, but there were about 4 or 5
better songs, a highlight being one with "I'm ashamed" repeated over and
over. They're self-confident, look pretty cool (although the lead singer
walked past me and only came up to my shoulders! Ha), write neat songs and
thrash out a lively short set. Worth catching before they turn into the
Manic Street Preachers. They're currently on a pretty exhaustive UK tour.
David...
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From: DDBAN203G@UNIVERSITY-CENTRAL-ENGLAND.AC.UK
TRUMAN'S WATER - GODSPEED THE PUNCHLINE
---------------------------------------
Hmmm dunno how long that has been out over in the u.s. but it's new this
week, so then whats up athlete who is suck?
Spasm smash xxx oxoxox and ass was so ACE! it was one of the top 5 albums
of 1993...observe:
Top 5 albums of 1993
--------------------
1: Republic - NEW ORDER
2: Goodbye California - EAST RIVER PIPE
3: Spasm smash XXX OXOXOX and ass - TRUMAN'S WATER
4: Untouched - SECRET SHINE
5: In utero - NIRVANA (who they?)
So ace, and i have a theory about Truman's Water. Its my patented
"Truman's Water Theory" ding!
Truman's Water are really a Ukrainian, or behaps Belarusian, folk band who
were on a tour of the USA when their instruments were stolen by Hell's
Angels. With that handy capitalistic thing called Insurance they bought
new electric instruments and decided to try out that thing called ROCK AND
ROLL! Only they had never heard much before so had to fill in the
gaps...and the gaps were quite big.
So Spasm smash... was superb then, 10X my age was a dissappointment. Too
much weirdness by numbers. The new one: cred or crud?
Mostly cred but a bit of crud.
When Truman's Water get going and launch into speedkill overdrive they
excite like no other band in the universe. The song titles are as weird as
usual too, and don't expect me to remeber any of them. A few "Songs" are
just formless noise and shall be discared or recorded onto continous loop
tape and played to little children you have tied up very LOUDLY!
I still think they're Ukrainian though. You listen to a record of
ukrainian folk music then Truman's Water, you'll see...
nastyned
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NEW/CHANGED INFO: Pavement list moved (already)
Just another FYI for all you Pavement fanatics.
Do you like Pavement? Do you want to find out about the band, or tell
others about your Pavement experiences? Well, join the Pavement mailing
list. To subscribe, put the following command in the body of a message:
subscribe pavement <your name>
For example:
subscribe pavement Jake Roberts
Then send the message to:
mailserv@d31rz0.stanford.edu
Once you've done that, anything you want to send to the list should be
mailed to:
pavement@d31rz0.stanford.edu
Jake Roberts
jake@d31rz0.stanford.edu
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Mumbles from the editor...
stomach churning, severe headache... a combination of seeing Polvo last
night and probably having a couple too many beers. Polvo did rock out,
but the sound was a little muddy, so the crystal guitar cuts of _Today's
Active Lifestyles_ just couldn't shine through. The show itself was
still enjoyable... but I wanted something more (?) oh well, tonight is
Barbara Manning, so I can rest, recuperate, and just sit and enjoy.
One zine review this time -
Caught In Flux is the "new" project from Mike Appelstein, who formerly
put out 8 excellent editions of Writer's Block - intelligent,
well-written, and honest. Flux continues that style, in a smaller
format, this time with less record reviews (some written by a dork with
the initials SKM), interviews with Tiger Trap and Silly Pillows, a neat
letter from Tracey Thorn talking about when she was making good music
(like before 1986), and a great guide to campy movies by Gretchen
Phillips. Highly recommended.
$2 to P.O. Box 7088, New York, NY 10116-7088
Sean
skmurphy@phoenix.princeton.edu
P.S. It's nice to see that we've actually got coherent discussions and
threads going here...
P.P.S. I apologize to people who didn't receive v3n8 - some got bounced
back to me for being too big for various system mailboxes. I'll send it
in pieces to those who still want to read it...
P.P.P.S. Due to volume, we're probably going to start sending issues "as
they come in" instead of sticking to the twice-a-week format. This is
not to say that we're abandoning the digest format, but that in a heavy
week, you might get 3 or 4 lists instead of the usual 2. This should
help us avoid the troubles noted in the last issue.
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From: Paul J Nini <pnini@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
Log (which counts two of its four members as new indie-listers) has a 7",
4-song single available through Ajax, Caroline, Scooby-Do, and other
distributors, so ask about it at your hip local record shoppe. It's also
available through mail order, from either Anyway Records, 118 E.
Patterson, Columbus, Ohio 43201, or from me, Paul Nini, 154 Charleston
Ave., Columbus, Ohio 43214, for $3 ppd, checks payable to the appropriate
party. Recent reviews call us "minimalist post-C&W jangle (with a touch of
Velvets) a la Zeitgeist" (Ajax Catalog 1/94) and "cool, folksy, and
scruffy sounding. Lotsa squealy guitar peals, buzzes and scrapey fuzz"
(Andrea Enthal, March 1994 Alernative Press). We just call it pop.
--Paul Nini
pnini@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
[Hey, did you know a "Panini" is an Italian sandwich which is becoming
very popular in trendy cafe's in Seattle? - Lena]
<------------------------------------------------------------>
The Indie-List Digest is published every Tuesday and Friday 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)
Wed, 9 Mar 1994 14:55:02 -0500 (EST)]