Hockey Season Is Finally Over And It’s Now Back to Business

2009 Stanley Cup Champions	2009 Calder Cup Champions

I’m sure that some of you may have wondered where I’ve been the last month. Well between work, and trying to get the house painted I’ve been on kind of a hockey hiatus, watching an awful lot of hockey. (IMHO) nothing in sports comes close to matching the intensity of play exhibited during The Stanley Cup Playoffs, thought the AHL’s Calder Cup Playoffs is a close second. Hockey players are just a different breed of athlete.

Now I’m not sure if this has ever happened before but on Friday night, June 12th, both the Stanley Cup and Calder Cup were awarded.

Congratulations to both the Pittsburgh Penguins 2009 Stanley Cup Champions and the Hershey Bears 2009 Calder Cup Champions on their achievements.

Lastly, over the last month I have been working on a new post, and hopefully will have it done by the end of the week.

Tags: AHL, Calder Cup Playoffs, Hershey Bears, NHL, Pittsburgh Penguins, Stanley Cup Playoffs

Addendum

Two recent additions to my “record collection.” help to flesh out two of my earlier posts.

Supplementing this years earlier post about alt-country/roots rockers the Bottle Rockets is their Blue Sky album from 2003.

Blue Sky finds the Bottle Rockets reduced to a trio with Brian Henneman playing guitars on most cuts, although co-producer and Gov’t Mule frontman Warren Haynes plays on a few songs, as does former Blood Oranges axeman Mark Spencer. Quieter than previous albums the album is more country than rock. While songs like “Men & Women,” and “Man of Constant Anxiety,” would be right at home on country radio songs like “Pretty Little Angie” and “I.D. Blues” serve notice that the group “can still rock on out when the spirit moves them.”

 

Bottle Rockets – Blue Sky (2003)

Playing Time: 42 minutes 57 seconds

1. Lucky Break (2:47)
2. Man of Constant Anxiety (2:42)
3. I Don’t Wanna Go Back (3:41)
4. Baggage Claim (4:19)
5. Men & Women (2:40)
6. Baby’s Not My Baby Tonight (2:21)
7. Cartoon Wisdom (5:03)
8. Cross by the Highway (3:15)
9. Pretty Little Angie (3:25)
10. Blue Sky (2:17)
11. Mom & Dad (4:06)
12. I.D. Blues (3:39)
13.The Last Time (2:42)

Buy Blue Sky from Amazon.com

Tags: Alt-Country, Country Rock, Roots Rock

The first album in nine years since 1998’s Smitten 2007’s Three Easy Pieces “shows Buffalo Tom haven’t lost their touch (or their ability to rock) despite a long layoff.”

“Three Easy Pieces conveys a heady air of “turn up the amps and let it rip.”

For a fuller profile of Buffalo Tom check out my August 2007 post about the band. I’ve also taken the time to refresh all the expired links in that post.

 

Buffalo Tom – Three Easy Pieces (2007)

Playing Time: 50 minutes 53 seconds

1. Bad Phone Call (4:20)
2. Three Easy Pieces (3:51)
3. You’ll Never Catch Him (5:00)
4. Bottom of the Rain (3:24)
5. Lost Downtown (3:38)
6. Renovating (3:00)
7. Good Girl (2:33)
8. Pendletow (3:45)
9. Gravity (3:26)
10. Hearts of Palm (5:23)
11. September Shirt (2:44)
12. CC and Callas (3:36)
13. Thrown (6:13)

Buy Three Easy Pieces from Amazon.com

Tags: Adult Alternative, Alternative Pop/ Rock

The State of Rock: 1995

Begun in 1961 as The National Jazz Festival The Reading Festival is “the world’s oldest popular music festival still in existence.” In 1971 the Jazz Festival officially became the Reading Festival. Held during August the festival has grown to such an extent that in 1999 a second simultaneous festival in Leeds was added. Todays festival now spans two venue with seven stages:

1. Main stage – major rock, indie and alternative acts
2. NME/Radio 1 stage – less well-known acts, building up to an alternative headline act.
3. Festival Republic stage (formerly known as the Carling stage) – acts with less popular appeal and breakthrough acts.
4. Lock Up Stage – underground punk and hardcore acts. (2 days)
5. Dance tent – dance music acts, on the day that the above stage does not run.
6. Alternative tent – comedy and cabaret acts plus DJs.
7. BBC Introducing Stage – Typically unsigned/not well known acts.

Because the Reading Festival reflects the current popular musical scene Britpop tended to dominate Reading ‘95, but no genre of popular music was completely shut out or ignored, as you can see from the list of acts that performed over the three days.

Main Stage

Reading Friday	Reading Saturday	Reading Sunday
Smashing Pumpkins Green Day Hole Teenage Fanclub Beck dEUS Juliana Hatfield China Drum	Björk Paul Weller The Boo Radleys Tricky Throwing Muses Shed Seven Corduroy Little Axe Skunk Anansie James Hall	Neil Young Soundgarden Pavement Mudhoney Buffalo Tom Babes in Toyland White Zombie Blind Melon Pennywise

Melody Maker Stage

Reading Friday	Reading Saturday	Reading Sunday
Gene Stereolab Marion Whale Menswear Guided by Voices Moist Heather Nova Weknowwhereyoulive The Cardigans	Foo Fighters Echobelly Drugstore Bluetones Electrafixion Snuff My Life Story 60 ft Dolls Powder Kaliphz Puressence Heavy Stereo	Carter USM Monster Magnet These Animal Men Reef Geraldine Fibbers Ash Vent Cast Dub War Paw Silverchair Animals That Swim

Carlsberg Stage

Reading Friday	Reading Saturday	Reading Sunday
Bullyrag Peepshow Space Solar Race Speedway Clafanes Cable Understand Joyrider Prolapse Flying Saucer Attack	Thomas Ribeiro Speedy Hardbody Pillbox Boutique Coast Hooker Spare Snare Scarfo Small Pusherman AC Acoustics Flinch Delicatessen	Crazy Gods of Endless Noise Nilon Bombers Clockwork Dogs Star 69 Pullover Livingstone Super Furry Animals Nyack Longpigs Elcka Lick Thurman Weekenders Mike Flowers Pops

A quick look at the list of those who performed and those acts on the cd and one is struck by how many of the latter were relative unknowns (at least in the US) in 1995. And isn’t that the very purpose of a sampler… introducing us to all those groups operating under the radar.

 

Volume 14 – Reading ‘95 Special

 

Disc 1

Playing Time: 1 hour 3 minutes 6 seconds

1. Teenage Fanclub – Festival Of Sun Reading ‘95 (Feat. Kim Fowley) (3:29)
2. Ash – Coasting (Radio 1FM Evening Session) (3:19)
3. Powder – Has Been (Demo Version) (3:36)
4. Nilon Bombers – Back Down (Demo Version) (3:58)
5. Drugstore – Sugar Sugar (2:39)
6. Electrafixion – Sister Pain (Remix) (4:29)
7. Cast – Follow Me Down (Exclusive Mix) (3:42)
8. Puressence – Half The Way You Were (4:54)
9. Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine – This One’s For Me (Alternative Version) (2:45)
10. Longpigs – All Hype (3:25)
11. Coast – Shag Wild (3:35)
12. China Drum – Situation (2:54)
13. Smaller – Biscuit Tin (Demo Version) (3:18)
14. Heavy Stereo – Sleep Freak (Original Demo) (3:52)
15. The Cardigans – Our Space (3:28)
16. Stereolab – Theme From Get Carter (3:24)
17. Menswear – Daydreamer (Student Union Mix) (6:19)

[Disc 1 Part 1] [Disc 1 Part 2 ]

Disc 2

Playing Time: 1 hour 14 minutes 18 seconds

1. Little Axe – Out Of The Rain And Cold (Remix) (6:08)
2. Dub War – Original Murder (6:36)
3. White Zombie – Electric Head Pt 2 (The Ecstasy) (Aztec Mummy Super Fly Mix) (4:13)
4. Monster Magnet – Dopes To Infinity (Live) (5:31)
5. Babes In Toyland – Handsome & Gretel (Live) (1:55)
6. dEUS – Morticiachair (Live) (4:22)
7. Gene – Sleep Well Tonight (Live) (4:02)
8. Heather Nova – My Fidelity (Live) (4:01)
9. Scarce – Imagining It (Acoustic) (4:23)
10. Buffalo Tom – Never Noticed (2:58)
11. Scarfo – Eyesore (3:34)
12. Echobelly – Natural Animal (Remix) (3:28)
13. Peepshow – Delirious (4:28)
14. These Animal Men – False Identification (Live) (3:16)
15. Prolapse – Move To Limit Slabs (Demo Version) (5:37)
16. Delicatessen – Classic Adventure (Re-Recording) (3:36)
17. Skunk Anansie – I Can Dream (3:27)
18. Mudhoney – You Give Me The Creeps (1:03)
19. Guided By Voices – Snuff Movie (She’s Gone) (1:40)

[Disc 2 Part 1] [Disc2 Part 2 ]

Tags: Acoustic, Adult Alternative, Alternative Metal, Alternative Pop/ Rock, BritPop, Downtempo, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Leftfield, Lo-Fi, Singer/ Songwriter

Gene

The subject of the inevitable Smiths comparisons because of their Morrissey-esque lead singer, Martin Rossiter; Britpop band Gene would dominate the British musical landscape during the mid 1990’s. Formed in 1993 from the ashes of the Stone Roses-like band Spin (formerly The Go Hole) the band consisted of vocalist Martin Rossiter, guitarist Steve Mason, Kevin Miles on bass and Matt James on drums.

The combination of “Rossiter’s eloquence, warm, emotive voice, Mason’s intricate guitar riffs Miles’ melodic basslines and James’ various rock drumming styles” provided a solid musical base; and the group’s sound impressed NME journalists Keith Cameron and Roy Wilkinson

“enough to form independent record label Costermonger, created with the sole purpose of promoting Gene to a wider audience.”

The group’s, and Costermonger’s debut release, the double A-sided single “For The Dead” / “Childs Body”,was released in a limited edition of 1,994 copies in May 1994 and sold out in two days. Live shows, one in particular in support of Pulp would help the group develop a large devotional following. Hoping to capitalize on the group’s new found popularity Costermonger released a second single, a triple A-side consisting of “Be My Light Be My Guide”, “This Is Not My Crime” and “I Can’t Help Myself” in August 1994. Well received by the English musical press the single would reach the top spot on the UK indie chart and number 54 on the UK national chart. The success of that single lead to their first UK headlining tour, culminating with a show at “London’s Paradise Club which sold out immediately, cramming 800 people into the venue.”

The group’s success hadn’t gone unnoticed by the major labels and the band signed with Polydor. A successful appearance at 1994’s Reading Festival would lead to a national tour and several sold out French dates. In between Reading and the national tour the band released their third single “Sleep Well Tonight”, which reached #36 on the British charts.

For Gene 1995 would be noted for its excess of success. They would be one of the headliners at 1995’s Reading Festival, perform at the Glastonbury Festival, tour Japan and Europe, and then make a brief tour of the US. Their fourth single, “Haunted By You”, would reach #32 on the British pop charts; while their debut album, Olympian, reached number 8 on the album charts and with “recording sales of over 70,000 in the UK alone” garnered for Gene their first silver disc. When the last single from the album, the epic “Olympian“, was released it went straight into the British Top Twenty.

Honors also abounded for the group in 1995. They were winners of the inaugural NME Brat Award for ‘Best New Act’. They were on the cover of both NME and Melody Maker, “who also voted them their ‘Brightest Hope’ for 1995″.

Gene’s second full length, 1997’s Drawn to the Deep End, is

“a lavish production replete with strings, far more prominent guitar solos from Mason, and a rather warbling vocal affectation from Rossiter”

but Rossiter was in the depths of depression during the production of the album and the album’s lyrical content reflects that depression; the long-term effects of child abuse on “Voice of the Father,” or “conjuring up London’s fog and grime on the murder ballad “The Accidental.” On it’s release the album entered the top 10 on the album charts, while two singles from the album, “Where Are They Now?” (22) and “Speak to me Someone” (30) both appeared in the Top 40.

1998 saw the band play a few low key shows, but the bulk of their time was spent writing new material for their third full length, Revelations. Released in February 1999 the album rocks harder than previous efforts, but the group’s clumsy attempts at social activism, with political songs like “The British Disease” and “Mayday,” and the first single off the album, the Jam-like “As Good As it Gets” were met with lukewarm reviews.

The group toured England in support of the album and once again appeared at that years Reading Festival, but Polydor provided little support for the album or the group; Rossiter later explained the break with their label as

“Only when we got to Gretna Green did we realise that Polydor had disembarked at Crewe.”

Even without major label support they spent part of 2000 on a world tour, including the US. Their show at Los Angeles’ Troubadour was web cast to a then record-breaking 60,000 people worldwide. A live album from that show, Rising for Sunset, was “promoted with a pioneering international internet-only campaign,” resulting in the sale of 40,000 units upon its release.

Released in 2001 on the band’s Sub Rosa label, Libertine, was the band’s last album. Dismissed by some critics “as a more sleazy rock-style record” most saw it as a return to Olympian’s form.

Knowing that “they were never going to become world-conquering greats” and feeling that “they were somewhat stuck in a rut,” Gene amicably broke up in 2004, playing their last show on December 16, 2004 at the London Astoria.

While there are no plans to re-unite in

“January 2008, all four members of Gene briefly took to the stage again for their ex-manager’s 50th birthday party,”

at the 100 Club in London, performing 5 songs: “Be My Light, Be My Guide”, “For The Dead”, “Where Are They Now?”, “London, Can You Wait?” and “Olympian”.

 

DISCOGRAPHY

Singles

“For The Dead” (7″) (Costermonger) 1994
“Be My Light, Be My Guide” (7″) (Costermonger) 1994
“Sleep Well Tonight” (7″) (Costermonger) 1994
“Haunted By You” (7″) (Costermonger) 1995
“Be My Light, Be My Guide” / “I Can’t Help Myself” (Sub Pop) 1995)
“Olympian” (7″) (Costermonger) 1995
“Still Can’t Find The Phone” (Germany) 1995
“For The Dead” (Cass, Single) (Costermonger) 1996
“Fighting Fit” (Single) (Polydor, Costermonger) 1996
“We Could Be Kings” (7″) (Polydor) 1997
“Where Are They Now?” (7″) (Polydor) 1997
“Speak To Me Someone” (CD, Single, CD2) (Polydor) 1997
“As Good As It Gets” (CD, Single, CD1) (Polydor) 1999
“Fill Her Up” (CD Single, CD1) (Polydor) 1999
“Revelations” (CD Single, CD 1) (Polydor) 1999
“Is It Over?” (CD, Maxi) (Contra Records) 2001
“Does He Have a Name?” (promo) 2001
“Let Me Move On” 2004

Full-length

Olympian (CD, LP) (Polydor, Costermonger) 1995
To See The Lights (CD, 2xLP) (Polydor K.K., Costermonger) 1996
Drawn To The Deep End (CD, LP) (Polygram Records) 1997
Revelations (CD, LP) (Universal / Polygram) 1999
Rising For Sunset (CD) (Contra, Worldwide Tribe) 2000
As Good As It Gets: The Best Of Gene (CD) (Polygram U.K.) 2001
Libertine (CD) (Contra Music / Universal) 2001
The Collection (CD) (Commercial Marketing) 2006
The John Peel Sessions: 95 – 99 (2xCD) (Universal UK) (2006)

Tracks Appear On:

“Be My Light, Be My Guide” Indie Top 20 Volume 20 (CD) (Beechwood Music) 1994
“I Can’t Help Myself (From The Evening Session)” The Radio 1FM Sessions Vol 1 (Cass) ( Vox Magazine) 1994
“To See The Lights” Volume Ten (CD) ( Volume) 1994
“Sick, Sober And Sorry” Brat Pack ‘95 (Cass) (New Musical Express) 1995
“Sleep Well Tonight” CMJ New Music June – Volume 22 (CD) (College Music Journal) 1995
“Haunted By You (Live)” Exclusives (Cass) (Select Magazine) 1995
“Sleep Well Tonight” HuH – CD 6 (CD) (Huh Music Service) 1995
“Autumn Stone” Long Agos And Worlds Apart – A Tribute To The Small Faces (CD) (Nippon Crown) 1995
“To See The Lights” Sharks Patrol These Waters – The Best Of Volume Part 2 (2xCD, 2xCass ) (Volume) 1995
“Haunted By You” Shine Too (CD) (PolyGram TV) 1995
“A Car That Sped” Six Pack (Cass) (Melody Maker) 1995
“For The Dead” Turn It Up & Pass It On – Volume 5 (CD) (AIM Marketing) 1995
“Sleep Well Tonight (Live)” Wild CD 02 (CD) (Wild Magazine) 1995
“Don’t Let Me Down” CMJ New Music January – Volume 29 (CD) (College Music Journal) 1996
“Autumn Stone” Long Agos And Worlds Apart – A Tribute To The Small Faces (CD) (Nice Records) 1996
“Sleep Well Tonight” Shine 5 (2xCD) (PolyGram Record Operations) 1996
“Fighting Fit” Shine 7 (2xCD) ( PolyGram TV) 1996
“For The Dead” The Basement Tapes Volume 1 (Cass) (Melody Maker)1996
“Haunted By You” The Best Of Brit Pop (2xCD) (Magnum) 1996
“Olympian” The Best… Album In The World…Ever! (2xCD) (Circa Records Ltd.) 1996
“For The Dead” The Best…Album In The World…Ever! Vol.3 (2xCD) (Circa Records Ltd.) 1996
“Sleep Well Tonight (Live)” Volume Fourteen – Reading ‘95 Special (2xCD) (Volume) 1996
“Where Are They Now?” CMJ New Music May – Volume 45 (CD) (College Music Journal) 1997
“For The Dead” Crush (2xCD) (PolyGram TV) 1997
“London Can You Wait?” Face – OST (CD) (Island Records) 1997
“Fighting Fit” New Voices Vol. 9 (CD) (Rolling Stone (Germany) 1997
“New Amusements” NME Presents Radio 1 Sound City Oxford ‘97 (Cass) (New Musical Express) 1997
“London Can You Wait?” Outafocus Volume One Come Along And Mistreat Yourself!! (CD) (Focus) 1997
“We Could Be Kings” Shine – Best Of 97 (2xCD) (PolyGram TV) 1997
“Be My Light, Be My Guide” Deceptive Fifty (CD) ( Deceptive) 1998
“Olympian (Live)” Radio 1 Sound City Newcastle-Upon-Tyne (CD) (New Musical Express) 1998
“Where Are They Now?” Shine 10 (2xCD) (PolyGram TV) 1998
“Town Called Malice” Fire & Skill – The Songs Of The Jam (CD) (Ignition Records) 1999
“Love Won’t Work” Unconditionally Guaranteed Volume 3 (CD) (Uncut Magazine) 1999
“Speak To Me Someone” Trigger Happy TV – Soundtrack To The Series (CD) (Channel Four Music) 2000
“Don’t Let Me Down” Why Don’t We Do It In The Road? (CD) (Uncut Magazine) 2001
“Where Are They Now?” Nineties Box Set (3xCD) (Universal International Music BV) 2003
“We Would Be Kings” 90’s Rockers (DVD, PAL) (Uncut DVD) 2004
“Fighting Fit” Songs To Save Your Life (CD) (New Musical Express) 2004
“As Good As It Gets” Play It Loud (2xCD) (Universal Music TV) 2007
“Sleep Well Tonight” The Brit Box: UK Indie, Shoegaze, And Brit-Pop Gems Of The Last Millennium (4xCD) (Rhino Entertainment Company) 2007

Unofficial Releases:

“Velvet Times” Mayday In Newcastle (CD) 1999

 

For The Dead (1995)

Playing Time: 14 minutes 51 seconds

 

1. For The Dead (3:29)
2. Sick. Sober and Sorry (2:52)
3. To See The Lights (2:30)
4. Don’t Let Me Down (3:10)
5. Her Fifteen Years (2:50)

Drawn to the Deep End (1997)

Playing Time: 52 minutes 52 seconds

1. New Amusements (6:51)
2. Fighting Fit (3:56)
3. Where Are They Now? (4:15)
4. Speak To Me Someone (3:56)
5. We Could Be Kings (5:15)
6. Why I Was Born (6:00)
7. Long Sleeves For The Summer (3:31)
8. Save Me. I’m Yours (4:25)
9. Voice Of The Father (3:21)
10. The Accidental (3:02)
11. I Love You. What Are You? (4:42)
12. Sub Rosa (3:38)

Drawn to the Deep End [Part 1] [Part 2 ]

Tags: Alternative rock, BritPop

Spring

“APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land…”

The Waste Land (1922)

Well… did you get your income tax done and in on time as nothing says spring like paying your state and federal income taxes. Do you think T.S. Eliot was thinking about paying his taxes as he wrote the opening lines to his epic poem, The Waste Land ?

With this coming Monday being Patriots Day in Massachusetts; and with that comes both the running of the Boston Marathon, and a Red Sox and Orioles game at Fenway that begins at 11:05 am, and one can finally begin to believe that spring has arrived in southern New England.

In light of this I’ve chosen four bands, whose very names (thought not necessarily their music) seems to represent the essence of spring.

 

 

---

 

 

Trading in a solo career, where he performed under the moniker Tin Tin, Stephen Duffy founded The Lilac Time, along with Mickey Harris, Nick Duffy, and Michael Giri.

With it’s mixture of poetry, pop melodies, use of traditional instruments; accordions, acoustic guitars, woodwinds, exotic percussion, and Duffy’s pensive voice, their self titled debut, The Lilac Time, with its emphasis on pastoral, folky English pop is reminiscent of Skylarking-era XTC.

Dismissed by music critics as “Minneapolis’ scruffy also-rans” and “little brothers” of better known Twin Cities bands Hüsker Dü, the Replacements and Soul Asylum The Magnolias just might be the best band you’ve never heard. This Minneapolis Buzzcocks/Undertones-loving, Real Kids/Replacements-sounding, punky garage-rock act formed around vocalist and guitarist John Freeman, who proved to be the only constant in the band’s career.

With it’s down-and-out and broken-hearted tales of the rock & roll street life, twin buzz-saw guitar attack and “John Freeman’s inimitable caterwauling,” Off the Hook, is arguably The Magnolias’ best album. The band’s signature song, “When I’m Not,” is “a spirited, instantly catchy singalong,” while “Tear Up This Town” and “Take Me Away” prove that the band can rock out with the best of them. A cover of another overlooked Twin Cities rock band, the Suicide Commandos’ “Complicated Fun” helped to make this album a regional classic.

The very short lived The March Violets formed in 1981 as one of Leeds’ four famous drum machine bands, the others being the Sisters of Mercy, Three Johns and Red Lorry Yellow Lorry. Favoring stark, primitive rhythm-box beats the group’s sound was colored by Loz Elliott’s heavy bass throb, Tom Ashton’s droning guitar and

“complementary lead vocalists — big, bearded Simon Denbigh and enigmatic Rosie Garland.”

Primarily a singles band the group’s earliest recordings were released on the Sisters of Mercy’s label Merciful Release. 1984’s Natural History is a collection of the band’s earliest efforts. The time between the release 1984’s Natural History and their second compilation, 1985’s Electric Shades, was marked by turmoil, with co-vocalist Rosie Garland leaving and being replaced by Cleo Murray, and then in early 1985 fellow co-vocalist Simon Denbigh being handed his walking papers.

The loss of both Garland and Denbigh forced The Violets to “surrender to conventionality”, replacing the drum machine with an actual drummer and “crassly exploiting Cleo’s beauty” and by 1987 the March Violets just faded away.

While 1994’s The Botanic Verses isn’t organized in chronological order it does replaces early vinyl-only compilations and stands as the definitive history of the band’s earliest days.

Fans of Joy Division, Echo and the Bunnymen and Bauhaus will definitely want to take a listen as The March Violets were strongly influenced by the fore mentioned.

Fans of ethereal pop music should enjoy the crunchy and swirling music of Toronto’s An April March. Begun as a quartet the group originally consisted of Danella Hocevar (vocals, guitar), Robert Lambke (bass guitar, guitar), Christopher Perry (guitar, keyboards) and Michael Klug (drums). Andrew Starling replaced Robert Lambke on bass for 1995’s Lessons In Vengeance, but by the time of 1996’s Adagio E.P. he was gone; with the group remaining a trio until they called it a day.

The group proved to be as popular in Boston as in their native Toronto primarily because of a split single ,”The Last of Ariadne”/”No Answer”, they released with Worcester’s The Curtain Society’s in 1993. The two groups then

embarked on “The Tape Dispenser Tour”… a series of shows in Boston, Providence, Worcester, Toronto, and Ann Arbor.

Deciding to call it quits they played their final American show on April 16, 1999 at the Lucky Dog Music Hall in Worcester, MA, sharing the billing one last time with The Curtain Society. Their last show was in Toronto on April 29, 1999.

 

The Lilac Time Discography

Singles, EPs and Full-length

Black Velvet (CD Single) (Fontana) 1988
Return To Yesterday (12″, CD , Single) (Fontana) 1988
The Lilac Time (CD, Album ) (Fontana, Mercury) 1988
You’ve Got To Love (12″) (Fontana, Phonogram) 1988
American Eyes (12″, CD, Single) (Fontana) 1989
American Eyes (Welcome To Hell – Here’s Your Accordian) (12″) (Fontana) 1989
Paradise Circus (LP, CD) (Fontana) 1989
The Days Of The Week (12″) (Fontana) 1989
The Girl Who Waves At Trains (CD Single) (Fontana) 1989
& Love For All (CD) (Fontana) 1990
All For Love & Love For All (7″, 12″, CD Single) (Fontana) 1990
It’ll End In Tears (12″, CD Single) (Fontana, Phonogram) 1990
Madresfield (7″ Single) (Caff Corporation) 1990
The Laundry (12″ , CD Single)
The Lilac Time (LP) (Fontana) 1990
Astronauts (LP, CD) (Creation Records) 1991
Dreaming (7″ ,12″, CD) (Creation Records) 1991
Dreaming – Hypnotone Remixes (12″) (Creation Records) 1991
In Iverna Gardens / Dreaming (CD) (Intercord Tonträger GmbH) 1991
Astronauts+ (CD) (Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) (1998)
Looking For A Day In The Night (CD) (Cooking Vinyl) 1999
Compendium – The Fontana Trinity (2xCD) (Fontana) 2001
Lilac6 (2xCD) (Beat Records) 2001
Lilac6 (CD) (Cooking Vinyl) 2001
Keep Going (CD) (Artful) 2003
Astronauts (CD) (Castle) 2005
And Love For All (CD) (Fontana) 2006
Paradise Circus (CD) (Fontana) 2006
The Lilac Time (CD) (Fontana) 2006
& Love For All (CD) (Fontana) 2006
Runout Groove (CD) (Bogus Frontage) 2007
Happy Birthday Peace EP (CD) (Fulfill) 2008

Tracks Appear On:

“Return To Yesterday” Un Automne 88 (CD) (Virgin France S.A.) 1988
“American Eyes” Good Morning 90s (LP) (PolyGram Greece) 1990
“Fields” Select 12 (Cass) (Phonogram Records) 1990
“Bird On The Wire” I’m Your Fan – The Songs Of Leonard Cohen By… (CD, 2xLP) (Columbia) 1991
“Bird On The Wire” I’m Your Fan: The Songs Of Leonard Cohen By… (CD, 2xLP) (EastWest) 1991
“Bird On The Wire” I’m Your Fan: The Songs Of Leonard Cohen By… (CD) (Atlantic) 1991
“Dreaming” Keeping The Faith Again (A Creation Dance Compilation) (CD) (Creation Records) 1992
“The Whisper Of Your Mind” Creation Soup 1990 – 1993 (CD, Comp) (Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) 1993
“Return To Yesterday” Radio FFN Nightline 2 (CD) (SPV Records, SPV GmbH) 1993
Fontana Sixties and Nineties Collection (Fontana) 1993
“If the Stars Shine Tonight” Les Inrockuptibles: 10 ans/100 chansons) (CD) (Small) 1997
“Dreaming” Guitar Pop Jamboree – Seventeen Teardrops Falling (CD) (Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) 1999
“A Day In The Night” New Voices Vol. 29 (CD) (Rolling Stone (Germany) 1999
“Morning Sun” Uncut: Unconditionally Guaranteed, Volume 5: June 1999 (Uncut Magazine) 1999
“The Nursery Walls” Cooking Vinyl In Rockdelux (CD) (Sinedín Music) 2000
“Family Coach” Delicatessen One: 18 Delicious Creations From the Cooking Vinyl Kitchen (Cooking Vinyl) 2000
“A Dream That We All Share” Delicatessen, Volume 2: Cooking Vinyl Sampler 2000 (CD) (Cooking Vinyl) 2000
“Back in the Car Park” Amos House Collection, Volume I (CD) (Empyrean Records) 2001
“Jeans & Summer” Delicatessen, Volume 4: Cooking Vinyl Sampler 2002 (CD) (Cooking Vinyl) 2002
“Bank Holiday Monday” Wide Awake – It’s All About Songs (CD) (Tapete Records) 2005
“Morning Sun” Strange Folk (CD) (Albion) 2006
“Return to Yesterday” Hits Return of Post Modern (Hits Magazine)

Unofficial Releases:

Swordfish (CD) Not On Label
Paradise Circus (CD) (Polygram K.K.) 1999
The Lilac Time (CD) (Polygram K.K.) 1999

The Lilac Time (1987)

Playing Time: 45 minutes 6 seconds

1. Return To Yesterday (3:46)
2. Rockland (4:09)
3. You’ve Got To Love (4:39)
4. And The Ship Sails On (3:04)
5. Love Becomes A Savage (3:55)
6. Together (2:57)
7. Black Velvet (3:23)
8. Too Sooner Later Than Better (3:43)
9. The Road To Happiness (4:02)
10. Trumpets From Montparasse (3:49)
11. Gone For Burton (3:43)
12. Railway Bazaar (3:56)

Buy The Lilac Time from Amazon.com

Tags: Adult Alternative, Alternative Pop/ Rock, Folk-Rock, Pop/Rock

The Magnolias Discography

Concrete Pillbox (CD, LP) (Twin/Tone) 1986
For Rent (CD, LP) (Twin/Tone) 1988
Dime Store Dream (CD, LP) (Twin/Tone) 1989
Off the Hook (CD) (Alias) 1992
Hung Up On… EP (CD) (Alias) 1992
Street Date Tuesday (CD) (Twin/Tone) 1996
Better Late Than Never (Unreleased Demos and Outakes) (CD)(Satellite Six) 2005

The Magnolias – Off the Hook (1992)

Playing Time: 37 minutes 56 seconds

1. Hello Or Goodbye (2:16)
2. Don’t Pack It In (2:42)
3. Matter Of Time (3:56)
4. My Little Flame (3:09)
5. Never Lasts (3:38)
6. Tear Up This Town (3:16)
7. Take Me Away (3:00)
8. When I’m Not (3:30)
9. Up The Ladder (2:49)
10. Time Bomb (3:12)
11. Complicated Fun (2:59)
12. Playing To Win (3:29)

Buy the Magnolias Off The Hook from Amazon.com

Tags: Alternative Pop/ Rock, Pop/Rock

The March Violets Discography

Singles, EPs and Full-length

Religious As Hell (7″) (Merciful Release) 1982
Crow Baby (7″, 12″) (Rebirth International)1983
Grooving In Green (7″) (Merciful Release) 1983
Snake Dance (7″ 12″) (Rebirth International) 1983
Natural History (LP) (Vinyl Rebirth Records)1984
Walk Into The Sun (12″) (Vinyl Rebirth Records) 1984
Walk Into The Sun (7″) (Rebirth International) 1984
Deep (7″ , 12″) (Vinyl Rebirth Records)1985
Electric Shades (LP) (Relativity) 1985
Turn To The Sky (7″, 12″ ) (Vinyl Rebirth Records) 1986
Turn To The Sky (7″) (Polygram Iberica) 1986
The Botanic Verses (CD) (Jungle Records, Cleopatra)1993
Trinity EP (CDr) (Self Produced) 2007

Tracks Appear On:

“Turn To The Sky (Razormaid Mix)” Razormaid Chapter O-4 (2×12″) (Razormaid Records)
“Radiant Boys” The Angels Are Coming (2xCass) (Pleasantly Surprised) 1983
“Wild Talk” Spools Gold (Cass,LP) (Record Mirror) 1986
“Miss Amanda Jones”, “Turn To The Sky” Some Kind Of Wonderful (LP,CD) (MCA Records) 1987
“Miss Amanda Jones”, “Turn To The Sky” Some Kind Of Wonderful (LP) (WEA Records Pty Ltd.) 1987
“Essence” The Whip (2xCD) (Jungle Records) 1993
“Snake Dance” Mysterious Encounters (CD) (Cleopatra) 1994
“Snake Dance (7 Mix)” Gothic Rock 2 (3xLP) (Jungle Records) 1995
“Snake Dance (7 Mix)” Gothic Rock 2 – 80’s Into 90’s (2xCD) (Jungle Records) 1995
“Snake Dance (Extended Mix)” Gothic Rock 2: 80’s Into 90’s (2xCD) (Cleopatra)1995
“Crow Baby” Songs For A Black Planet (CD) (Nectar Masters) 1995
“Essence” Flesh, Fangs & Filigree (3xCD) (Dressed To Kill) 1996
“Religious As Hell” Flesheaters – The Return Of The Undead (3xCD) (Dressed To Kill) 1996
“Religious As Hell” Goth Box (4xCD) (Cleopatra) 1996
“Grooving In Green” Undead – 50 Gothic Masterpieces (3xCD) (Dressed To Kill) 1996
“Snake Dance” Burning From The Outside (CD) (Cleopatra) 1998
“Essence” Gothic Erotica (6xCD) (Dressed To Kill) 1998
“Walk Into The Sun” Gothic Rock 3 – Black On Black – Best Of 80’s Collection (2xCD) (Cleopatra, Jungle Records) 1998
“Snake Dance” Nocturnal (2xCD, LP) (Procreate) 1998
“Snake Dance” Sanctuary: 26 Gothic Anthems (2xCD) (Universal Records) 1998
“Snake Dance” Dark Pleasures (CD) (Hip-O Records) 1999
“Snake Dance” Goth: Music Of The Shadows Vol. 1 (CD) (K-Tel International (USA), Inc.) 1999
“Radiant Boys” Gothic Maladies (CD) (Cleopatra) 1999
“Grooving In Green” Undead A Gothic Masterpiece (3xCD) (Dressed To Kill) 1999
“Grooving In Green”, “Religious as Hell” Live Forever – The Most Beautiful & Haunting Gothic Collection (10xCD) (Dressed To Kill) 2001
“Turn To The Sky” Wave 180 (CD) (Not On Label) 2003
“Snake Dance” Gothika (2xCD) (Cleopatra) 2004
“Walk Into The Sun” Obscur (2xCD) (EMI Music (France) 2004
“Crow Baby” Gothic Party Time (CD) (Jungle Records) 2005
“Snake Dance” A Life Less Lived – The Gothic Box (3xCD + DVD) (Rhino Entertainment Company) 2006
“Snake Dance” Selections From A Life Less Lived The Gothic Box (CD) (Rhino Entertainment Company) 2006
“Walk Into The Sun”, “Snake Dance” The Goth Anthology (3xCD) (Metro Triples) 2006
“Snake Dance (12″ Version)” This Is Gothic: The Bat Cave Anthology (CD) (Cleopatra) 2006

Unofficial Releases:

“Love Hits”, “Electric Shades”, “Lights Go Out”, “Don’t Take It Lightly” The Dancer’s Reward (LP) (Clean Sound) 1985
“Deep” Wave 180: Book Two (2xCD) (Hide And Seek Records Ltd.) 1999

The March Violets – The Botanic Verses (1994)

Playing Time: 1 hour 11 minutes 52 seconds

1. Snake Dance Extended (6:14)
2. Walk Into the Sun (4:51)
3. Slow Drip Lizard (3:42)
4. Lights Go Out (5:29)
5. Essence (5:07)
6. Crow Baby (4:03)
7. 1 2 I Love You (3:07)
8. Grooving In Green (3:32)
9. It’s Hot (3:24)
10. Long Pig (3:20)
11. Steam (3:23)
12. Fodder (2:37)
13. Radiant Boys (3:57)
14. Bon Bon Babies (2:57)
15. Religious As Hell (3:50)
16. Children On Stun (2:58)
17. Crow Bait (5:14)
18. Snake Dance (4:07)

The Botanic Verses [Part 1] [Part 2]

Buy The March Violets The Botanic Verses from Amazon.com

Tags: Goth

An April March Discography

Singles, Eps and Full-length

The Last Of Ariadne / No Answer (7″) (Apostrophe Records, Cartwheel Recordings) 1992
Impatiens (CD) (Cartwheel Recordings) 1993
Lava (7″) (Bedazzled) (1994)
Instruments Of Lust And Fury (CD) (Bedazzled) 1995
Lessons In Vengeance (CD) (Bedazzled) 1995
Adagio (CD, EP) (Bedazzled) 1996
It Goes Without Saying (CD) ( Bedazzled) 1997
…Something Once True, Is Always True… (CD, Single) (Bedazzled) 1999

Tracks Appear On:

“Scarlett Bliss” Indie-Can ‘92 Sampler (2xCD) (Intrepid Records) 1992
“Ceiling” Anon (2xCD) (Castle von Buhler) 1993 “Delirium” Woke Up Smiling (CD) (Bedazzled) 1995
“Avibdake” Alleviation (CD) (Silber Records) 1996
“The Red Dots” Radio Hepcats (CD) (Antarctic Press) 1996
“Alec Eiffel” Pixies Fuckin’ Die! (A Tribute) (The Orchard) 1996
“Waltz Of The Flowers, Variation 2″, “Scarlett Bliss”, “Lava” Xmas 97 (CD) (Bedazzled) 1997
“Let Everyone Down” Losing Today Volume I (CD) (Losing Today) 1998
“Daylight Falters” News From Nowhere (CD) (Plan Eleven) 1998
“Spiral Like Spirits”, “Slipped” 1999 Bedazzled Sampler (Bedazzled) 1999
“Pink Orange Red” Half-Gifts: A Tribute to the Cocteau Twins (Dewdrop Records) 2002

An April March – It Goes Without Saying (1997)

Playing Time: 41 minutes 19 seconds

1. Stardust (3:47)
2. Slipped (2:58)
3. We Were Never Attached (3:45)
4. Summers Gone (3:42)
5. My Reverie (4:12)
6. The Roddy Frame Experience (4:13)
7. Bright Undress (5:24)
8. Juner (6:39)
9. This Is… (6:39)

Tags:

Tags: Ethereal, Indie Pop, Indie Rock

Riding Curly’s Train with The Connells

Raleigh, North Carolinas The Connells were formed in 1984 by brothers Mike (guitar) and David (bass) Connell, vocalist Doug McMillan and drummer John Schultz, who was soon replaced by former Johnny Quest percussionist Peele Wimberley. Later that year the group added George Huntley (guitar/keyboards/vocals) just as they began recording a four song demo.

Influenced by both 60’s rock icons like The Beatles and The Byrds, and contemporary English acts, The Smiths and Echo and the Bunnymen and with both Connell and Huntley playing 12 string Rickenbacker guitars the group’s sound

“a jangly, folk-rock sound reminiscent of The Byrds” and North Carolina bands the dB’s and Let’s Active

often led to the group to being dismissed as mere R.E.M. imitators; with

“the melancholy lyrics of early songs such as “Darker Days” drawing inevitable comparisons to The Smiths.”

“Darker Days,” recorded by the initial four-piece lineup appeared on the North Carolina indie compilation More Mondo in 1984, but in March of 1985 the group would re-record it, making it the center piece of a four song demo they co-produced with Don Dixon. Through a friend, Ed Morgan, the demo made it’s way to the UK offices of Elvis Costello’s Demon Records. With slightly different track listings the ep was released by both Demon Records in the UK, and in the U.S. on Ed Morgan’s Black Park Records. The band toured heavily in support of Darker Days andvideos for the tracks “Seven” and “Hats Off” appeared on MTV’s 120 Minutes program helping to bring the group’s music to a national audience.

1986 found the group, along with Don Dixon, in R.E.M., producer Mitch Easter’s Drive-In Studios, again leading to inevitable comparisons between the two groups. The brooding, more assured Boylan Heights , “which featured the superb single “Scotty’s Lament”,was released in 1987 and would provide most of the foundation for the band’s live shows. Shopped to the major labels, the album would eventually be released on mid-major TVT (“Tee Vee Toons”) Records. Over the next decade the group engaged in a series of disputes with the label, suing at least once, unsuccessfully, to break their contract.

Boylan Heights proved to be a college radio hit and the band toured relentlessly in support of it. This period also saw Connell and Huntley trading in their twelve-string Rickenbackers for six-string Fender and Gibson guitars, a change that lead to a heavier, less folky sound, thought

“the band’s patented jangle were still audible on “Hey Wow,” the lead single from Fun and Games , the 1989 follow-up album.”

While the majority of the group’s music and lyrics still continued to be penned by Mike Connell on Fun and Games George Huntley wrote or co-wrote four tracks, including the anthemic “Sal,” which quickly became one of the most popular songs in the band’s live repertoire.

Recorded in Wales with U.K. producer Hugh Jones One Simple Word was released in 1990. The album would go on to produce two singles that charted, “Stone Cold Yesterday” would reach #3 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, while “Get a Gun” would peak at #24.

Between legal wranglings with TVT, and touring, it would be three years before the band would record and release 1993’s Ring. “Slackjawed,” the album’s lead single, was a college hit in the States, but it was the Celtic-influenced ballad, “‘74-’75,” that proved to be the real hit. It would became a Top Twenty Hit in Europe, leading the group to tour extensively in Europe, and opening stadium shows for groups like Def Leppard. The winner of many European music awards in the mid 1990s the success of “‘74-’75,” lead to greater financial and radio success than the band had known,” and helped to make Ring a platinum record outside of the States.

Released in 1996 Weird Food and Devastation,

“the title of the album reportedly alluded to the band’s impressions of Europe during their seemingly endless tours there in support of “‘74-’75,”

failed to maintain the momentum established by Ring. With Mike Connells songwriting taking a quirkier turn the album proved to be darker than the more melodic Ring, although the

“lead single “Maybe” showed that Connell hadn’t lost his ability to compose anthemic pop songs,”

while the song“Friendly Time” was a thinly disguised skewering of rock critics such as Robert Christgau and J.D. Considine.

As they had done in the past

“the band recorded music videos for “Maybe” (a parody of the Burt Reynolds film Deliverance) and “Fifth Fret” (which was a parody of Psycho).”

They would also perform “Maybe” on Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

1998’s Still Life was their final record for TVT. With it’s softer sound it proved a marked departure from Weird Food and Devastations harder, edgier sound. It includes a re-worked version of one of their old songs, “Brown” re-titled “Dull, Brown and Gray,” and also features two original compositions from Peele Wimberly, “Bruised” and “Gonna Take a Lie.”

With a new line-up that saw Chris Stevenson replacing Peele Wimberly on drums, and Mike Ayers assuming George Huntley’s place on lead guitar, the band recorded and released Old School Dropouts on the revived Black Park Records label in 2000. Promoted sparingly in the American South the single “Washington” received limited airplay on alternative radio.

Because of family and career commitments the band only plays a handful of show each year, chiefly in the American south; and they are also currently negotiating for the re-release of their out-of-print albums.

For those who want more music by the Connells you should check out:

‘Not So Bad At All’ – a b-side/non-album track compilation. 2cd downloadable via lewisslade.com

DISCOGRAPHY

Singles

Over There (TVT) 1988
Something To Say (TVT) 1989
One Simple Word 1990
‘74-’75 (Intercord Tonträger GmbH, TVT) 1994
Slackjawed (TVT) 1995
Fifth Fret (TVT) 1996
Maybe (TVT) 1996
Crown (TVT) 1998
Soul Reactor (TVT) 1998

Full-length and EPs

Darker Days (Black Park Records, TVT) 1985
Boylan Heights (TVT) 1987
Fun & Games (TVT) 1989
One Simple Word (TVT) 1990
Ring (TVT) 1993
New Boy [EP] (TVT) 1994
Weird Food & Devastation (TVT) 1996
Still Life (TVT) 1998
Old-School Dropouts (Black Park) 2001

Tracks Appear On:

“Too Gone” TVT Sampler Summer 1991 (TVT Records) 1991
“I Got You” Freedom Of Choice (City Slang) 1992
“Slackjawed” A Matter Of Taste – Intercord PopKomm Compilation 1994 (Intercord Record Service) 1994
“Living In The Past” Fresh Meat (16 Mouth Watering Cold Cuts) (TVT Records) 1994
“Slackjawed” Grooves – Volume Two (Time Life Music) 1994
‘74-’75 High Volume Hits Volume One: Music You Wanna Have (Pilo, Sony Music Special Products) 1994
‘74-’75 RockVideo Monthly – March 1994 – Alternative Edition (Warner Music) 1994
“New Boy” 18 Top Hits International 4/95 (Top 13 Music-Club) 1995
‘74 – ‘75 2 Meter Sessies – Volume 6 (Radio Records) 1995
‘74 – ‘75 Absolute Music 14 (EVA Records ANS (Norway) 1995
‘74 – ‘75 Absolute Music 8 (EVA Records (Denmark) 1995
‘74-’75 (Album Version) Bravo Hits 9 (EMI Electrola) 1995
“New Boy (Radio Edit)” Bravo Hits 10 (Warner Special Marketing GmbH) 1995
‘74-’75 Bravo Hits Best Of ‘95 (EMI Electrola) 1995
‘74-’75 De Grootste Hits Uit De Mega Top 50 1995 (Magnum) 1995
‘74-’75 Die Mega-Hits Des Jahres ‘95 (ZYX Music) 1995
‘74-’75 (Album Version) Giga Hits ‘95 (Polystar Records) 1995
‘74-’75 Hit Man 3 (EMI, Oy EMI Finland Ab) 1995
‘74-’75 Hitbox Vol. 7 (Polydor) 1995
‘74 – ‘75 Internationale Hits 95 (Ariola) 1995
‘74-’75 Just The Best Vol. 4 (Polystar Records) 1995
‘74 – ‘75 Kuschelrock 9 (Columbia, Sony Music Entertainment (Germany) 1995
‘74-’75 Mr Music Hits 2/95 (Mr Music (Germany) 1995
New Boy (Radio Edit) Mr. Radio’s Hits On Air Vol. 1 (Columbia, Sony Music Entertainment (Germany) 1995
‘74-’75 (Album Version) Otto – Die Song-Collection Herbst/Winter 1995/96 (Polystar Records) 1995
‘74-’75 Rockgarden Vol. 3 (EVA Belgium) 1995
‘74 ‘75 The Greatest Hits ‘95 – Volume 2 (Magnum) 1995
‘74-’75 The Greatest Hits Of 95 (Telstar) 1995
‘74-’75 The Love Song Collection 4 (The Record Collection) 1995
‘74-’75 (Album Version) Top Of The Pops 2 (Columbia) 1995
“‘74-’75″ Heavy Soundtrack (TVT) 1996
“Fifth Fret” CMJ Presents Certain Damage! – Volume 75 (College Music Journal) 1996
‘74-’75 Now That’s What I Call Music! 33 (EMI Records, Virgin, PolyGram) 1996
“Bitter Pill” Scream (Music From The Dimension Motion Picture) (TVT Soundtrax) 1996
“Pretty Rough” Got TVT? (TVT) 1997
‘74 – ‘75 Het Beste Uit 10 Jaar 2 Meter Sessies (Sony Music Media) 1997
‘74 – ‘75 La Légende Des Tubes Volume 16 (PolyGram – Kiosks) 1997
‘74-’75 Platinum Collection : The Greatest Hits Of The 90’s (Reader’s Digest) 1998
‘74-’75 Millennium Hits 1990 – 1999 (Disky) 1999
‘74-’75 The Absolute Best Of The 90’s (EVA Records ANS (Norway) 1999
‘74-’75 1000 Original Hits 1995 (EMI Plus (Europe) B.V.) 2001
‘74-’75 De Beste 2 Meter Sessies Allertijden (Force Records, Universal TV) 2001
‘74-’75 De Pre Historie – De Jaren 90 (EVA Belgium) 2001
‘74-’75 De Pre Historie 1995 (EVA Belgium) 2001
‘74-’75 Pure Voices 2 (EVA Belgium) 2001
“Insane in the Brain” When Pigs Fly (Xemu) 2002
‘74-’75 Radio Late Night Show (Delta Music Ltd.) 2003
‘74-’75 Drivetime (Warner Strategic Marketing (UK) 2005

Unofficial Releases:

‘74-’75 Legion-21 (Cass) 1996
‘74-’75 Pool Mix 1990’s (DVDr, DVD) (Pool Records) 2007

New Boy [EP] (1994)

Playing Time: 22 minutes 10 seconds

1. New Boy (4:39)
2. Logan Street (3:40)
3. Wonder Why (3:14)
4. Living in the Past (2:45)
5. Fun & Games [live] (3:08)
6. New Boy [live] (4:44)

Buy New Boy from Amazon.com

Weird Food & Devastation (1996)

Playing Time: 48 minutes 2 seconds

1. Maybe (2:30)
2. Start (4:06)
3. Fifth Fret (3:40)
4. Just Like That (3:35)
5. Adjective Song (2:28)
6. Any (3:27)
7. Hang On (3:24)
8. Back To Blue (3:09)
9. Smoke (4:25)
10. Pretty Rough (3:52)
11. Let It Go (3:55)
12. Friendly Time (2:44)
13. Too High (3:14)
14. On Your Honor (3:33)

Still Life (1998)

Playing Time: 43 minutes 45 seconds

1. Dull, Brown and Gray (3:11)
2. The Leper (3:07)
3. Bruised (3:05)
4. Curly’s Train (3:46)
5. Gauntlet (3:31)
6. Glade (3:30)
7. Soul Reactor (3:09)
8. Still Life (3:09)
9. Crown (3:58)
10. Circlin’ (2:45)
11. Gonna Take a Lie (3:37)
12. Queen of Charades (3:32)
13. Pedro Says (3:25)

Lida Husik

Washington DC native Lida Husik started writing songs while in high school, and also played drums in a local punk band. Following moves to San Francisco and Hoboken she returned to the DC area where she met scenester/guitarist/producer Don Fleming (Velvet Monkeys, B.A.L.L., Gumball) who passed along her tape to Shimmy-Disc’s owner Kramer; who would end up producing her first three albums, Bozo, Your Bag and The Return of Red Emma.

Joyride, her debut album on major label Caroline Records, finds her as usual playing all instruments, except drums; and despite three producers, including British ambient/techno musician Beaumont Hannant.

“the gorgeous album maintains a consistent accessibility throughout.”

With it’s combination of ’60s folk-rock, pop’s neo-jazz stylings, pastel-colored psychedelia, rock, intricate vocal arrangements, and Husik’s inventive playing, Joyride is just that.

1997’s Fly Stereophonic released on Alias Records, with it’s breezy folk-rock, Bo Diddley beats and “dance-worthy, in the Sixties frug/jerk sense” is definitely more pop-oriented then Joyride and perhaps, partly reflects her 1996 move from New York City to layed-back Southern California.

 

DISCOGRAPHY

Singles and EPs

“Star” (7″) ( Rough Trade (UK) 1994
Evening At The Grange (CD, EP) ( Astralwerks) 1994
Evening At The Grange (CD, MiniAlbum) (Hyperium Records) 1995
Bad Head Day (CD, Maxi, 12″ ) (Astralwerks) 1996
Beaumont Hannant Remixes (12″) (Alias Records) 1997
Remixes (CDr, Maxi, Promo) (Alias Records) 1997
Soundman (12″) (Alias Records) 1997
The Slide (12″) (Alias Records) 1997
Dissolve (12″) (Alias Records) 1998
Dissolve (CD, Maxi) (Alias Records) 1998
The New Miss NYC (12″) (Alias Records) 1998

Full-length

Bozo (CD, LP) (Shimmy Disc) 1991
The Return Of Red Emma (CD, LP) (Shimmy Disc) 1992
Your Bag (CD, LP) (Shimmy Disc) 1992
Joyride (CD) (Caroline Records) 1995
Green Blue Fire (CD, Album) (Virgin) 1996
Fly Stereophonic (CD) (Alias Records) 1997
Faith In Space (CD) (Alias Records) 1998
Mad Flavor (CD) (Alias Records) 1999

Appears On:

“Ormeau” (Vocal Version) Ormeau (12″) (General Production Recordings (GPR) 1994
“Ormeau” (Vocal Version) Ormeau / Substance (CD) (General Production Recordings (GPR) 1994
“Ormeau”, “Woven Textures”, “Night Ride” Sculptured (CD, 2xLP) (General Production Recordings (GPR) 1994
“Woven Textures” Texturology (2xLP) (General Production Recordings (GPR) 1994
“Chocolate City”, “Cape Fear” Different Sounds (CD) (Amethyst) 1999
“Dreamtime” Faith In The Future (CD) (Astralwerks) 2001
“Dreamtime” Faith In The Future (3xLP) (Astralwerks) 2001

Tracks Appear On:

“Good Times Roll” Rutles Highway Revisited (A Tribute To The Rutles) (LP) (Shimmy Disc) 1990
“Good Times Roll” Rutles Highway Revisited (A Tribute To The Rutles) (CD) (Shimmy Disc Europe) 1990
“Fatigue” What Else Do You Do?: A Compilation Of Quiet Music (CD) (Shimmy Disc) 1990
“Persinthia Lawdro & John” CMJ New Music April – Volume 20 (CD) (College Music Journal) 1995
“Now I’m Older, Silver Girl” Heavenly Voices IV (CD) (Hyperium Records) 1996
“Bad Head Day” How Low Can A Punk Get? (CD) (Caroline (UK) 1996
“Ditty One” Indie Rock Blueprint (CD) (Go Compact Discs) 1996
“Fly Stereophonic” CMJ New Music Volume 48 August 1997 (CD) (College Music Journal) 1997
“Bad Head Day (Subtropic Cut It Up Mix)” DJ-Kicks: The Black Album (CD) (Studio !K7) 1997
“Bad Head Day (Subtropic Cut It Up Mix)” DJ-Kicks: The Black Album – The Tracks (3xLP) (Studio !K7) 1997
“Dissolve” ADA Sampler September ‘98 (CD) (Alternative Distribution Alliance) 1998
“Dissolve” CMJ New Music Volume 62 October 1998 (CD) (College Music Journal) 1998
“Dissolve” September 98 (2xCD) (Virtuallyalternative) 1998
“Good Times Roll” Rutles Highway Revisited (A Tribute To The Rutles) (CD) (Shimmy Disc) 2002

Joyride (1995)

Playing Time: 48 minutes 18 seconds

1. Joyride (2:39)
2. Mother Richard (3:36)
3. Glorious (4:48)
4. Flower of the Hour (4:15)
5. Midnight of Life (2:28)
6. Strawberries are Growing in my Garden (And It’s Wintertime) (4:52)
7. Star (5:24)
8. Persinthia Lawdro & John (4:20)
9. Sweet Lavender (3:58)
10. Donkey Pot (3:47)
11. Mickey Minnie (3:59)
12. Dreamlake (4:12)

Buy Joyride from Amazon.com

Fly Stereophonic (1997)

Playing Time: 34 minutes 1 second

1. Fly Stereophonic (2:18)
2. Fade Sister Cool (2:35)
3. Sharon Hill Shadows (2:08)
4. Soundman (2:16)
5. Cape Fear (3:13)
6. Cafe Con Leche (3:02)
7. Death Trip (1:54)
8. Ein Symphonie Des Grauens (2:27)
9. The Slide (2:57)
10. Dead Poets (2:06)
11. Chocolate City (4:07)
12. Dancing Pants (4:58)

Buy Fly Stereophonic from Amazon.com

Tags: Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Psychedelic Indie Pop

By Request Royal Trux

I had a reader write and ask if I would repost Royal Trux’s Royal Trux (‘92). I figured that as long as I was updating that album I’d also update the links for Royal Trux (First) and Cats and Dogs.

Page Link =

http://bitemefanboy.wordpress.com/2006/10/31/lo-fi-rock-fueled-by-cigarettes-and-junk-food/

 

Tags: Avant-noise

The Opposing Engineer (Sleeps Alone): New Radiant Storm King

In 1990 four Hampshire College students; Peyton Pinkerton (bass/vocals), Matt Hunter (guitar/vocals), Eli Miller (guitar) and Elizabeth Sharp (drums) made the decision to begin a band. Their band name…. the brand of furnace that heated the basement they made that decision in…. it doesn’t get much simpler than that.

Hampshire College is a member of the Five Colleges Consortium, along with neighboring UMass Amherst, Amherst College, Smith College and Mt. Holyoke College. With a combined student body of 35,000 the five colleges dominate culturally and economically Western Massachusetts largely rural Hampshire county.

1990 was an auspicious year to begin a band in Amherst. There had been talk that the area might be poised to become the next Seattle (this happened to be also true for other areas boasting large student populations). Eventually this proved to mostly wishful thinking on the part of the locals and the national indie press; but at that time it really wasn’t such a stretch; both the Pixies and Buffalo Tom had gotten their start at UMass, while in 1990 both Dinosaur Jr. and Sebadoh called Amherst home.

The group learned their craft while playing locally, opening for groups like Nirvana (04/27/90 – SAGA, Hampshire College (Amnesty International Benefit), Amherst, MA) and even

“providing the music for a play performed by a local theater company.”

1992 saw the quartet record their debut full length, One Day Rust, for Rough Trade Records, but just prior to the album’s release the label folded. The songs on that album, plus assorted odds and ends were collected on The Castle, a bonus disc, that came with the Wormco reissue of 1992’s debut My Little Bastard Soul.

Eli Miller left the band in 1992 but soldering on as a trio they recorded My Little Bastard Soul. They shopped the tapes, signing with the tiny indie Axis Records, who released the album in 1993… and then like Rough Trade proceeded to fold. A bit long, at 60 minutes, for a debut, My Little Bastard Soul clearly shows the band’s primary influences

“the twin towers of Massachusetts noise pop, Mission of Burma and Dinosaur Jr. The Mission of Burma influence is most recognizable on the brief noise interludes that break up the album… The Dinosaur Jr. influence comes through… with the album’s dry, laconic vocals and the way that fractured pop hooks suddenly appear.”

Shortly after the release My Little Bastard Soul they signed with Grass Records, a subsidiary of Homestead Records. Released months after My Little Bastard Soul Rival Time featured their first truly great song, “The Opposing Engineer (Sleeps Alone).” The album proved to be a critical success and with that success NRSK started to develop a following, including the band Guided by Voices

“who claimed that their breakthrough single, “I Am a Scientist,” was explicitly inspired by that song.”

Pushing the band’s obvious influences to the background Rival Time revels the band’s promise and personality. The album is marred, on occasion, by it’s lo-fi production which often obscures

“the tense, anguished vocals of Peyton Pinkerton and Matt Hunter and the roiling and slashing guitars.”

“Rival Time is in many ways one of the prototypical emo albums… with song titles like “Happy for the First Time in Weeks” and “Do It for the Sensitive Guy.”

1994’s August Revital continues the trends begun on Rival Time. The sloppy noisy outbursts are kept to a minimum, while songs like the poppy “Froglegs (I Suppose)” are almost hummable; and for the first and last time drummer Elizabeth Sharp joins singers Peyton Pinkerton and Matt Hunter on vocals

“the three-way interplay strongly recalls that of the group’s one-time labelmates Sleepyhead.”

In 1995, following the album’s release, Sharp left the band to create the one-woman D.I.Y. project Ill Ease, while about the same time Matt Hunter, out of college and married, moved to New York City, in essence turning New Radiant Storm King into a part-time project for all concerned.

1996’s Hurricane Necklace, the most mature of New Radiant Storm King’s releases to that point, featured Sharp’s replacement, drummer Jeremy Smith, who was replaced by Garrett Fontes prior to 1999’s Singular, No Article which

“failed to reconnect with New Radiant Storm King’s fanbase and went relatively unheard.”

Three years would lapse before the release of Winter’s Kill in 2002. During the interim Pinkerton toured and recorded with the Pernice Brothers and Hunter played bass for the Wharton Tiers Ensemble.

Reuniting in 2006, with Caleb Wetmore on bass and Patrick Berkery on drums, they released The Steady Hand and Singular while 2008 saw the release of Drinking in the Moonlight.

DISCOGRAPHY

Singles

“Milky Way”/”Ouch!, Pipe” (7″ Single) (Trixie Records) 1991

“Smear”/”Indiana Jones” (7″ Single) (Trixie Records) 1992

“Mad Money”/ “Xanax” (7″ Single) (Axis Records) (1992)

“Subway Token”/”RIVAL TIME (Viral Mind) The Lord Is Coming” (Chunk Records) 1993

“My Little Red Book” Unloved: A Tribute to Arthur Lee (Chunk Records) 1994

“Rocket Scientist”/”The Sabellion Rebellion” (7″ split w/ Silver Jews) (Chunk Records) 1994

” Hey Baby”/” Back Door”/”Two Fists” (7″ Split w/ Polvo) (Penny Farthing Records) 1994

“I am a Scientist” (7″ Split w/ GBV) (Chunk Records) 1995

“Hoya Carnosa” (split single w/ Zeke Fiddler/ Sonara Pine/ Nord Express) (The Magic Eye Series) 1995

“Barium Springs” (Rainbow Quartz Records) 1998

“Quicksand under Carpet” (split single w/ Eska) (Gringo Records) 2002

Full-length

My Little Bastard Soul (Axis Records) 1992

Rival Time (Homestead Records) 1993

August Revital (Grass Records) 1994

Hurricane Necklace (Grass Records) 1996

My Little Bastard Soul (Wormco Records) 1998

Singular, No Article (Rainbow Quartz) 1999

Winter’s Kill (Rainbow Quartz) 2002

Leftover Blues: 1991-2003 (Contraphonic) 2004

The Steady Hand (Darla Records) 2006

Drinking in the Moonlight (Darla Records) 2008

Tracks Appear On:

“The Opposing Engineer (Sleeps Alone)” Buy This Used Compact Disc (Dutch East India Trading) 1993

“Embry’s Crossroads,” “Blood For A Vase” Grass Of ‘96 (Grass Records) 1996

From Under the Grind “Her Halcyon Days” Little Darla Has A Treat For You V.24 Endless Summer 2006 (Darla Records) 2006

My Little Bastard Soul (1992)

Playing Time: 58 minutes 39 seconds

1. Assfault Part 2 (1:23)

2. Every Day Is Mother’s Day (2:56)

3. El/Train (7:06)

4. Gideon’s Room (3:26)

5. Prozac (3:04)

6. Snake Eyes (3:03)

7. Nevada (0:51)

8. Surf King (3:25)

9. Submariner (3:01)

10. Queen Street Device (2:32)

11. Mad Money (5:17)

12. Christmas Quaalude (0:57)

13. Downed (4:21)

14. Infomaniac (5:09)

15. Space (4:05)

16. Assfault Part 1 (1:34)

17. Xanax (2:58)

18. Trampoline (3:31)

My Little Bastard Soul (Part 1) (Part 2)

Rival Time (1993)

Playing Time: 40 minutes 21 seconds

1. Viral Mind (3:13)

2. The Opposing Engineer (Sleeps Alone) (3:23)

3. Oil An Impatient Fuck (2:56)

4. New Math (3:35)

5. Phonecall (3:27)

6. Hazardville (2:53)

7. Commercial (1:28)

8. 511 Little Nightmares (2:46)

9. Happy For The First Time In Weeks (5:01)

10. Country Box (2:52)

11. Phonecall II (3:31)

12. Do It For The Sensitive Guy (5:16)

Tags: Indie Rock, Noise-Rock

Notoriously reckless… occasionally violent: The Jesus Lizard

Abrasive and atonal

“their music… a scathing mix of piercing guitar, machine-like drums, propulsive bass guitar, and psychotic vocals,”

the Jesus Lizard during the early 1990’s

“turned out a series of independent records filled with scathing, disembowelling, guitar-driven pseudo-industrial noise,”

and in the process generated enough “positive reviews in underground music publications and heavy college-radio play” that with their increasingly large fan base major label Capitol Records took a chance and signed the band.

Formed as a trio in Chicago in 1987 the Jesus Lizard consisted of former Cargo Cult guitarist Duane Denison, bassist David Wm. Sims and and vocalist David Yow who were both former members of Austin Texas post-hardcore noise group Scratch Acid. For their earliest performances and recordings the band would use a drum machine.

Signing with Touch and Go Records they released the Steve Albini produced Pure EP in 1989. Later that year they added drummer Mac McNeilly who appeared on the band’s first full-length album, 1990’s Head.

Released in 1991 their second full-length Goat received positive reviews in main stream music magazines like Spin ; while the group continued to cultivate a large following among the American indie rock underground

“based on both their records and their notoriously reckless, occasionally violent and vulgar, live performances.”

In 1992, the Jesus Lizard joined with Nirvana, who had just broken into the rock & roll mainstream with their second album, Nevermind, to release the split single “Puss” [Jesus Lizard]/“Oh the Guilt” [Nirvana].

1994 saw the group release the one off album Show on major label Giant Records. The fact that they had released an album on a major label caused tension between them and their long time producer, the notoriously indie-centric, Steve Albini. He would produce the group’s final Touch & Go album, Down, but by the time of it’s fall 1994 release he had severed his ties to the band.

The Jesus Lizard signed with Capitol Records and also toured with Lollapalooza in 1995, but at one of the stops on the tour David Yow was arrested for exposing himself on-stage. The group’s major label debut, Shot, was produced by GGGarth in 1995 and was released in the spring of 1996.

Drummer “Mac McNeilly left the band in 1997 for personal reasons and was replaced by Jim Kimball”, who appeared on the Andy Gill (Gang of Four), John Cale, and Jim O’Rourke engineered and produced Jesus Lizard’s self-titled EP.

Recorded by Andy Gill the band released Blue in 1998. During the resulting tour Jim Kimball was replaced by Brendan Murphy. Announcing that they were breaking up the band’s final gig was at the Umeå Open festival in Umeå, Sweden, on March 27, 1999.

Even with the group’s break-up most of the group’s members have remained active musically. Duane Denison plays with Tomahawk, and continues to play with Jim Kimball in the Denison Kimball Trio, besides backing up Hank Williams III on a couple of tours. Along with ex-Ministry bassist Paul Barker he formed U.S.S.A. in 2006.

Yow and Sims, along with Rey Washam (Rapeman, Ministry) and Brett Bradford, reformed Scratch Acid in 2006 for the Touch and Go Records 25th Anniversary Festival in Chicago. Yow moved to Los Angeles where he works in graphic design for an advertising agency, and also performs with the Los Angeles band Qui.

Following his stint with the Jesus Lizard drummer Mac McNeilly played drums in P.W. Long’s Reelfoot and also continued to play along with his wife in their band Mouse.

According to Billboard Magazine the band’s original line-up will re-unite and play All Tomorrow’s Parties’ the Fans Strike Back in Minehead, England, on May 9-10, 2009. A limited number of as-yet-unannounced dates are being considered, concluding with a November 2009 show in Chicago.

Touch & Go, with Shellac’s Bob Weston and Steve Albini supervising, are currently in the process of re-mastering and re-issuing the group’s first four studio albums, Head, Goat, Liar and Down.

 

DISCOGRAPHY

The Jesus Lizard

Singles, EPs and Full-length

Chrome (7″) (Touch and Go) 1989
Pure EP (Touch and Go) 1989
Head (Touch and Go) 1990
Mouthbreather (7″) (Touch And Go) 1990
Goat (Touch and Go) 1991
Gladiator (7″) (Touch And Go) 1992
Gladiator / Boilermaker (7″) (Insipid Vinyl) 1992
Liar (Touch and Go) 1992
Head/Pure (Touch and Go) 1992
Lash (Touch and Go) 1993
Lash (3×7″) (Touch And Go) 1993
(Fly) On (The Wall) (CD, Maxi) (Touch And Go) 1993
(Fly) On (The Wall) (7″) (Touch And Go) 1993
Puss / Oh, The Guilt (Nirvana) (Split 7″, Pic) (Insipid Vinyl) 1993
Puss / Oh, The Guilt (Nirvana) (Split 7″) (Touch And Go) 1993
Puss / Oh, The Guilt (CD, Cass) (Touch And Go) 1993
Mouthbreather (Touch and Go) 1994
Wheelchair Epidemic (7″) (Touch and Go) 1994
Show [live] (Collision Arts/Giant) 1994
Down (Touch and Go / Toy’s Factory) 1994
CBGB’s 20th Anniversary Sampler (CD) (Giant Records) 1994
Live At Brixton Academy (7″) (Dirter Promotions/ Fear And Loathing) 1994
Shot (CD, LP) (Capitol) 1996
Sho(r)t (VHS, Promo) (Capitol Video) 1996
Thumper (CD) (Capitol Records) 1996
Blue (CD) (Capitol) 1998
Blue (LP) (Jetset Records) 1998
The Jesus Lizard [EP] (Jetset) 1998
Bang (Touch and Go) 2000
Jesus Lizard [DVD] (MVD) 2007

Tracks Appear On:

“Whirl” (Original Version) Volume Five (CD) (Volume) 1992
“Pop Song” Dope, Guns ‘N Fucking In The Streets Vols. 4-7 (Amphetamine Reptile) 1992
“Pop Song” Dope Guns And Fucking In The Streets Volume Seven (7″) (Amphetamine Reptile) 1991
“Nub” Mesomorph Enduros (CD, LP) (Big Cat UK Records) 1992
“Monkey Trick” WMBR Presents: Clear The Room! [Recorded Live] (7″) (No Life Records) 1992
“Gladiator” Altered States Of America (Cass, Album) (Lime Lizard) 1993
“Panic in Cicero” Clerks Soundtrack (Chaos Recordings) 1994
“Fly On The Wall” Cortex (CD) (Cortex) 1994
“Boiler Maker” Gimme 5 (Cass) (Melody Maker) 1994
“Glamorous” RockVideo Monthly – September 1994 – Alternative Edition (VHS, Comp) (Warner Music) 1994
“Then Comes Dudley” Amateur Soundtrack – A Film By Hal Hartley (CD. LP) (Matador, Atlantic) 1995
“Nub” Mind The Gap Volume 8 (CD) (Gonzo Circus) 1996
“Shut Up” Soiled Gold Hits (CD) (EMI Music New Zealand) 1996
“Mailman”, “Good Riddance” Steal This (CD) (Capitol Records) 1996
“Uncommonly Good” The Lounge Ax Defense & Relocation Compact Disc (CD) ( Touch And Go) 1996
“More Beautiful Than Barbie” The Story So Far… (Cass) (Vox Magazine) 1996
“Poscoital Glow” Rock Sound Volume 21 (CD) (Rock Sound) 1998
“Gladiator” Rock Sound Volume 39 (CD) (Rock Sound) 2000
“Blockbuster” The Trilogy (3xLP) (Ipecac Recordings) 2000

Unofficial Releases:

Then Comes Dudley (7″) (Not On Label)
Live At Khyber Pass (7″) (Not On Label) 1991
Live At Bogart’s (7″) (Fan Klub) 1992
John Peel Sessions (7″) (Not On Label) 1994

The Jesus Lizard – Liar (1992)

Playing Time: 34 minutes 14 seconds

1. Boilermaker (2:14)
2. Gladiator (4:00)
3. The Art of Self Defense (2:39)
4. Slave Ship (4:13)
5. Puss (3:19)
6. Whirl (4:20)
7. Rope (2:19)
8. Perk (2:30)
9. Zachariah (5:44)
10. Dancing Naked Ladies (2:56)

Buy Liar from Touch and Go Records

The Jesus Lizard – Lash (1993)

Playing Time: 16 minutes 51 seconds

1. Glamorous (3:07)
2. Deaf as a Bat (1:41)
3. Lady Shoes (2:38)
4. Killer McHann (2:12)
5. Bloody Mary (2:41)
6. Monkey Trick (4:32)

Buy Lash from Touch and Go Records

Tags: Alternative Metal, Alternative rock, American Underground, Noise-Rock