Has Jazz Gone Hibrow?
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Indie List Digest!
Sept 2, 1994
Volume 4 Number 1
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Feelies
Jawbox, Luna, Small Factory, et al.
Soul Junk
ANNOUNCE: Pumpkinseed
ANNOUNCE: Coctails tour dates
You'll note that this issue marks a volume turnover for the Indie
List, as well as the semi-traditional celebration of its anniversary
(c.f. the FAQ). As I-L heads into the next year of its curious
existence, one is tempted to wax hopeful or bemused. Instead, let's
just say that as one of the coEditors, I feel optimistic about the
I-L's future, pleased with its present, and admiring of its past.
Note as well that the new issue of Telegraph has hit the wires, and
it's a swell one. Drop a line to Mark Cornick for more details, or
check out his web page at http://hopper.itc.virginia.edu/~mcornick/tg
for further details.
So in the scheme of things, Anne and I made a big trip to Ajax
Records in Chicago a week or so ago, and brought back many items. A
few of printed ones are worth note here - so I do so:
Spiffy #5. This monster of a zine by Katherine Hodges is a delight
to read - if sometimes a bit perplexing in the layout. Some
hundreds of pages of musings, interviews with various
net-a-sic-person-types, thoughts and travel notes. An enrapturing
dip into another's life that - while a tad uneven in points - stands
shoulders above most perzines I've experienced. I recommend it
highly (available from Katherine Hodges, PO Box 1238, Ames IA 50014.
email her for more info at khodges@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu...)
Also picked up something I hadn't had a chance to see before -
Chickfactor. Very nicely, if sometimes annoyingly laid-out zine - all
in landscape mode - and the recent (#6) issue has a nice little
interview with that man on the move, Stephen Merritt. The fact that
it has two geographically separated editors gives it a nice diverse
flavor, much like sick-n-tired-l. ($3 from either 245 E 19th St 12T,
NY, NY 10003, or POB 21685, Washington DC 20009).
Speaking of, there's a nice Kathleen Billus piece in the most recent
Gourmandizer (Salsa Issue), which I really was impressed with. But
there's Oh So Much More, like a Steve Albini meets HL Mencken piece
that drives me batty, reviews, recipes, a mustard overview, all the
cool stuff o' life ($3 'r so from POB 582714, Minneapolis, MN 55455)
And to round out the 'zine blabbage from me, try and snag a copy of
the most recent Cool Beans, if for no other reason that to read the
wacky interview with Frank Black whilst grooving to the split Dis-
and Lou Barlow 7". A steal at #3.50 (3181 Mission #113, SF, CA
94110)
One final note - az says "thanks for all the cool information about
Minneapolis!"
-es
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From: Deddawg@aol.com
Feelies
re: Steve Baragona's Feelies query
last I heard, Wake oolo was in fact guitarist Glenn Mercer and the
very same percussionist wondered about, Dave Weckerman. Weckerman
sang/fronted Feelies alter-ego Yung Wu, so maybe he was up front and
went unrecognized without the rhythmic accoutrements.
Bill Million is missing in action, Brenda Sauter plays in a band in
NY whose name I can't recall and Feelies drummer Stanley Demeski is in
the band written about in the very same post, Luna. - jason
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From: Aaron Schatz <ST000414@BROWNVM.brown.edu>
Live - Jawbox, Luna, Small Factory, plus record reviews
First, a note from my last post. I saw Chick Graning at a softball
game when WBRU played some bar he hangs out at. We met a lot at
second base (a position we both play - perhaps, since I'm trying to
play guitar like him, he's trying to play softball like me). It turns
out that Jud did not leave Scarce for a normal job - he is now playing
with Gigolo Aunts. A major mistake, in my opinion, since it is
likely that Scarce will be much bigger than the Aunts are now, but
hey, it's his call. The new drummer for Scarce, for now, is Stephen
from Apollo Landing.
There is some talk on "subbaculcha" that Joey Santiago, his wife Linda
(who plays bass, I guess) and Dave Lovering (who has left Cracker) are
forming a new band. "Subbaculcha" is a list that discusses all the
bands that have resulted from those days in 88 and 89 when the Pixies
and Throwing Muses used to play together at Green Street Station in
Jamaica Plain, except that it is very mersh oriented and i'm sure
nobody on the list has even heard of Green Street Station which is now
closed anyway. Actually, there is a bit of indie-subbaculcha
crossover, like myself and Susan Curran.
Live review - Jawbox, Creamy, and Pollenate, Babyhead, Prov RI, Wed.
8/24
I missed Pollenate. Creamy is fronted by Bill Keough, a Providence
mainstay who used to book at Babyhead. I'm friends wth him, so this
review might be biased, but I liked it. A lot of there songs are
based around a looping bass line and one repeating chord. It's very
hard, the lyrics are more said than sung, but it grooves. I don't
think they ever play outside of Providence, though. I had never heard
Jawbox except for the "Savory" single, which I didn't like, but they
are incredible live. They are, as most of you know, ex-Dischord, which
can pretty much describe their sound as well: like Fugazi, lots of
starts and stops, changes in tension, quiet parts. The harmonies are
better than Fugazi, the drumming not as good (since I think Brendan
Canty is the best drummer on the planet). I'm gonna go out and buy
some. Great show.
Luna, Small Factory, Blue Shift Signal, a couple of weeks ago, Prov
RI, Lupo's
I missed Blue Shift Signal (when you get in free on a radio station
guest list, you have a habit of coming late) but my friend Howard says
it was ethereal with fake British accents and Dave from BRU Sales said
they sound like the Ocean Blue, which is the same thing. So that's
two thumbs down. Small Factory were good, but their current direction
worries me a bit. They played all stuff from the upcoming album, so I
recognized only one song ("So What About Love"). Over time, from the
early singles to "I Do Not Love You" to the new stuff, they have moved
in two directions: Less of Dave Auchenbach singing and a harder edge.
I don't think I like either of these. Alex always singing lead gets
kinda whiny after a while, and the softer, happier acoustic sound was
more unique. As they become more jaded, they start sounding more like
every other indie band. That said, the music WAS good, they were
energized, Phoebe just keeps getting better (singing and drumming) and
I'm sure I'll buy the new record. Luna bored the pants off me - they
are the kind of band that's great to listen to at home, but live they
just stand there. I like them, but it was dull, except for the
Talking Heads cover (which has already been mentioned here, I think).
This is all material found in the WBRU Free Bin. I'll start with a
list of the albums I didn't like. I've brought a lot of them back, so
the comments are not long, but if you see these albums somewhere, my
advice is to skip 'em, even for just 99 cents. Heck, I got them for
FREE and threw them back.
() means I don't remember what label it's on.
Peach - Siesta (Caroline): Good name, loud music, not much melody.
Strawberry Zots - Friends Forever (): Lousy Psychedelic Rock
Crash Vegas Stone (London): Poor man's Soul Asylum, if they had Winona
singing instead of her boyfriend.
The Casual Outcasts - Six Singls (hour): Undistinguished college rock
Fudge - Ferocious Rhythm, etc. (Caroline): I am so disappointed. A
band which thanks Small Factory on its liner notes should not be this
bad. Actually, I've been told that this is a really poor example of
their music. I hope so for their sake.
Now, albums I like.
Suddenly, Tammy! (Spin Art) - This one's been out for a while, but I
would have bought it full price. Almost all indie music consists of
the same 4 instruments: guitar, bass, drums, and occasionally violin.
All of a sudden, this is indie pop with acoustic piano. Incredibly
melodic, with great piano playing and singing by Beth Sorrentino.
This hasn't left by CD player since I got it, but since I have a 5-CD
carousel I have gotten a chance to listen to:
Bumpin' Uglies (Red Planet) - Normal folk-rock, but done well. I
think they come out of the same LA coffeehouse scene as Downey Mildew
(whom they sound like) and Beck (whom they sound nothing like). Nice
violin playing.
Fuzzy (Seed) - A two-girl fronted pop-rock-punk band from Boston with
the same drummer as the Lemonheads. Doesn't particularly stand out,
but it's pretty good, escpecially the song "Sports" which has a cool a
capella intro.
They remind me a lot of Jale - Dreamcake (SubPop). This sounded a lot
better to me the second time I played it. It's more loud women
rock-punk-pop, this time from Nova Scotia, which reminds me of:
AN ANALYSIS OF HYPE, CHICAGO STYLE
I have heard two new singles from Chicago women in the last few days.
One is Liz Phair's Supernova, on Matador. The other is Veruca Salt's
Seether, on Scared Hitless. Now, Liz Phair must be the most hyped
artist in the history of indie-ness. In fact, her last album
completely went nowhere in the land of mersh despite its incredible
hype-o-rama. I have heard a bit of it, and it is good guitar
indie-rock, like Jale or Fuzzy, but not as good as the Breeders or
Belly (both bands, of course, started out as small and then got pumped
into ultra-MTVness by their labels, but they are great bands). She
seems to be unable to get through a song without saying "fuck" or
"dick." Veruca Salt, on the other hand, has gotten no hype at
commercial stations like mine, but their single might be the best song
I've heard all year, up there with Scarce and Versus among my
favorites of 1994. "Supernova" is a straight forward rocker with a
nice flangy guitar part. "Seether" has girlish harmonies, rocks hard,
has much cooler lyrics ("She is not born like other girls, but I know
how to conceive her" -- and "conceive her" of course rhymes with
"Seether" in the next line.) I wish Liz and the Matador hype machine
all the best (Yeah, I know Gerard reads this list, and I have nothing
against his label for pushing their artists so well - heck, I love
Pavement too) but there is something wrong if Veruca Salt languishes
in obscurity while the media-ready Liz gets the lead record review in
Rolling Stone (This has not happened yet, but I'm predicting it).
Oh, one last record reccomendation. I picked up the soundtrack to the
bluegrass documentary "High Lonesome." A good one-CD intro to great
American music.
Adios for now...
***********************************************************************
Aaron Schatz "When will come the time when
Zeta Delta Xi the Jews who are great
Brown University will be great Jews?"
st000414@brownvm.brown.edu
(401) 521-2513 (After 9/4 863-5580) - Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Cook
P.O. Box 3994, Providence, RI 02912
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From: Peter Andrew Lopez <pl1x+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Soul Junk
[somehow or another, this just turned up... mail burp? -es]
our second review is soul junk's "1950: free shrimp" cassette.
soul junk is the ex-lead guitarist of trumans water (perhaps his wife
and a few others occasionally). he left the band because he got
married and became a born-again christian. this tape, i guess,
documents his change of heart, religiously, and features heartfelt
meditations on god (cf. "father god" and "i turned my back on you").
cynics will immediately discard this tape with the likes of amy grant,
et al, but this would be a grave, grave mistake. i don't buy the
message, but the music is superb.
i suppose the best summation of the merits of this here reel of
chromium dioxide is that it's the best of both worlds: the songs
alternate between senTRIdoh/sebadoh/paste-style sparse lamentings to a
sort of free jazz a la god is my co-pilot, only with longer jams; the
music is more free and purely instrumental. you can tell the emotion
is strong behind each of the songs. the more traditional stuff
usually consists of guitar, drums and vocals, while the improv stuff
is primarily drums, sax, and organ. wonderful listening, regardless
of yr religion, race, creed, or sex. **1/2
shrimper tapes, p.o. box 1837, upland, ca, 91785
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From: sister@sizone.pci.on.ca (Jeremy Rotsztain)
ANNOUNCE: Pumpkinseed
Well....there's another issues of Toronto's Pumpkin Seed fanzine that
was just recently finished. It has a superlong interview with
Superchunk, and pretty long interviews with Lois, The Grifters, Versus
and Velocity Girl. For all those people who would be interested in a
copy of this fanzine, please e-mail jeremy at sister@scizone.pci.on.ca.
Oh, the fanzine also includes a few stories and a Snapple crosword for
all of those Snapple freaks out there. thanks a lot.
Bye
Jeremy
sister@scizone.pci.on.ca
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From: patrick monaghan <patrickm@phantom.com>
ANNOUNCE: Coctails tour dates
The Coctails Head South & East 1994
Date City Venue
9/01 Atlanta GA Star Bar
9/02 Athens GA 40 Watt Club
9/05 Orlando FL Downtown Jazz
9/06 Tallahassee FL Cowhaus
9/07 New Orleans LA Howlin' Wolf
9/08 Gainesville FL Covered Dish
9/09 Wilmington NC Mad Monk
9/10 Carrboro NC Cat's Cradle
9/12 Richmond VA Chronos Cafe
9/13 Harrisonburg VA Joker's Pub
9/14 Charleston WV Empty Glass
9/15 Pittsburgh PA Bloomfield Bridge
9/16 Morgantown WV Nyabinghi Dance
9/17 Cleveland OH Grog Shop
9/18 Buffalo NY Mr. Goodbar
9/20 Cambridge MA Middle East
9/21 Providence RI Last Call
9/22 New London CT El-N-Gee Club
9/23 Hoboken NJ Maxwell's (I'll be at this show!)
9/25 Baltimore MD Memory Lane
9/26 Washington DC 15 Minute Club
9/27 Washington DC Planet Fred
9/28 Philadelphia PA Khyber Pass
9/30 Bloomington IN Second Story
10/1 Milwaukee WI Shank Hall
send e-mail for mail order catalog
patrick monaghan
carrot top records
chi il us
312-665-2055 (fx)
patrickm@phantom.com
patrickm@mcs.com
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