Fuck dying, man! Let's be eternal.
#############################
Indie List Digest!
October 19, 1994
Volume 4 Number 7
#############################
Time for some new music - the British invasion...
A Correction from Vol 4. No. 6
Teen Beat Circus/Betty Please et al
"jerk. you're not punk."
"Stop! ..please.."
ANNOUNCE: Charnel Music Web Catalog Moved
ANNOUNCE: Home-recording and DiY Mailing List
AD: my brightest summer zine
AD: Jersey Beat #52
Boy, there are times when i really love this job. like right now,
when, having spent 45 minutes working through this thing, i can
hardly remember what was at the beginning, but i know it was pretty
good. Teenbeat stuff, Boston stuff, the "mystery" Envelope, please, and
the Two Pure at each other's throats, writing much meaner stuff
about Oasis than i ever wrote about Mule. whee! have at it, kids...
-az
------------------------------
From: Sean Murphy <grumpy@access.digex.net>
Time for some new music - the British invasion...
First off - greetings to our new British readers, referred in this
general direction by Melody Maker. I've added over 30 to the
subscription rolls in the last week, which is pretty mind-boggling...
Hopefully we won't offend your refined sensibilities with our
rambling...
So, in my continuing wave of apologies, this time I offer one to Go!
Discs of Arlington, VA. In a past digest, I made the error of
"complaining" about the items I was purchasing at something less than
what I would consider a fair market value. Needless to say, I took a
few shots for that, including a couple from an unnamed employee of said
establishment who happens to read this publication. I apologize for
any mis-statements I may have made about Go! - it is a fine store for
what it's trying to do, and I was simply hoping that it might have a
more expansive view of what it would offer for sale. I do understand
the need to find a market and then adapt to that market, however, which
is why I will do my Dead C and Terminals shopping by mail-order or in
Philadelphia, but my TeenBeat and K shopping at Go!.
Due to some reduction in outstanding inventory, however, I was able to
acquire some of the following gems during a recent visit:
This Kind Of Punishment, "A Beard Of Bees" (Ajax/Xpressway)
Not much to say here. The Jefferies brothers got it right on this
one... one of the most obsessively brooding records I've ever heard.
If I'm not careful, it will remain on repeat-play for days at a time.
(That's a major compliment, though it does cause motivational problems
at times when one works at home...) Best of the TKOP albums in my
book. ** 1/2
King Loser, "Sonic Super Free Hi-Fi" (Turbulence)
Another one "licensed from Xpressway" and this time it's garage-surf
madness filtered through the Dunedin region. A song title like "Dick
Dale" should give some indication of the primary musical sound, but
there's a few tricks up their sleeves, too. I think they have a newer
CD since this one, but I can't be sure... the licensing agreements
became far too difficult to track, particularly now since Xpressway
isn't there to officially license anything any more. "Dead Fish" is
fucking wonderful in a depressing, sonic-terrorist way (and wasn't it a
song by Olla? originally on the "I Hear The Devil Calling Me" 7"?).
**
Hawkwind, "Space Ritual" (United Artists/One Way)
2xCD reissue of the live double LP from 1973. Skip the shitty poetry
sections. Listen to the organ and synths floating about over some
strong guitar and a thumpity bass that carries the songs neatly through
many meandering paths. Disk one is better than disk two, but there are
some solid songs throughout. If you've ever heard Monster Magnet, this
stuff should sound familiar. * 3/4 (would be 4 stars without the
poetry and the dullness of "Orgone Accumulator")
Various artists - Chinny Chin Chin (See Eye/Shimmy Disc)
I knew about Sleepyhead and Kicking Giant (and the stowaway Liz Phair
answering machine cut) which is why I bought this. They live up to
expectations for the most part - this was recorded in late '91, so it's
before Sleepyhead slowed down all their songs and about the time that
Kicking Giant was finding its groove. The big surprise is Fantastic
Palace - I have no idea who these people are, but they plunked down a
bunch of instrumental stuff that blew me away. Firmly rooted in the
Guided By Voices school of "here's an interesting bit of a song - let's
cut it off before it gets boring" songwriting. "Crisscrossing
Chrysanthemums" will be the soundtrack to many of my late-night typing
sessions this fall. The fourth band, Wall Drug, is OK but not too
exciting. *1/2 on whole, **1/2 for a special selection of
Fantastic Palace and Kicking Giant tunes.
That's all for now... back to dealing with a mailbox full of messages like:
subscribe grumpy my.name@some.school.uk
Grumpy Sean
grumpy@access.digex.net
------------------------------
From: GERARDC@delphi.com
Correction from Vol 4. No. 6
re: last issue's live review of an "Envelope" / Sebadoh / Azalia Snail
show at the ELectric Lounge...
uh, the band were described as "Felt-ish" and not so hot. And while I
wouldn't beat up anyone who described us that way, I just wanna say...
it WASN'T US. The NY band Envelope have never played in Texas; we've
never played w/ Sebadoh or Azalia Snail (although we know both groups).
The band in question was either a) the Pearl Jam tribute band known as
"The SF Envelope" (they're from San Francisco, get it?), or b) a
Texas-based group that I'm unfamiliar with.
This kinda shit happens to Ray's Pizza all the time.
GC
------------------------------
From: "LePageL/MF" <LePageL/MF@hermes.bc.edu>
Teen Beat Circus/Betty Please et al
Live: The Teenbeat Circus w/ Tuscadero, Blast Off Country Style, Air Miami,
Versus at the Middle East, Cambridge, MA
I was at this show for Air Miami which, as all good indie-listers know,
is what's left of Unrest after Phil's departure with the addition of a
really undynamic female bass player and a new drummer. (Bridget moves
to guitar.) I wanted to be wowed but wasn't really expecting it, and I
wasn't. They played new material (I'm guessing -- I didn't know any of
it from Unrest days) which very much continues in the Unrest vein,
without striking any compelling chords melodically or otherwise.
They're newest entry in the SuSuki series is a theme song "Air Miami,"
with lyrics consisting mostly of Mark adlibbing "Air Miami" over and
over. Bridget and Mark are as peculiar as ever onstage but the whole
set felt tentative. Except for Mark, who always looks on, everyone
else seemed a little bored. Worse still, you really couldn't hear
Bridget's vocals at all and even Mark was a bit down in the mix.
Disappointing overall, but I did get a very cool T-shirt out of it
(grey with an airliner embossed across the chest and the Air Miami logo
on the plane where such logos usually go).
Tuscadero opened but since they went on at like 9:15 I missed all but
their last song: a very faithful cover of "Centerfold" by J. Geils, in
honor of Peter Wolf who was headlining downstairs in the same club.
They get bonus points for doing the whistling part at the end.
Blast Off Country Style put on a restrained set (for them) with a lot
less caterwauling than I remember from last time. The energy was
there, though, and they rocked accordingly. Basically they did what
they do, which is bound around with corny but sincere enthusiasm while
playing modern retro rock'n'roll. A little silly but ultimately
endearing.
After finally deciding that I like "Let's Electrify," I was looking
forward to Versus but unfortunately, they were suffering from a strain
of headlineritis. You see, there was a problem with the monitors (the
same monitors that everyone else had used all night ) and it had a
lethal effect on their mood. IMO, they phoned it in -- adequate but
uncompelling. Too bad because it wouldn't have taken much for them to
have kicked it up a notch. The vocal monitors suck? Sing less and jam
more. It's not like they don't know how, and this audience wouldn't
have minded.
Overall, a good time, but not essential. Unless you wanted a T-shirt.
(They also have a TeenBeat Circus special #153 - that Mark, he's a
marketing fiend.)
More Live: Betty Please, Guv'nor, Small 23
Same room as above
Betty Please are Boston based and responsible for that _For Sport and
Healthy_ 7" I've mentioned here before (a nice slice of vinyl, that!).
Having seen them live, I can say in all truthfulness that not a trace
of the British pop influence that seemed so apparent on their record is
discernible live. So forget what I said about the Psychedelic Furs
(Cervantes said "comparisons are odious" -- maybe I'll try giving them
up for Lent). Yes, back to Betty Please who played a low-key,
enjoyable show, closing with my favorite song, "Radar Whore." They
were breaking in a new bass player, so I'm told, but you never would
have known it. Too bad they only got 30 minutes.
I know, I know, hard on the heels of my Cervantes quote, but New York
seems to breed bands with varying degrees of Sonic Youthishness, and
Guv'nor got it. They are a trio. The female co-lead singer/bass
player has a breathy, low voice but not particularly acute pitch. The
male lead singer/guitarist reminded me of Woody Allen doing his coy
bit--he was amiable enough and a slightly better vocalist than the bass
player. Between them, they stuttered through 45 minutes of noisy,
loud-soft, stop-start tunes, most of which sort of trailed off at the
end. Nothing particularly memorable but not painful either.
By now, the kids were primed for some rockin', and North Carolina's
Small [23] obliged, at the breakneck pace so popular with NC bands.
Their influences may be inferred from this anecdote: At one point in
the show, the lead singer guy false-started a song with the line "Stuck
a pin in the backbone," then stopped; 75% of the audience got the
joke). (Question: if comparisons are odious, what are
self-comparisons?) Good fun live, but still lookin' for a hit, sez I.
--Lise
LEPAGEL/MF@hermes.bc.edu
------------------------------
From: "chaka khan... (i feel fr you, baybee)" <DLM94001@UConnVM.UConn.Edu>
jerk. you're not punk.
ahhhh... la revue.
a while ago @ th middle east in cambridge:
hank-5'10"-concussion ensemble
buffalo tom? BUFFALO TOM? i guess we're all entitled to our own
opinions. (reference to previous review of show, reviewer did not
remember other band names, which is alrite. i don't remember if it was
buffalo tom specifically, but mentioned a reference i find inaccurate)
5'10" consists of th ever positive kevin seconds, jen from tiger trap,
brent from drop acid, & allison. just allison. sugary toons, pop punk
power chord heaven. much better live than on disc; just lots of fun, &
wonderful beautiful nice persons as well. we actually saw them @ studio
158 in connecticut th night before. they were just such a blast we had
to follow to beantown. hank was, i dunno, alternarock. i missed c.e.,
whom i've seen before & do respect. while we were all outside talking,
we could here mecca normal upstairs (th club has an upshow &
downshow-really cool, except fr a show like this tues nite's-kicking
giant/built to spill up & jawbox down) & they sounded good if it means
anything.
a while ago @ lupo's in providence:
benefit/combustible edison- onetonshotgun- chavez- dinosaur jr-
a night to remember. went mostly to finally see th almighty c.e., who
lived up to my fullest expectations & played a great (and long) set,
w/a wonderful esquivel cover as well. (lounge fans: pick up barnone's
release of esquivel's "space age bachelor pad music" & see where it all
began!) lily's crooning broke our hearts, th millionaire's winning
smile mended 'em. how's that fr symbolism? onetonshotgun was a bad
heavy band i did not enjoy. i did not enjoy th overenthusiastic
lollapalooza crowd's reaction either. chavez was a nice surprise...
i've been listening to their 45 on matador which is fine, but preferred
them live. serious jawbox deja-vu, but not enough to stop one from
enjoying their music. they looked about as amused about th silly mosh
fanatics as i must've, which is commendable. th best part was making
some guy in a biohazard shirt very flustered & annoyed when i came
dancing thru his pit in my dress, grunting & pretending that i was @ a
youth of today show. his appreciation of sarcasm/satire was not very
thorough. d.jr. was totally drunk and totally boring. we left early &
found that th car was broken into & much $/merchandise gone. long story
follows including a random trip to cape cod durimg which th tire blew
out once we got there & th rim broke. yay. disgruntled youth wins th
triple a pass to brokedom. th best part, while th car was alive, was
making stupid sleepdep/shut th damn window i'm cold & turn on th radio
jokes on our way up to c.c. let's here it fr dinosaur jr.!!!
not so long ago @ uconn:
luna-go figure-farmertan-
th opening bands were horrible. i've seen them too much & never liked
either in 1st place, but luna was totally fantastic & seemed to have a
good time doing it as well. a variety of material from nu & old, plus
galaxy 500 & a luscious 10 minute cover of beat happening's "indian
summer" covers. very much together.
last week @ th middle east:
jeuno-cheesecake-trenchmouth-godhead silo-
jeuno was noise jams. i usually don't mind them, unwound & magic hour
are exceptional @ it & totally emotional wreck th viewer/performer
w/their intensities/musicianship. jeuno did not do this for me. one of
them is in syrup, though, which i hear is pretty good (ex-swirlies).
i've seen cheesecake a bunch of times, & like them fr all their
silliness & sloppyness. they're not th greatest musicians, but make up
fr it in humor & charm. trenchmouth is truly one of my favorite bands.
totally creative & 100% SOUL. intricate jazzy drum- ming & percussions,
emotional ringleader vocal/spectacular dancing/dizzying bass lines w/a
slide bar @ times/guitar style ranging from dischordy to ska to
lounge...their live performances are every inch of their recorded
efforts + more. they played mostly new material which will be released
sometime in jan. one of th few remaining bands together from th era of
nation of ulysses jazz/ soul resurgence in punk. i'd seen godheadsilo
in l.a. this summer & was very impressed... but not prepared fr this.
i saw them @ jabberjaw, which doesn't have as much stage room, which
they used here for amp after amp after amp. they played their lil' old
souls out, & there even was a mosh pit during "you must pay." everybody
walked out deaf, but happy & shining w/glee after a rollicking set by
them adrenaline-fueled fargo boys.
last week @ th last call salon in providence:
tizzy-juicy-slant 6-small factory-
a nice club, but horrible neighborhood. adventures in providence
continued as we were threatened with murder while taking a walk & had
to hide in a ymca fr a spell...i loved tizzy. great bass lines,
good-time attitude, & lots of action on all three parts. jen (vocals)
sounds a lot like jenny from tsunami, but i like tizzy's total impact a
little more. hopefully, a 7" on pop narcotic in th near future. juicy
was, i dunno. i liked th fact that they were having a good time &
didn't care if they sounded like it was their 3rd band practice. and i
thought that th quiet older guy w/th tambourine had style...just didn't
interest me after a couple of songs. th bassist's backup vocals & that
percussion man were th only parts i really got into. i love slant 6,
tho. saw them last year in boston w/th dambuilders (i think it was
reviewed here) & was actually slightly disappointed. i went in not
expecting that much & was treated to not being to ask more from them.
christina was really into it this time, & th band followed suit. lots
of great new songs, which will be recorded next month. i love s6. my
1st small factory experience... i liked them a LOT more live than th
tape i had of them. very happy & very into it, especially on th part of
th bassist/vocalist. they played lois's "butterfly" which made me warm
all over, but i missed some of their set while looking for my friend.
major label debut this month, i think.
next time; reviews of team dresch,(if you have an opportunity to catch
them on this tour, DO SO- one of th best live shows i've seen all year,
so much in fact that i recognized/talked to a lot of people that saw
them th night before & couldn't get enough) kicking giant, pirate
jenny, built to spill, & more...
new records i really dig: halo benders, built to spill, bracket, rock
stars kill (comp), periscope (yoyo comp), lungfish, kicking giant,
samiam.......... from th self promotional department...my 1st booked
show (kicking giant very unfortunately had to be dropped) goes on @
studio 158 in no.windham ct, fri. october 28th w/bracket (caroline
poppunk artists from cali.), picasso trigger (duh/alias pissed off
girls & boys), bunnygrunt(st.louis cubby-cute music you wanna hug;
played yoyo a gogo this summer), ? (just-added band from maryland whose
name i don't have on me- just added last night as a matter of fact- in
th cub vein as well), & steadfast. (local ct 15-year-old d.i.y.ers) all
fr $5. it should be lots of fun, & isn't far away from major new
england cities @ all. upcoming shows @ 158 include bikini kill & 7
Seconds among others, so don't be afraid to email me & i'll get you a
schedule & directions. just let me know where yr coming from. love
y'all...xoxoxox, dann medin/dlm94001@uconnvm.uconn.
edu/xoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxo
r.i.p.; hoover, mulkiteo fairies, rodan (a serious boo hoo), & oh
there's too many more but i don't want to remember them right now...
"hardning of th categories leads to art disease" -harry holtzman
------------------------------
From: pjoe@grafix.wlink.nl (Joep Vermaat)
Stop! ..please..
[or: I never thought I'd see Oasis in the I-L... -es]
HELP! It doesn't stop! This is the best year of music ever. The mother
of all music years. I don't know how we ever survived the other ones
and will it ever be as good as this year? On every front, from Heavy
Metal to Rock, from Hiphop to House, from mainstream to independent, it
seems to have only high points ..well, that ain't quite true. But we
must confess we've never spent as much money on music as this year.
Since our last posting, a lot happened. It was even so much, we hadn't
the time to tell ya. So we'll skip most of it, because you've already
written about it. Let's start with some of the highlights of our
summer.
Europe is famous for festivals. And in Holland and Belgium it's festival
time all summer long.
First up, TECHNO! The Triple X Oscillate festival in Amsterdam.
Organized by multi-cultural organization Triple X and Oscillate Sound
System from Birmingham England. The total festival lasted for about a
month. Very much intellectually orientated. Place of happening, a
deserted factory build in the last century, used as a gas supply. Every
little building featured artists from theater to multi-media. High
point of it all was the dance night in the huge round gas tank.
A very futuristic experience indeed. Pentatonik started off the night
with quite a simplistic set. The rhythms were not too good and the
sounds not very original. Next up, Higher Intelligence Agency, they
also aren't that good. But a bit better, monotone though. ORBITAL took
the cake. They played for one and half hours, which is way too short.
They did some of the first album as well as some of the last, but the
tracks from the 'brown' album sent everybody through the roof.
Especially "Impact", "Halcyon" and "Lush 3" made the biggest impact.
Autechre who were next could never top it. But they sounded all right,
best was the last track which was very hard and electrifying. Now it
was about four o'clock in the morning; the sun was coloring the sky
outside, while Sun Electric sent us almost to sleep inside. They were
just about to succeed when they became more uplifting and many people
started to dance again. Mixmaster Morris ended the event, but we
decided to go home instead of staying and falling asleep to the
soothing music. Dancing for ten hours on end is very tiring, but very
satisfying; we wish there were more events like these.
VERVE again, at a festival on one of the nicest days of the summer. Not
too hot and just a small festival (five thousand people). Too bad Verve
was the only high point of the day. Other crowd-pleaser dEUS, from
Belgium, were boring as ever. It was almost getting dark when the four
Englishmen of Verve got on stage. Their usual drummer couldn't be
present, because he had broken his ankle in May, but his replacement
did a good job. Verve were about as good as the date they did earlier
this year in Amsterdam. They even had a way to cut through the lousy
sound, with some very strong songs. The biggest problem was the crowd.
Richard yelled at us at the end of the concert, "THIS IS MUSIC...
MYOOO-ZICK.. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" He had been annoyed by the way the
people stood around as if they were waiting for a bus. Well, we didn't,
we danced our socks off and because of that Joep almost had a fight
with someone waiting for a bus... Most festival crowds are beyond
sucking.
From what we've heard about Lollapalooza, we must be very happy with our
festivals. The best festival of the year is probably "Campingflight to
the Lowlands," three days of camping, boozing, raining, eating,
showering and music, music, music. And lots of different kinds this
year. Three huge circus tents full of it, varying from techno, hiphop,
pop, rock and very heavy metal. About 63 different acts playing to
18,000 people. The main concern of the organizers is not making lots of
money, but trying to give the people a good time. This time it was the
second time it was organized and they still lost money, but they
promised they'll go through with it next year. Best acts were
Underworld, starting off with 'dark & long' they played a darker and
longer set then the last time we've seen them. Eat Static can be very
boring on record but they are exhilarating live; they played for only
an hour, but I was barely able to walk afterwards. Cop Shoot Cop blew
me away, I didn't expect that to happen; they're America's equivalent
of Moonshake. Oasis, everybody says it's hype, but they are fun to
listen and dance to; but more about them later. Pavement, completely
shameless, didn't play a note straight, the drummer dropped every beat,
fun to watch. Afghan Whigs, the sound was horrible, but the band was
okay. Jeff Buckley I liked, he's one of the best male voices around. We
should check him out. Sebadoh disappointed me, they've gotten way too
popular for my taste and I missed Eric. I was probably not in the mood,
but I think the new album is wonderful. The best moment of the festival
was meeting Cell's sound engineer again and dancing to the B-sides of
Cell's "Milky" single, which he used to soundcheck with. Next year I'll
go again.
Back again in 'Het Patronaat' (Haarlem) one of our favorite places. This
time to see Palace Brothers play. First up, a (for us) unknown treat,
Scrawl. We didn't know what to expect, and with every supporting band
you don't know you just stand around, arms crossed, waiting for them to
impress you. Well, Scrawl didn't take long at all I can tell you that.
Comparing them seems easy, I bet most people would describe them as a
punkier Throwing Muses. But that ain't fair. Okay, it's a threesome
(two gals, one guy) and the girls are about as small-looking as Kristin
Hersh. But that's were the comparison stops. They sound more like
another supporting act we were impressed by earlier this year,
Monsterland. Good pop songs, spicy lyrics. Good music to jump about to,
which we did. Immediately afterwards we thanked them for playing. They
later thanked us back by hugging us all and giving away their single
(check out the split single they've done with Stereolab, it's ace!).
Palace Brothers were weird. I've seen Will Palace and his merry men a
year before and then they were way more silent then now. After the new
album I'd expected him to come alone. Instead he has taken a rock act
on the road. No Slint members among his new brothers. But it sounded
okay. All vocal melodies were turned around. The really silent songs
were played as raunching rock and the more up tempo ones had been
changed all together. I think I would have preferred the slower
versions, but it's a good thing Will Oldham doesn't like to be
pinpointed. Like the fact he has moved to Alabama. I think he must be
getting very bored with all the Slint references and everybody
comparing him to American Music Club and stuff. Palace is genius!
Scrawl again a week later, supporting Oasis. And again they are way
cool. Although most of the people in the sold-out Arena (Amsterdam)
came to see the latest British hype, many people liked Scrawl a lot on
first hearing. The band was very surprised by the enthusiasm of the
crowd. Especially because they had had a lousy week touring Germany,
where their tour bus broke down. We spoke with them again after the
show, and we discovered we've got mutual friends, CELL! What a small
world.
And now we come to a point where the Two Pure split up for a while, we
totally disagree on this one. We'll do it like this, I (Joep) review
the show and Loz reacts. So you have to make up your own mind who's
right.
OASIS are living up to the hype. Almost. As ever, English music mags
have a way of overreacting that is almost unbearable for us as music
fanatics, but even more so for the bands that get hyped. How can they
ever live up to a standard that's impossible to reach? I think Nirvana
must be the only band in recent years that was able to live up to it
and even Kurt couldn't take the pressure in the end. Hype is a bad
thing. ...but still, there's no better way to create a lot of attention
for bands who deserve it. And Oasis deserve it. They have the potential
to become as big as they've been portrayed. Listen to their album
'Definitely Maybe', it's a rocker; it's looking back at music history
since The Beatles and it even leaves room for a peek into the future.
The place where hyped bands normally fail is on stage. They can sound
all right on record, but fall flat on their faces when playing to a
live audience. Not Oasis. Arena was packed to the roof with people who
came to see what the fuss was all about. And of course a lot of people
were thinking they didn't live up to it. Oasis have a few flaws you
have to overcome when seeing them live. 1. They don't dance! Lots of
people will interpret that as a very lousy attitude. But in fact I
think they want to spare us their shitty dance steps and just
concentrate on playing music. 2. They look miserable. Very typical for
English bands, but I'd rather see a sad-looking bunch playing very
happy music than the other way around. 3. Off stage they behave like
rock stars. Normally I love to talk to my favorite rock 'stars' but I
didn't even try with Oasis. In fact I don't really care what they're
like off stage. As long as they function well on stage, and they do.
Oasis act like what they sing about. They really want to live forever,
they make themselves sound supersonic, they are the working class
singing to the working class. Oasis are everyday people, playing for
everyday people and becoming gods in the process. Whoops! Will they
live up to this hype?
Take it away, LOZ:
Okay, first of all, let's get one thing straight, and that is that Oasis
are overrated. The band is depending on one person (Noel), and if he
falls, Oasis goes down with him. The others are incapable players. I
give credit to Noel for making some good songs by merging the very best
of the English pop songs (by the Beatles, Clash, etc.). But let's be
honest, we've heard that for the last 30 years and I am tired of it.
Always that same old shit. Why not create something new? About the
hype, I'm sure Oasis will live up to it. Why? Because they created it
themselves! They are a bunch of arrogant pigs whose only goal is to be
the best band ever. They are winners, and there's nothing that will
stop them. They aren't under pressure at all. The more media coverage,
the better they feel. They want it, they want to become gods, and they
get it all. Why? Because the music media see a new band that has
actually something to say all the time and has strong opinions about
everything, and they fall for that. This is all fine with me!
But let's focus on the music. I've seen them live, and the first two or
three songs were great to dance to. But at one point I stopped. Because
it was not really that good. In fact, when you really listened it was
downright boring. Every song lasted too long, and there was too much
repetition. The sound wasn't that good, the guitars were messy. And
lastly I want to point out that they play routinely. This means that
they don't play with any enthusiasm, they don't really give themselves,
and it means that they don't put enough feelings into the songs. They
play songs. But they don't do anything with them. I'd say that Oasis
are a fairly good band, but let's wait for their next records. This
first record they've made surely isn't a topper. Maybe they'll make a
real topper in the future, and it won't even surprise me. But right
now: Oasis, definitely not!
Joep:
I think Loz will allow the last word to me. This was the reaction I
expected. He's the one who wants to hear new sounds with every new
record he buys. If it's done before, it must be crap. Well, personally
I don't give a shit. As long as it's done well and it's done just a
teeny bit originally then I usually like it. What Oasis do, has been
done before, no doubt. They aren't really what we could ever call
'avant garde'. But as long as their songs give me a good feeling, what
do I care? And what about the feelings during performance. Well I think
that's the sort of thing only very few performers can do and not every
night they play either. So maybe we didn't catch them at their most
heartfelt night, but I danced the whole damn concert through. Oasis
aren't the best around (erm.. did we mention Portishead?), but they are
quite alright! Oasis, definitely more than just maybe.
Loz: No, I won't allow the last word to Joep!
Bruised and bleeding we continue..
And again.. our contributions are getting WAY too long. So to end this
one not too extensively. We'll just one-sentence the essential buys of
the last three months:
GET EVERYTHING BY PORTISHEAD! Their album "dummy" is the album of the
year, "numb" and "sour times" are filled with wonderful remixes, all
are different songs all together.
SEEFEEL continue to change, "Fracture/Tied" is very Aphex Twin and they
definitely seemed to have dropped the guitar. Seefeel can also be found
alongside APHEX TWIN, MAIN, SCORN, DISCO INFERNO and ORANG on one of
the best compilations around "Ambient 4: Isolationism", on Virgin.
Compiled by Kevin Martin of GOD, it will shatter your speakers,
especially the Aphex track.
ORANG are the TALK TALK rhythm section doing a thing similar to the
excellent "Laughing Stock" album, only more so. Ethnic, but not in a
rehearsed 'world music' kinda way. Get it, it's called "Herd of
Instinct".
PALACE BROTHERS, need we say more? SEBADOH, ditto! SLINT, a good
taster, time for some new stuff.
BJORK has released her white label remixes; they're rather good and
very cheap (6 dollars for 41 minutes of music).
MOUSE ON MARS keep on being amazing,"Vulvaland" is a very cool
techno-but-not-really album; "Frosch" contains the better mixes of one
of their best 'songs'.
MU-ZIQ make what they're called, but very experimental mu-ziq at that;
it's on the Aphex Twin's label Rephlex, so it's rather good
(understatement alert!).
SHIVA AFFECT's "Yahweh" was hard to get, but worth the wait. Everybody
who likes Talk Talk and Bark Psychosis should get it. We hope they'll
get to make a full album real soon, they will shine.
The weirdest record in this list is 0's "Metri," very very minimalistic
techno, by guys who lay emphasis more on sound than songs, building
their own equipment. Probably impossible to get in the states, but hunt
it down like the F.S.A. album, because it has about the same magic.
PRAM's "Helium" is more jazzy, the trumpet is exquisite, tiny tears
menstruating in a dark corner of a doll's house.
At first hearing the new record by COME seems much better than their
previous Eleven:Eleven; Bailter Space quality.
AUTOCREATION's "Mettle" is an ambient-house record by Mark van Hoen
(aka Locust) that isn't outer-space, but very earth-like, with very
deep bass sounds (it blew Loz's amplifier) :-((((.
The common criticism about LUSCIOUS JACKSON's new one is that it isn't
better than their first on Big Cat, but we think differently, it is way
cooooool.
SWERVEDRIVER's "My Zephyr" contains probably some old material of the
band, but if it's new we're glad they're going back to their noisy
roots. Oh, and by the way, did we mention that "Natural Ingredients" by
the luscious ones is waaayyyyy coooooooooool?
SWELL's "summer songs" are their best yet. And AMERICAN MUSIC CLUB may
end this ordeal; "San Fransisco" is different, it seems happier, but
it isn't. Best moment is the '..una paloma blanca..' quote of one of
the most disgusting bands in the Dutch musical heritage "The George
Baker selection". They're even worse than Boney M, and that's almost
impossible. A.M.C. are wonderful though.
Well, we said it is a good year...
--> The Two Pure <--
Loz : Loz@dragons.nest.nl Joep : pjoe@grafix.wlink.nl
-------------------------------
From: Eric Cook <ecook@garnet.msen.com>
ANNOUNCE: Charnel Music Web Catalog Moved
Just wanted to mention that the Charnel Music Web catalog has moved:
The old URL of "http://web.cps.msu.edu/~cookeri1/charnel.catalog.html"
is no longer valid, although if you access it, it still points at the
new catalog URL of "http://www.msen.com/~ecook/charnel.catalog.html".
In addition to the site change, I've updated the catalog to the Sept.
1994 version and added links to all of the photos available off of the
Charnel Music FTP directory on cyberden.com. This includes publicity
photos of both Gravitar and Crash Worship, as well as album covers for
Crash Worship's CD and 7", Gravitar's CD, and the "Arrythmia II"
compilation CD. I've not yet added links to the audio samples found on
cyberden, as they are in .wav format, and I'd like to translate them
over to .mp2 first. Also available are interviews with K.K. Null,
Mason Jones, and Gravitar, as well as a Gravitar-specific home page.
Although this is all done for Charnel Music, I'm responsible for the Web
pages, not Mason, and so I take full responsibility for any errors
therein, or problems arising from their use. In addition, anyone who
can give me some pointers on adding forms support to the pages, please
mail me.
Thanks,
--Eric Cook
Gravitar-Guy
ecook@mail.msen.com
http://www.msen.com/~ecook/index.html
------------------------------
From: Gajoob@aol.com
ANNOUNCE: Home-recording and DiY Mailing List
GAJOOB Magazine has just published its third weekly informational
electronic mailing list for home recording and DiY recording artists.
Each issue of the list contains info on the newest DiY releases, news of
projects looking for DiY recordings (radio, publications, compilations,
distributors, collaborators, etc., etc.), letters from other DiY
artists and other stuff to be added on your request.
The list goes out each Tuesday evening. If you are a DiY recording
artist, or just like DiY music, we'd love to have you on board this
list (the more input and exchange the better!). So, if you wish to be
included in the mailing, please reply via e-mail to: GAJOOB@UTW.COM.
There is no list server set up for this, so there is no need to follow
a specific format when writing -- just let me know you want it.
Thanks.
--Bryan Baker, Editor
------------------------------
From: walt <WBV100X@oduvm.cc.odu.edu>
AD: my brightest summer zine
by the time you read this, issue #2 of my brightest summer should be
out. it'll have interviews with tsunami, versus, hem (boyracer
sideband with nicola, the bass player), and rocketship. as usual, lots
of music reviews and mindless banterings...if you want one sent to
you, just e-mail your home address to the address you see below and
i'll see that you get a copy...
#3 already has a heavenly interview set to go...
walt wbv100x@oduvm.cc.odu.edu
my brightest summer
------------------------------
From: JimJBeat@aol.com
AD: Jersey Beat #52
Here's a plug for the new issue of my zine, Jersey Beat. There's a long
interview with Pete Stahl about h