Various Artists
The Sound Of Leamington Spa, Volume 2 CD
Firestation Tower. FST 040.
by Keith Mclachlan.
April 28, 2002.
See more about this title.
Out of Stock.
Firestation Tower has seemingly found its niche and
this is releasing songs already released by someone
else a long time ago, no great crime since the current
great label of the moment LTM also has the same
proclivities. While their (FT's) releases from current
bands are often lacking and colourless their
Leamington Spa comps and other reissues (Desert Wolves,
Ambitious Beggars) are wholly genius. Maybe it is
just that they have great record collections and are
perfectly adept at creating what are essentially mix
tapes for the indiepop masses but this cd is even
better than the impossible brilliant volume one. And
better yet in that in this case I really have no idea
who any of these people are but boy am I glad that I
have finally heard a Phil Wilson song and boy can I
hardly wait for the June Brides/Phil Wilson reissues
he promises in the liner notes are in the pipeline
because his song 'Better Days' is truly and utterly
magnificent. There are only two bands I had even
heard of before getting this record and those were the
previously cited Ambitious Beggars who come off a bit
Trash Can Sinatras but with the unfortunate inclusion
of saxophone in their otherwise nimble number and the
mostly dire Groove Farm though pleasantly mediocre
here and who were known to me by various Subway
records compilations from the past. Everything else
is a revelation then, and the best of these
revelations aside from Mr. Wilson is Benny Profane,
Friends, Harbour Boy and Fat and Frantic all coming
off something similar to the Housemartins (variety is
not often the adjective reached for in describing the
music here) which seems to be par for the course for
most jangly, earnest, loved by Alistair Fitchett bands
of the mid 80s likely shooting for Morrissey/Marr and
landing in Paul Heaton's grumpy garden instead. No
matter, it is all glorious and not the slightest whiff
of nostalgia in my direction as it is all
fantastically new and impressive to my ears.
Various Artists
Track Star/Kid Dynamo split 7" vinyl
Chocolate River (Deconstruction). cr(d) 001.
by Scott Zimmerman.
January 31, 1996.
See more about this title.
Out of Stock.
Time trial number one, "Cashed Out":After 45 seconds of pure energy screaming, and guitaring, Trackstar crosses the finish line, out of breath, setting new records in noise-pop brevity! Rock and rolllll!
Time trial number two, "August":
With an elapsed time of 1:15, it looks like the group has already begun to sell out to the corporate sponsorship. Is that a Nike logo on the back of the shirt? A Warner Brothers cap on the head? Could be, could be. But hey, it had a great beat and you could rock out to it. Perhaps Trackstar can still yet have some guitar sprint competitions with Boyracer.
"We can play that song in... 30 seconds."
"Trackstar, play that song!"
For the B-side event, Kid Dynamo runs at a slightly less exhausting pace, with the song "Six-Speed." It clocks in at around 3:30. An epic, considering. Kid Dynamo sounds quite a bit like an automotive version of Trackstar, as you can feel the group rounding corners, hitting the breaks, then punching it through the straight aways, etc. Vrroom.
Various Artists
Try A Little Sunshine CD
Pop Art.
by Keith McLachlan.
October 16, 1999.
See more about this title.
Out of Stock.
Apparently the entire Greek pop scene was initiated by one
song. I know, I was thinking the same thing as you 'Wait
there is a Greek pop scene?' Yes it is true, it exists and
all because of the most sunny of all pop songs 'If She
Doesn't Smile' by Fantastic Something. So obviously a lot
of this album is composed of off-kilter sarahesque re-writes
of that most famous of all Greek pop tunes. Hardly a bad
thing this! Impossible Tymes should already be huge. Are
they? I only ever knew Greek pop from Shelflife's 'Whirl
Wheels' comp and the Crooner cd. I was completely unaware of
the Sarah inspired or inspiring (which came first?) jangle
pop that seems to populate their little cradle of Western
Civilization. One Night Suzan is truly beautiful (the
Crooner shows up on their songs), the Jaywalkers are very
Smiths like or at least a present day equivalent of
Brideshead. Looking deeper the Next Time Passions pop up
with glorious pop glory, there is a Field Mice cover that
must certainly be considered adulatory and best of all is
this song called 'Innocent Yuppie' by some band called The
Groove Machine which comes off like a very sober Morrissey
fronting the angular stylings of Josef K-super fantastic
something that and this entire cd actually. If only I had a
catchy greek phrase to leave you with. I mean Pericles is
still my favourite Greek person of all time but this is
easily the best Greek cd I have ever heard.
Vel
"Fine" CD-EP
Pop Art. Pop 2.
by Keith Mclachlan.
February 25, 2001.
See more about this title.
Price: $5.32. Add To Shopping Cart
In Stock. Usually ships the same day or the next working day .
I ordered this record months ago from the kid's faves
Rough Trade, yeah and I am still waiting for it to
arrive or at least for a passing acknowledgement that
it will never. I actually wrote them a snitty email
about the lack of Vel in my mailbox and found myself
in their store proper only a few days later. Irony
fueled the has and giggles I roared inside while
staring at Delia and Joe. We now return to the
present. Luckily, for me and the rest of humanity
really, Tweekitten exists almost exclusively for the
purpose of satisfying our pop needs in the sort of
manner that obviously is completely foreign to others.
Well, Clair records did send me a valentine with my
last order so they might be privy to the same sort of
business acumen as Scott TK, but... Anyhow he finally
stocked this record and I quickly ordered it and while
I expected to love it with a multitude of great
passions and devotion I only kinda like it. The
packaging is exquisite, Pop Art has their own unique
little motif going on with their reliance on the
multiple fold brand of cd package architecture so
despite this being merely a cd-single it still has a
cute gatefold sleeve and a lovely, burning yellow
cover. Inside the music is very Saint Etienne-ish,
somewhere near the Fox Base Alpha period, back when
maybe even Donna Savage (go Dead Famous People!) was
still around but it is not all that interesting but
then neither were Saint Etienne at that time so I
might be a bit redundant here. The music is
incidental and the sentiments are warm but I can't
find the same level of love in it as the other
releases already birthed by Pop Art records. It is
nice though, and the packaging's ace. So.
Velocity Girl
Gilded Stars And Zealous Hearts CD
Sub Pop. SP340.
by Scott Zimmerman.
April 30, 1996.
See more about this title.
Out of Stock.
New Velocity Girl album, woo hoo! What a day that was expected to be.
First such a tremendous surprise in the record store, then I would go
home and actually listen to that much anticipated followup to one of the
greatest pop albums so far this decade. Yes, I was mildly curious why
I had not yet heard that the Velocity Girl album was out, but that was
just a minor trouble on my mind.
Later I popped the CD in the player, and after what seemed like about 3 hours the album finally finished. What a disappointment! It was a rather messy and uninteresting affair, lacking the pop hooks of Simpatico!, or the creative noise of earlier recordings. Maybe this was why nobody had been talking about the record? I just hoped it would get better upon repeat listens.
However, I was not particularly eager to listen to this CD again in the near future, being so overcome with grief and all, so I put it away for awhile. I waited for a couple weeks, hoping to gear myself to look at the album from a new perspective. With a renewed (though subdued) anticipation, I finally pulled the CD out again.
So now the album is a little bit more enjoyable, but still not particularly recommendable. When I listen to a random song on Gilded Stars And Zealous Hearts I do often think "Hmm, this is decent. This is not as bad as I originally thought." But when it ends, I'll not remember much in the way of the melody, lyrics or anything. While its playing, I'll start composing alternate melodies in my head. So much for my attention span.
"Nothing," "Go Coastal," "Zealous Heart" and "Formula 1 Throwaway" do begin to lean in the direction of the pop anthems I was hoping for, but they do not really compare to the classic hum-alongs like "The All Consumer," "Tripping Wires," "Sorry Again" and all the rest that littered Simpatico! This new music is losing me. Unfortunately, I am yet unable to meld with this record. And I really, really wanted to. Sigh.
the Verlaines
Over The Moon CD
Columbia. 486880-2.
by Keith McLachlan.
August 9, 1998.
See more about this title.
Out of Stock.
To say it is criminal how Graeme
Downes, resident god in the Verlaines, has been overlooked over the 15 or
so years of his recording career is probably criminal for being such an
understatement. Where else but on Verlaines records could you find such
literate poetic lyrics, perfectly structured tunes (thanks to a PHD in
musicology) and caustic, dripping passion in every chorus? Nowhere!
This is the 6th Verlaines lp and the best the band has come up with in the 90s. All Verlaines lps have sort of had a different palette, the folk lp, the rokk lp, the dramatic lp, the garage lp, well this one would have to be tagged the pop lp as it is smoother in spots than their records have been in the past and really easy to sing along to without coughing up a lung trying to match Graeme's intensity.
'Reasons for Leaving' is not only the best song here but one of the best in their history. 'Perfect Day' is not so humbly perfect and 'Feather Fell' is just sublime with Graeme's trademark acerbic rants towards the loves of his life. The professor has done it again :o).