I have no patience,
and why should I?
There are saints for that...
#############################
Indie List Digest!
June 5, 1995
Volume 4 Number 30
#############################
More Space-Filling Material
Low, Sideshow, Polara and Foo (midwestern things...)
Grifters & June of '44
REQUEST: Indie Label database
ANNOUNCE: DragKing, Flying Luttenbachers, Belgian Waffles!
ANNOUNCE: Chelsea (Vienna) reopening
ANNOUNCE: Bedhead Tour Dates
ANNOUNCE: CHUNKLET 9
ANNOUNCE: NW2noise May Update
ANNOUNCE: Chivalry ads & contributions
AD: fantastic records
A heartening flow of submissions has us all smiling here at IL
Headquarters, so keep up the good work, 'n all! Also we've gotten some
PR-type stuff, which we will condense here for your reading pleasure
[and brevity -es]:
-A New Brunswick company called Nightingale Multimedia specializing in
graphic design has recently opened a new web site,
http://www.mi.net/night1.html. They are also seeking musical
submissions from bands for a CD whose profits will be given to
charity. Submissions will be accepted till the end of the summer.
For more info, contact Brad Stevenson - bstevens@nbnet.nb.ca.
-Richard Peikoff at Sight and Insight in Mill Valley, Calif., is
offering classes in slide/bottleneck guitar and open tuning at $40
per workshop on July 1 and July 8. Call him at (415) 388-1678 for
more information.
-Aaron Schatz asked for information on bands doing the
rock-bluegrass-folk thing. Millan & Kenzie were happy to oblige,
volunteering themselves as an indie band with acoustic instruments and
a Jayhawks kinda sound. They have a CD, "Shrine," that has a
distribution deal with Rainy Day Records, who are available at
1-800-636-6166, http://www.hidwater.com/RDR/. They are on tour this
month in the south, so catch them if you can; sadly, they are not
coming near where Aaron is. Isn't life strange?
June 8 Thu. Greenville SC/ Henny's
June 9 Fri. Black Mountain NC/ The Grey Eagle
June 15 Thu. Port Arthur AR/ Old Town Grain & Feed
June 16 Fri. Austin TX/ The Ruta Maya
June 23 Fri. Bowling Green KY/ Gary's
June 24 Sat. Atlanta GA/ Smith's Olde Bar OPEN FOR GIBB DROLL BAND
June 27 Tue. Charlotte NC/Jackstraw's
July 20 Thu. Atlanta GA/ Smith's Olde Bar
ETC.
August 18,19 in Jackson WY
Meanwhile, here's a fun thing to do: Make a mix tape, set it aside
for three years, forget about it completely, and then dig it up
again on a dull Sunday night. This is what I did, beginning the
process in 1992 and then finding it again last night. Better than TV,
esp. as I never wrote down what songs were on the tape. Great fun at
parties!
az
<------------------------------>
From: Steve Charlesworth <sdcharle@indiana.edu>
More Space-Filling Material
As a volunteer for Bloomington's community radio station (WFHB), I
review some of the new CDs and records that come in. ["some"--don't
you believe it. he gets all the good ones. :) az] This has been
somewhat helpful in sparing me from financial ruin due to chronic CD
and record-buying. In fact, were it not for WFHB and the cheap used
records at Missing Link in Indianapolis, I might be living in my car
now. So here, for the benefit of all (and to add some to this week's
indie-list), are some reviews.
Who The Hell? Various Artists, Cred Factory Records.
Yes, it is a tribute album, but in this case a worthwhile one.
Several bands from the musically fertile state of NC (and one band
from SC) pay tribute to Richard Hell. Actually, this represents my
first exposure to Richard Hell and the Voidoid's music (and judging by
the liner notes, this was the case for many of the bands as well).
June's version of 'The Plan' has a relaxed charm to it and impressed
me more than their 'Genius' 7" did. Now I can forgive them for that
cover of 'All Of Me.' Joby's Opinion turn in one incredibly but
enjoyably stupid version of 'Rock and Roll Club' with some
ultra-simple, sloppy riffing. For Silica Gel's 'Hey Sweetheart,' the
guitars are put away and replaced with electronic sounds and noise.
Whiskey Town gives 'Blank Generation' a country reading.
Also represented are those songs whose titles alone would make them
fun to play on a radio show (if I had one...<sigh>). 'Love Comes in
Spurts' is covered by Vanilla Trainwreck, and 'The Kid with the
Replaceable Head' is covered by The Ashley Stove.
Quite a good effort overall, and all proceeds go to AIDS service
groups in NC. Worthwhile for those interested in the late '70s New
York punk scene, or in bands from North and South Carolina in the
mid-'90s.
Portastatic - 'Scrapbook EP' double 7" - Merge records.
Four songs on two 7" records leads to a lot of jumping up to flip and
change records. A minor gripe, perhaps, but it's still irritating.
Song 'a', 'St. Elmo's Fire,' can be played at 33 and 45 rpm, yet
doesn't sound quite right at either speed. Georgia and Ira from Yo La
Tengo, a band I love, appear on this track, and Jon from Superchunk
appears on track 2. These guests fill up the sound and, as an
unfortunate result, nullify the man-alone-in-his-room-with-his-guitar
quality that much of 'I Hope Your Heart is Not Brittle' possessed.
The second 7" gets back to the 4-track, Mac-does-it-all approach, and
'A Bear that Chokes' does much to redeem the EP.
Thee Shatners - Planet Pimp Records
Yes, they worship Star Trek. Yes, they wear Trek uniforms on stage
(and on the street, at least for album photos). No, it's not very
good.
The music is mostly trashy, campy, surf/instro rock (they cover
'Misirlou' at one point, giving it a new name). 'Stronger than Kirk'
is perhaps the best track of the record, with 'meow's in the chorus.
Between tracks there are people doing unintentionally comic
impersonations of Star Trek characters. Maybe there was some legal
problem with using sound bites.
The 'Mystery Track,' for those dying to know what it could possibly
be, is a recording of a foul-mouthed 80-year-old guy telling a story
about a dead guy. This takes up all of side 2, and you can put it on
and imagine it's Thanksgiving and you're listening to the after-dinner
conversation. Fun!
Slant 6 - Inzombia - Dischord records
Yes, it's true: Dischord is actually putting out some new material.
And not only this record, but an album by a band called 'Trusty' as
well.
On Inzombia, Slant 6 stay true to the simple, energetic style of 'Soda
Pop Rip-Off'. Christina Billotte shows once again that you don't need
corny distortion pedals if you turn up the amp enough and know what to
do with those barre chords.
A couple of the songs are rather silly ('Ladybug Superfly,'
'Inzombia'). 'Retro Duck' is just too damn silly, and sounds like
what would happen if Donald Duck did the Kim Gordon vocal from 'Mary
Christ.' Aside from that, though, it's some good unpretentious
'77-influenced rock, with 'Partner in Crime,' 'GFS,' and the obsessive
'Eight Swimming Pools' being particularly good tracks.
SPECIAL NOTE TO WHOEVER DOES THE INDIE-LIST SUMMARIES FOR THE
SICK-AND-TIRED DIGEST THINGY: Please try not to misquote this time. I
wouldn't have minded the last time, but "Cool detachment ruins the
good show buzz"?
Have a good show buzz,
Steve C.
<------------------------------>
From: Swivelmark@aol.com
Low, Sideshow, Polara and Foo (midwestern things...)
Hi. My first submission so be gentle.
1. Low - Long Division (Vernon Yard through Caroline) Pardon if I
drool, but this trio is from my current homebase of Duluth, Minnesota,
where it's cold all the time. Al, Mimi and Zak fit this scenario
well: very slow tempos, spare instrumentation and a kind of quiet
intensity that could burn a hole through your head if you watch or
listen too long. Their first CD is also very good (called "I Could
Live In Hope") and both are recommended for people who like a slower
but still disturbing type of "pop."
2. Sideshow - Lip Read Confusion (Caulfield/Flydaddy) Another great
band from Lincoln Nebraska (like Opium Taylor and Mercy Rule to name
two more). This group pounds out this aggro-rawk thing much like an
Am Rep band but with a little more dynamic sense and less of a '70s
guitar thing. This is a record that will make you bounce around a
lot.
3. Polara (Clean/TwinTone) The most overhyped band in Minneapolis
right now. And why? I've heard "Loveless" done rigidly before by
countless bands a couple of years ago. A nice, swirly antidote to
heavy rock, but still long-winded and without any real "songs".
That's it. Saw the Watt/Vedder/Grohl thing also and thought that it
was okay. The Vedder Family noise band was disappointing in a world
with Love 666 and Labradford among others doing it better and without
the rawk stamp o' approval. Also saw Soul Coughing and was pleasantly
won over.
Write to me via email, if you are a fan of Midwestern rawk things.
Thanks,
Swivelmark@aol.com
<------------------------------>
From: Sean Murphy <grumpy@access.digex.net>
Grifters & June of '44
Grifters, June of '44, Shiner. Black Cat, Washington DC. May 31.
Showed up during Shiner's set - not terribly impressed. Came off like
a cross between early Soundgarden and more recent Jawbox. I think
there's potential here for some good stuff, but I didn't see the
realization of it tonight.
June of '44 - highly anticipated. Former members of Hoover (Fred, on
bass), Codeine (Doug, on drums, who's also now in Rex), and Rodan
(Jeff Mueller, guitar boy). Also a new guitar player whose name I
didn't catch. Musically, a couple trains of thought are fighting for
the rights to the tracks into the future. Some songs retained that
familiar rising and falling Rodan crush, but weren't as gripping.
Others demonstrated a flirtation with prog-rock - there were tempo/key
changes and drum breaks right out of the King Crimson catalog. And as
I was discussing with a friend, prog can get dangerous (cf. Yes,
Rush, Crimson with Adrian Belew on board) as much as it can be
wonderful and interesting. Accepting for a moment that Television is
really a prog-rock band wrapped in a major key new wave package, I
think there is plenty of space for bands to experiment with prog. I'm
not sure if June of '44 has found the right mix yet, however. Despite
all that, I'm still eagerly waiting for recorded material (coming soon
on Quarterstick, if not already out).
Grifters - yowza. Definite technical problems (Tripp broke 2 bass
strings, one just after replacing the first, and Stan broke a mike
stand set up over his drum kit) led to things like Scott and Dave
trying to play songs that neither one knew particularly well at the
moment. But that doesn't matter for the Grifters' brand of old-school
swamp blues rock, even if the overall sound is getting cleaner in
time. When I think of the song "Holmes," I hear the 7" version in my
head, not the LP version, not the live performance. It's gritty and
lumpy and just all-around tremendous. Maybe the "cleanliness" depends
on how drunk they are or the PA or the horoscopes of band members.
Anyway, a great set - the final song had this freaky Casiotone
keyboard part, there was a nice mix of newer and older songs, and
essentially, no other band currently playing can get away with the
stuff that the Grifters incorporate into a song.
Grumpy Sean
grumpy@access.digex.net
<------------------------------>
From: Ted Dively <teddyd@well.com>
REQUEST: Indie Label database
Hi all! You may remember my ad a while back for "Check It Out! The
Interactive Source of Independent Music", and my request for
submissions. Well, as always, I'm accepting material for forthcoming
issues (we're still in beta testing of the CD-ROM, but are looking
well ahead to a fall launch), and I'm seeking help. Does anyone know
if there's a comprehensive data base of indie record labels out there?
I suppose I could try to buy one from one of the commercial trades,
but I'm more interested in "finding" one if it exists.
[Ted and others - don't forget to check out the Indie-Label List, one
edition of which is at
http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/webmaster/indie.labels.txt
and which is maintained by Steve Niece (al762@freenet.carleton.ca).
-es]
Thanks for your help and all the stuff you're sending our way already;
there's really a lot of fun material being released by independent
musicians and labels. As always, if you want details on "Check It Out!",
just drop me a line and I'll send you the whole poop.
Thanks!
Ted Dively
*****************************************************************
Group D Communications & The Bi-coastal Interactive Group (B.I.G.)
1645 Page Street, 4
San Francisco, California 94117-2086
email: teddyd@well.com phone: (415) 861-8333
WWW: http://www.well.com/user/teddyd/ facsimile: (415) 861-0722
<------------------------------>
From: bce2@midway.uchicago.edu
ANNOUNCE: DragKing, Flying Luttenbachers, Belgian Waffles!
If you happen to be in Chicago on June 10th my friends and I are
throwing a party to celebrate the release of DragKing's debut CD
(after one single on Trixie Records and one single on My Pal God).
The CD is a joint release on Portland Oregon's IMP Records and
Chicago's Dogpatch Prod.
The CD is back from the pressing plant and the glue on the covers is
drying. We should have about 1000 CD's chock full o' 62 fat minutes
of noise bombast by Saturday, June 10th (hey, a side note for those
Tortoise fans out there, the CD includes a comic by Mr. Bundy K.
Brown).
The party will be at Stel's brother Pete's bar, Cary's Lounge, which
is way up North on Devon Ave. @ 2251 West Devon Ave. (East of
Western Ave.). If you get lost you can call the bar @ 312-743-5737.
The place is small and Elliot is loaning us his sound system (yes the
Elliot who does sound at all the Fireside Lanes All-Ages shows, etc.
ad infinitum) so it sound be loud & proud.
DragKing will be playing all new songs with their new drummer, Alex
Martin (who is leaving for New Orleans immediately after the
festivities, so it could be their last show for awhile). Also playing
will be the world famous Flying Luttenbachers, and, from beautiful
Louisville, KY, the Belgian Waffles!.
The noise will probably begin around 9 p.m.
I sincerely hope to see you there.
Peace,
Ben
bce2@midway.uchicago.edu
<------------------------------>
From: MARK HARTL <MARK@zoo.univie.ac.at>
ANNOUNCE: Chelsea (Vienna) reopening
For anybody who happens to be heading for Vienna, Austria, next week
might be happy to hear that Chelsea, the long-lost underground venue,
will be reopening on Thursday 8th June at its new location -
Lerchenfelderguertel between the U6 Station Alserstrasse and
Josefstaedterstrasse. The flyer promisses a four-day party with
several live acts and interesting Djs. Unfortunately I haven't got
hold of a flyer personally, so I can't give you any details on the
acts. Anyhow it sounds very interesting and I'm very exited about it
(Everybody who knew the old Chelsea will understand what all the fuss
is about !!!). See you there.........!
Mark Hartl
Univ Vienna
Institute of Zoology
Dept of Marine Biology
Althanstrasse 14
A-1090 Vienna, AUSTRIA
Tel: ++43 1 31 336/1295 or 1316
Fax: ++43 1 31 336/778
E-mail: mark@zoo.univie.ac.at
<------------------------------>
From: Bedhead000@aol.com
ANNOUNCE: Bedhead Tour Dates
TEXAS:
June 8 (Thu) Houston - The Abyss
June 9 (Fri) Austin - Liberty Lunch
June 10 (Sat) Dallas - Galaxy Club
WEST COAST:
June 16 (Fri) Albuquerque, New Mexico -
The Dingo Bar w/ Yo La Tengo
June 17 (Sat) San Diego, California -
The Casbah w/ aMiniature; Silkworm opens
June 18 (Sun) Los Angeles, California -
Jabberjaw
June 19 (Mon) San Luis Opisbo, California -
Linnaea's Cafe
June 20 (Tue) Los Angeles, California -
Alligator Lounge w/ Yo La Tengo; 18th Dye opens
June 21 (Wed) San Fransisco, California -
Bottom Of The Hill; Henry's Dress opens
June 22 (Thu) Portland, Oregan -
EJ's
June 23 (Fri) Vancouver, BC, Canada -
The Starfish Room w/ Silkworm
June 24 (Sat) Seattle, Washington -
The Crocodile w/ Yo La Tengo
June 25 (Sun) Boise, Idaho -
The Neurolux
June 26 (Mon) Salt Lake City, Utah
The Bar & Grill
June 27 (Tue) Denver, Colorado
Bluebird Theatre
<------------------------------>
From: Henry H. Owings <HOWINGS@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU>
ANNOUNCE: CHUNKLET 9
Chunklet 9 out soon!
New issue out June 1 with questions directed at bands about their
pets! In no alphabetical order, we interviewed: Ashtray Boy, Boris the
Sprinkler, the Clean, Codeine, the Cows, Dis-, DQE, Gas Huffer, Girls
Against Boys, the Grifters, Guided by Voices, the Jesus Lizard, Man or
Astroman?, Mule, MX80, Nine Pound Hammer, the Oblivians, Olivia Tremor
Control, the Pee Chees, Pegboy, Rocket From the Crypt, Sebadoh,
Shellac, Silkworm, 6 Finger Satellite, Small Factory, the Smugglers,
Superchunk and Thinkin Fellers UL282.
Also, there's a token interview with a band named after an animal
(Tortoise), Dr. Noser the pet pal, funny bits and more reviews than
you could shake a stick at!!! The issue is going to be in limited
supply and mail order issues get hand slipped into a genuine doggie
bag! You can't beat that, now can ya? The issue is $1.50 ppd; if
you're interested, write to: CHUNKLET POB 2814 Athens GA 30612-0814
<------------------------------>
From: Richard Payne <noise@netspace.net.au>
ANNOUNCE: NW2noise May Update
New Ways To Noise, Update News May 1995.
Hey we're back, well we are further away than ever actually, NW2noise
is now based in rain-lashed Melbourne, Australia. With new stuff,
some of it quite old, from: Muff, Hippy Knight, Phlegm and the LMC.
Lots o' goodies coming up, so stay tuned to NW2noise, or don't, I'll
never know! New Ways to Noise recommends use of the Cool134 audio
player available from an ftp site near you..
England: http://www.maires.co.uk/nw2n
Australia: http://netspace.net.au/~noise
<------------------------------>
From: Smitten@aol.com
ANNOUNCE: Chivalry ads & contributions
hello indie punksters
i'm working on the fourth issue of my queerpopindiepunk zine Chivalry,
and i'm looking for ads. ads work as follows: you give me and ad +
whatever the ad is for. if i like the product i use the ad and review
it. if i dont i do neither.my music tastes run pretty broadly, so
dont be shy!
also, i'm working on an article for number 4 i wanna call Reflections
of A Punk Rock Lobster. i want to have contributors write about
heterosexism/homophobia they have had to deal with. these can be
particular stories, stuff about particular people, stuff you have
heard people say, etc. each author will be credited. write to:
SMITTEN@aol.com xo joel ox
<------------------------------>
From: Recordsfan@aol.com
AD: fantastic records
FANTASTIC RECORDS proudly announces the release of:
fan001 THE SHAPIROS 7"- month of days b/w do you know *this fine
little piece of wax features pam (black tambourine/ glo-worm/
belmondo), trish (heartworms/ belmondo), bart (cat's miaow), scooter
(veronica lake).
------------------------------------------------------
coming in a few weeks:
fan002 HEM 7"- be completely full of..., serge b/w dissevelt *this
band hails from leeds, uk, and features a mystery member of another
leeds band (email me for details, it's supposed to be a secret).
to obtain these records for yourself, send $3.50 pp to:
fantastic records, po box 4492, ann arbor mi 48106 usa
<------------------------------------------------------------>
The Indie-List Digest is published weekly (Mondays) or more often by
the Indie-List Infotainment Junta, Unltd.
What Who Where
Editors Eric Sinclair esinclai@indiana.edu
Anne Zender azender@indiana.edu
Mailings Sean Murphy grumpy@access.digex.net
Archives Chris Karlof karlofc@seq.cms.uncwil.edu
FTP ftp://ftp.uwp.edu/pub/music/lists/indie
FAQ http://www-sc.ucssc.indiana.edu/~esinclai/indie-list-faq.html
Consultants: Mark Cornick, Joshua Houk, Sean Murphy, Liz Clayton and
K. Lena Bennett.
Indie-List is not copyrighted. It may be freely reproduced for any
purpose. Please cite Indie-List as your source.
<-----------------------------------