Just where IS Pepperidge Farms? ############################# Indie List Digest! October 5, 1994 Volume 4 Number 5 ############################# ADMIN: That old label-list Concussion Ensemble, Sloan Box Set "hell in a handbasket for breakfast" Ruins, et al. Biafra & Nixon + other stuff.... Wake Ooloo, Miles Dethmuffen ANNOUNCE: You Could Do Worse Concert ANNOUNCEMENT : upcoming Envelope dates ANNOUNCE: TEENBEAT CIRCUS ANNOUNCE" Danger Gens fall 94 Tour AD: silver girl Our apologies for the delays in bringing the Indie-List to your mailbox this week. If we hadn't told you of our job-suckabilities before, you'd probably be confused.... One small Administrative note from me, before I hand the torch over to Sean. The FAQ is available online now via any Web browser (Lynx, Mosaic, Cello, et al). Just point your browser at http://www-sc.ucssc.indiana.edu/~esinclai/indie-list-faq.html And it's in a slow revision right now, so if you find areas confusing, please let me know. There are some archive sites for the I-L popping up on the Web - I'll be summarizing them in an upcoming issue. -es ------------------------------- From: Sean Murphy <grumpy@access.digex.net> ADMIN: That old label-list Hi. As some of you may remember, once upon a time there were a number of large lists of "independent record labels who do mail-order." I inherited one version of that list, and then decided to overhaul and expand the damn thing - I had a LOT of free time on my hands, and it seemed like a worthwhile thing to do. Last spring, at about the same time I gave up editing the I-L, I also handed off the editorial supervision of that label list. It seems, however, that the list is about to disappear into a black hole. I'm still getting occasional questions about it, and I was able to track down a copy which may or may not be the most up-to-date version. While I don't want to see the list simply die through ignorance and forgetfulness, I don't have the time, energy, inclination, or information to keep it alive by myself. It's close to 6 months since I last "edited" the thing, meaning that some labels have died, many have appeared, others have moved, and probably some new descriptions should be written since labels do tend to change or refine their interests over time. If anyone out there is willing to take on some of this task, I'd like to hear from you - I'm even willing to do the edits and mailings if others can do the info-gathering for me in a coherent fashion, though I offer that as a last resort, not as a starting point for discussion. As usual, I can be tracked down at <grumpy@access.digex.net>. Thanks for your help. Grumpy Sean P.S. I do not claim to have a monopoly on the moniker "Grumpy" - it was simply a way to distinguish myself from 3 or 4 other people named "sean" or "shawn" on one mailing list, and it sorta stuck. :) ------------------------------ From: "Steve Baragona" <baragona@ariad.com> Concussion Ensemble, Sloan I saw Concussion Ensemble @ Middle East downstairs, Saturday, September 17. What a weird show. Concussion Ensemble has 4 drummers, 2 guitars, 1 bass, 0 vocals. But that wasn't what made it weird. First of all, Buffalo Tom opened for them. Twice. OK, so Buffalo Tom didn't actually open for them at all, but the first band sounded like a cross between Buffalo Tom and Loverboy, and the second sounded like Buffalo Tom and Offspring. Or something like that. Anyway, I'm sorry I don't remember names, but I wasn't really impressed. Another weird thing was: What were these bands doing on this bill? Concussion Ensemble is, as you'd guess, a pretty heavy band. Hard to be any other way with four guys beating the tar out of stuff. So why would Buffalo Tom types open for them? The crowd really puzzled me, too. It really didn't look like a scenester crowd, even though Concussion Ensemble has a pretty good following and hasn't played around here in a while. They looked older and more professional than your average club crowd. I saw things I haven't seen in ages at a show, like full beards. And dancing. I mean regular dancing type dancing, like they do at...I dunno, those places where people go to dance. Weird. Must have been friends & family or something. Anyway, Concussion Ensemble was pretty impressive. The sheer force of that many drums is enough to get you, but they're more than a novelty act. The guitars have their work cut out for them to make an impression above all that battering, but they really pull it off with plenty to spare. (I sound like a press release. Sorry.) And just to be fair to everybody, the bass was really good too. Not for the meek. Which is what puzzled me about why those full-bearded dancing types were there. On a completely separate note, I have to foam at the mouth about this new Sloan album, Twice Removed. I've only listened to it once so far, and that was at work, so it didn't have my undivided attention. But...wow. It's really great. My only complaint so far is kind-of a compliment: there are times when they sound a lot like the Beatles. Where'd all those buzzing guitar noises from Smeared go? Was that just a trick to get into the ears of Nirvana-loving DGC A&R dudes? I liked them, but I don't miss them here. "Underwhelmed" made a brief appearance on commercial "alternative" radio here in Boston, but it quickly disappeared from sight, never to be heard from again...unless Twice Removed goes multiplatinum. I hope this album doesn't go multiplatinum. I'll look like a big wuss for having such a beautiful, pure, pop album in my collection. I don't see any real barriers to keep this album from being utterly huge, though. I hope they've got a really bad publicist. Pencil in Fairfax, Nova Scotia as the Next Seattle of the Week. And put Sloan on the list of '90s alt-pop greats. And you can write that one in pen. No sign of sophomore slump here. Not even a sophomore slouch. (Or am I an ignoramus and missed some indie release? Enlighten me, for if there is one, I must own it.) Steve B Get back to work. ------------------------------ From: Thomas Edward Dively <teddyd@well.sf.ca.us> Box Set review in SF Box Set show review: I don't know about you, but the idea of folk rockers jokingly asking if it's alright to "shoot up" before a radio interview knocks me a bit off kilter, which is, I suspect, one way the guys in Box Set try to jar us all out of stereotying what it is they do. Normally, the folk music scene suffers little better than benign neglect from my ears and fingertips; however, this San Francisco-based band bears both watching and listening. I first ran into these guys about a year ago when they played on West Coast Live, a two-hour live variety public radio show (nationally syndicated and shamelessly plugged herein....) I help produce in San Francisco, and since then, I've tracked their moves and growth with mounting interest. In 1992, when they self-published their first cassette, "On The Busk," until earlier this year, they were staunch members of the coffeehouse set--two guys with guitars, hooky licks, and insightful lyrics. With the release about a month ago of their newest effort, a self-titled CD, Box Set has swollen into a four-piece featuring co-front men, Jeff Pehrson and Jim Brunberg, as well as a funkadelic-wanna-be bassist in Chad Heise, and a hyperkinetic drummer named Mark Abbott. Part-timers Matthew Twain and Sunshine Garcia assist as needed with bluesy organ/keyboards and vocals, respectively. This might sound funny in a review of a decidedly from-the-folk-tradition band, but in my opinion, these guys really rock with their combination of surprisingly refreshing hip-shimmying rhythms, driving beats, punchy harmonies and sense of fun. I liked their new CD so well after just one listening, I threw my Indie Rawk leanings and cynical skepticism in my sock drawer, and hopped the bus for the Last Day Saloon to see them perform along with another local jangly guitar band, Five Year Plan. (A note: While I do enjoy Five Year Plan, I think ex-Dead Kennedys bassist Floss Flouride--now playing as Klaus Floride-- could be mined to a fuller extent by the group.) So after attending just one relaxed small-venue Box Set show, I wondered what their set at the Last Day Saloon would be like--a bigger hall, a challenging opening act, and a larger, more anonymous crowd. I arrived as Five Year Plan was winding up their set of stark, strong social-commentary-as-music, and noticed that while many in the audience were swaying to the beat, no one was dancing or sparing much attention for the performance. During the between-band break, I settled in with my Red Hook next to a dad-esque guy who turned out to be Jim Brunberg's father; his lensy 35mm camera, age, and slightly out-of-place demeanor were the big clues. Anyway, before too long, Jeff Peherson, followed by the rest of the guys, mounted the stage, strapped on his acoustic gee-tar, said some hellos, tuned and shared some smoke with an audience member. Box Set's show was shortly in full sway, and the dance area (a space about 10 feet deep from the stage to the tables by about 35 feet wide) was instantly jammed with a couple hundred folks bouncing and bopping to one upbeat, tightly wound song. Three pieces into the set, I figured out what was different about a Box Set show from others I'd seen--everyone not only knew the lyrics to the songs, but they were singing right along with the guys on stage! Bear in mind that this wasn't some hokey campfire sing-along, but a grooving, loud-assed, kick-'em-in-the-head kind of deal, and practically everyone in the place was shouting happily right in time with the band. It heartened me to see that Box Set attracts a diverse bunch, including cable knit sweater setters, nose ringers, black clad neo-hipsters, leather heads, hippies, hippie wanna-bes, and lots of nondescript types like moiself. The amazing thing to me was the way in which Box Set brought all these seemingly different people together just for a while for a hell of a kicking show. No sentimental Kum-ba-yahs here--just fun, funked up guitars, bass, drums and cheesey organ. Of course, with songs like, "Hit Me Like a Train," "Gen. Schwarzkopf" ("This is not a mind that's sick/I'm living in America/And I'm learning all the tricks--about how sinister and yet goofy the U.S. gov't can be"), "Nose Ring," and "Signs of the Times" ("A mind is a terrible thing to...uh..."), how could anyone not like these guys? Cheers! Ted Dively -- Ted Dively, Group D Communications email: teddyd@well.com or ted_dively@bmug.org Phone: (415) 861-5399 FAX: (415) 861-0722 1645 Page St., Suite 4 San Francisco 94117-2086 -------------------------------------- From: dann medin <DLM94001@UConnVM.UConn.Edu> hell in a handbasket for breakfast duh. please forgive me if sections of this entry make little sense (lingu- istically). if you've ever seen th old monty python gumby episode where they all run around screaming "my brain hurts!" & colliding into walls/each other, perhaps it would serve as a proper metaphor for my workload. good news, on th other hand: 1) came up w/funds fr "i love you", will update upon completion 2) (in reversd choronological order) velocity girl, magic hour, damn near red, & hanna cranna @ uconn: wow. made me proud to be involved w/college radio & expose stone crash crow screaming willie fans to different sounds & styles of independent rock these days. hanna cranna was, fr me, what th gigolo aunts would be if they were good. (my opinion, of course. g.a. bore th shit out of me & i never got th hype) sugar-honey coated songs w/righteous harmonies & a fun stage presence doing th in-and-outta-love-toon-thing. damn near red was just too much fr words. (in a good sense) i think they stole th show fr a lot of folks, & if you've seen th "dixie flatline" comp. or their split 7" w/pelt i recommend listening to their tracks, altho their performance & stage presense were incredibly moving. every song a catharsis, great drumming, spacey to insane guitars, etherally desperate female vox, & solid bass. i hereby blow a kiss to th op/p.d. @ whus that got them to come up from virginia because of those 3 songs & astound us all. magic hour= d&n from galaxy 500 + ex-whus p.d. & freeform drums. th least like (student perspective) & most experimental sounding of th performers. i luv'd em. 20-minute pretty-noise-pretty-noise- noise-noise jams almost in th vein (emo, not sound wise) of unwound's live closures complete w/flipping out, broken cymbals, & th frustration of th 2 guitarists of wanting to completely decimate their instruments fr th sound, but th knowledge that they can't afford to & have to settle fr ruining th strings instead. vg was, well, you know...poppy, cute, fun, unserious, & adorable. played my favorite songs off of both lps & sounded fine. 3)rancid/queers/avail @ th tune inn in new haven...i'd wanted to see rancid in ca but missed 'em by a week, so this was my second chance. avail rocked, musically all over th place & aggressively wild on stage. righteous lookout material, i say. i'm not a huge fan of th queers. they're ok, you know, they sound like th ramones. rancid was a hyperactive battery that refused to die. to be continued next week...(5'10",combustible edison,chavez, dinobore & more) 1/2 of this review just got eaten by th computer & i'm late fr class. connecticut, dood. xoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxxoxoxox dann (bettsy) medin -------------------------------- From: Jill Emery <llje@utxdp.dp.utexas.edu> the ruins Polio, Glorium, The Ruins--At Emo's, Austin Tx Thurs. 9/29/94 Polio--luckily I missed them which I consider a good thing since I don't like them. The last time I saw them play, they were really sloppy sounding and I guess I should give them another chance, but I don't think I will. Glorium--They were ok...I wasn't all that impressed with them...I kept feeling that they wanted to be Big Black and were failing miserably...They were minimal-sounding but not tight and they always seemed to reach this very vague plateau of sound that they could have pushed much further, but didn't in their attempt to be minimal. Walter Daniels joined to play harp on one number and despite his talented harp playing, he couldn't bring this band out of their mediocre stupor. They have a cd out on the UnDone label. The Ruins---This a duo out of Japan that sound in many ways like the Boredoms. They don't rip off the Boredoms but you hear faint echoes of the Boredoms during their set. The duo consists of guitar & drums with thousands of dollars spent on every pedal attachment available as well as bass synthesizer and other nifty gadgets that I couldn't name. The guitar player was really talented and incorporated just about every guyitar style imaginable into every song, whether it was 12 minutes long or only 2 minutes long. The drummer was also extremely talented and listening to them play was like being on a roller coaster ride and being jerked first one way and then the other and thoroughly enjoying it. They had this incredible capacity to switch from metal riffs to punk riffs to Caspar Brotzmann sounds and back again in a matter of seconds. About halfway thru their set I started to lose interest but I think I was more tired than bored....They are on an indie label, i just haven't checked to see which one. -j [Actually, the Ruins are all over the place on Jap-a-friendly labels in the US, like Charnel Music or Nipp Guitar, and are all over Japanese labels. My estimation of them is a little more positive than Jill's, but never having seen them live, I can't refute her assessment of their staying power... -es] ------------------------------ From: Rob Thornton <rt@clark.net> Biafra & Nixon + other stuff.... Bet THAT got yer attention, eh? Well, I just wanted to point out a dreadfully underappreciated release that everybody has seemingly missed for well, maybe a good reason, 'cause our man Jello Biafra really hasn't been the same since the DKs broke up and only hard-core Tentacles fans have really stuck by him. But without any further messing about, I want to tell you about a good Biafra project. This is an actual P.S. that I wrote to a friend of mine: I borrowed "Prairie Home Invasion" by Jello Biafra and Mojo Nixon from a coworker. It's actually pretty good! Dare I say that the ghost of the DKs rears its sardonic head on some of these cuts? Naturally, "Convoy In The Sky" is on there and I enjoyed that thoroughly, along with their version of "Plastic Jesus"(I don't care if it rains or freezes/Long as I've got my plastic Jesus/Sitting on the dashboard of my car....) They didn't write that, but it suits Biafra just right. It's all very country, but it's very entertaining and the music's great! They even venture into DK country with "Mascot Mania." Jello aims his satirical barbs and hits in "Buy My Snake Oil"(old punks decide to sell out and go "alternative"), "Mascot Mania" (he talks about how silly mascots are and suggests new ones like the "Washington Bribes" and the "Jersey Dumps"), and "Nostalgia For An Age That Never Existed (The best and most accurate tune that goes after "fake '50s clothes/fake '50s food" and gently tears apart our romanticization of the past, execpt at one point he almost praises MTV?!?!). However, Biafra misses on "Burgers Of Wrath," his silly version of Phil Ochs' "Love Me I'm A Liberal," and "Will The Fetus Be Aborted?" If only Biafra was on this record, I'd have to say that it barely makes the grade. But Mojo's tunes and another country cover tune saves the day for this CD. "Where Will We Work (When The Trees Are Gone)" is really good, and the Nixon tunes "Are You Drinkin' With Me Jesus?", "Hamelin Chicken Plant Disaster"(I think that name's right, but this is actually the best activist song on the CD, and it tells the story of how a chicken plant in NC exploded but the workers couldn't get out because management chained the fire doors shut to discourage absenteeism), and the traditional Mojo destuction song, "Let's Burn Ole Nashville Down," are all great! Dig these "Burn Ole Nashville" lyrics: "Any fool can wear a hat/and not move when they play/but the lonesome howl of the white trash wolf/can't be heard today...." and "Burn burn soul-less swine/Cross-over igit pukes/burn burn lyin'cheaters/Country don't have flutes!" But to sum it all up, the country music is rippin' and it ranges from bluegrass hicksville to electrified country rockabilly-ish pickin'. Jello actually resurrects the satire that made him famous, but it's weaker now, and Mojo comes through with some of the best work he's done since "Elvis Is Everywhere" or "Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant With My Two-headed Love Child." There ya go! So to wrap up things, I'll leave you with a list of a few of my favorites out of the 7" stuff I've reviewed for my zine-to-be (which will hopefully be in print by the end of the month): Viva Satellite!--Qu'enfin n'y lui-meme facon l'orgueil aussi ou.... (Happy Go Lucky) -- Rob Christiansen from the Eggs & Lauren Feldsher plus some French foreign exchange students put out some neat stuff. First side kinda long and alright but the second side is a gloriously wonderful mess! Frances Gumm--"Mercy" (Sweet Portable Junket) -- Lots of rattling guitar-y lo-fi goodness without sacrificing musicianship! Tuscadero--"Mt. Pleasant"/"Nancy Drew" & "Angel In A Half-Shirt"/"Poster Boy" (Teen Beat) -- D.C.'s best pop hope! Pleasant/Drew is good, but Angel/Poster is the way to go for a first intro! Catchy as all get out. Rake--"Subterranean Marijuana Garden"/"U.S. TV" -- WHOOOEEE!! This is a breathtaking little single. It's got a Minor Threat headrush, a "Metal Box"/"Second Edition"-era PiL shimmery guitar sound, and it's spiced with a few Reid-esque free jazz melt-yer-mind guitar solos and general noise. We're talkin' adrenaline epiphany folks! Antimony--"Red Herring/Longetivity" (Dischord) -- Best new act for the D-folk, as this band rips a few pages from AmRep and the J. Lizard crew then uses them to its own advantage. Herring and Longetivity are full of hurtling burbling bass with a stinging guitar weaving in and about; drums set the pace while singer rants around them. There you go. The list may cover some ground that's been covered, but hope you enjoyed it.... ------------------------------ From: BocAd@aol.com Wake Ooloo, Miles Dethmuffen Wake Ooloo and Miles Dethmuffen, The Middle East upstairs, 10/1/94 Those of you who haven't heard Miles Dethmuffen's second album, Clutter, (released earlier this year on Rainbow Quartz/Dutch East) are missing out on one of the best pop efforts of the year. Sensitivity and intelligence abound on this disc, and without a hint of pretension. Live on stage at the Middle East, though, the band was just plain rocking - energy and jubilence dominated. This band's ignore-the-trends attitude is more than welcome in this dark age of tougher-than-thou grunge bands and underachieving noisemakers. Even their impromptu cover of The Records' _Starry Eyes_ (which blew away the original) seemed apt. Two days later I still regret missing the beginning of their set. I have to say that Wake Ooloo paled in comparison to Miles Dethmuffen's pop onslaught, partly due to Wake's lower key/lower energy approach and partly due to the fact that they just aren't much to look at. Glen Mercer hardly seems at ease as front man. He had some minor technical problems, and Dave Weckerman rarely hit his crash cymbal hard enough to make it audible. The band seemed rather unsteady for the first few songs, suddenly finding a comfortable groove on _Higher Ground_. All the old Feelies numbers they played had this kind of steadying effect on them, even though the new material is in the same vein. Although Wake Ooloo doesn't cover a ton of musical ground, they're champs on their own turf, and the songs are pleasantly engaging in a low-key kind of way. ------------------------------ From: Rob Galgano <0005338863@mcimail.com> ANNOUNCE: You Could Do Worse Concert Join us on the evening of October 8 at the Kirkland Cafe in Somerville, MA, for the first installment of the You Could Do Worse National Concert Series. Show should start around 9 p.m. The bands that are scheduled to play are: Miles Dethmuffen (latest album: Clutter, on the Rainbow Quartz label) Miranda Warning (latest album: *Twelve Speed Pop Blender*, on the Presto! label) The Wrens (latest album: Silver, on the Grass label) All staff, subscribers, friends, music industry types are invited. The club is kinda small, so get there early! Rob Galgano Editor You Could Do Worse. YCDWorse@aol.com **** DIRECTIONS ---------- The Kirkland Cafe is at 471 Washington St. in Somerville/Cambridge, at the corner of Beacon Street just outside Inman Square. It's right next door to a restaurant called Dali. You can get there by the Rindge Ave bus out of Central Square. Driving: from Central Square, take Prospect St to Hampshire (where the Merit station and KFC is), turn left on Hampshire. Hampshire goes through Inman Square and turns into Beacon St. Six or seven blocks down Beacon St is Washington St. Left on Washington and the club is right there on the right. The club's phone # is (617)491-9640. *** Next stop: Minneapolis? San Francisco? ------------------------------ From: GERARDC@delphi.com ANNOUNCEMENT : upcoming Envelope dates Envelope the Stickee Bird broke down and crashed into a radio tower (I think WFMU lost their signal for a few hours). This time we're driving... all the way to Avenue A. 10/14 - Agora, Cleveland, OH (w/ Cobra Verde, Moviola) 10/15 - Halfway Inn, Ann Arbor, MI 10/16 - Stache's, Columbus, OH (w/ Cobra Verde, Moviola) 10/22 - Middle East, Cambridge, MA (w/ Flying Nuns) 12/3 - Khyber Pass, Philadelphia, PA 12/9 - CBGB, NYC new double 7" out 10/10, twice the music for twice the money (4 songs, 3 studios, 3 states, 2 singers, 4 sleeves). ------------------------------ From: $JFENNEL@LWCVM1.LWC.EDU ANNOUNCE: TEENBEAT CIRCUS The Teenbeat Circus will be at Longwood College in Farmville, VA, on Saturday, October 22, at 9 pm. It's a free show! The bands scheduled to play include AIR MIAMI, BLAST OFF COUNTRY STYLE, ROMANIA< and EGGS. We need all the people we can get, so if you need more info or whatever call jennie at 804-392-4920. It's the only Teenbeat Circus show in Virginia, by the way! jennie fennell $jfennel@lwcvm1.lwc.edu p.s. if you e-mail me, don't get the l's and 1's mixed up! ------------------------------ From: "Bill G." <billga@eskimo.com> ANNOUNCE" Danger Gens fall 94 Tour Danger Gens are a mostly female trio that play what we like to call Burly Pop (tm). They have a CD ep and full-length CD out on Crunch Melody Records, and they're on-tour now. Go see them if you get a chance. For those of you who heard the story, this is what we were able to put together after the psycho who was supposed to book our tour totally ripped us off. Fok. DANGER GENS Fall 1994 US "Bottomless Cup O' Rawk" Tour Oct 6 Albany NY QEZ 10 New York NY Under Acme 14 New Orleans LA Hungry Wolf 15 Houston TX Harvey's 19 Austin TX Electric Lounge 20 Dallas TX Galaxy 22 Albuquerque NM Golden West 23 Tucson AZ Dowtown Perf. Ctr. Nov 3 Chico CA Juanita's 4 Eugene OR John Henry's Bill G. Crunch Melody Records Web Page: http://eskinews.eskimo.com/~billga/crunch.txt ------------------------------- From: kyork@sciences.SDSU.Edu (Keith York) AD: silver girl for anyone who cares what is going on with silver girl records, send a couple of stamps for the first edition of our new in-house zine "silver boy: a space shuttle adventure" -- all you never wanted to know about nothing. send to silver girl records po box 161024 san diego, ca 92176 usa keith <------------------------------------------------------------> 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 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 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. <--------------------------------------> please send your articles for the next issue to <indie_submit@indiana.edu>. <-------------------------------------->