In 1996, I had quit my job as a media consultant, moved back to my hometown of Saint Louis, and was pretty much just hanging out. During the day I waited tables at Blueberry Hill and at night I was going to as many shows as I could in Cicero’s Basement, the Side Door, Hi-Pointe, Off Broadway, and the Galaxy. I saw a lot of great bands that year, bands that I often wonder what the fuck happened to them. Bands like House of Large Sizes, Railroad Jerk, Combustible Edison, and Duotang.
That year Duotang released their debut, Smash the Ships and Raise the Beams, whose raw mix of post-punk and psych pop earned it a near-permanent place in my regular rotation. The duo of Rod Slaughter and Sean Allum would go on to release two more albums, 1998′s The Cons & The Pros and 2001′s The Bright Side, so where the hell are they now? Well apparently Sean is now a father and Rod is fronting Novillero.
Also recording on Mint Records, home to other Canadian indie luminaries like The New Pornographers, Neko Case, and Young and Sexy, Novillero is a bit more fleshed out affair, almost as if their sound is a composite of the nuggets from Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968. Also featuring Sean Stevens (guitars), Dave Berthiaume (drums and vocals), and Grant Johnson (bass and vocals), the quartet released their debut, Bridleford Follies, in 2001, and then kicked it into high gear with last year’s Aim Right for the Holes in Their Lives.
- Listen to Duotang’s Ghosts
- Listen to Duotang’s Change Your Mind
- Listen to Novillero’s The Hypothesist
- Listen to Novillero’s Insomnia
Buy some Duotang from the Public Radio MusicSource.
Buy some Novillero from Amazon.
Novillero is Spanish for “novice bullfighter.”
Grant McLennan, founding member of the Go-Betweens, died Saturday in his sleep.
Not quite sure what to say yet, just gonna listen and remember.
- Listen to He Lives My Life
- Listen to Mrs. Morgan
Buy yerself some Go-Betweens from the Public Radio MusicSource.
While I waited for Yo La Tengo Is Murdering The Classics to arrive in my mailbox last week, I had some time to explore my collection and reacquaint myself with the And/Ors. Oft labeled as an indie supergroup of sorts, the And/Ors’s 2001 release, Will Self-Destruct, was one of my favorite albums that year.
Apparently the title was a self fulfilling prophecy, though, as it would be the only album the And/Ors would ever release. Combining elements of YLT, Pavement and Guided by Voices, Will Self-Destruct is, IMHO, a classic.
According to the band’s label, Better Looking Records, Arabella Harrison is now performing with her band Brothers and Sisters, Danny Black has a band called The September Gurls, and Chris Wassell and Lane Miller have formed a power trio with Sasquatch.
- Listen to Candy Takes The Cake
- Listen to Flexiclocks
- Listen to Loft Life
Buy Will Self-Destruct from the Public Radio MusicSource.
Ryan Irvine, our neighbor to the north, has posted a rather comprehensive statistical analysis of Pitchfork’s ratings over the years on goodhodgkins.
The best explanation I have for my love-hate relationship with Pitchfuck is probably not when I realized there were not one, but two (!) Shins songs on the Garden State soundtrack. (I so wanted to hate that movie, but the soundtrack was actually pretty good.) It was at that moment that I realized that the Shins were no longer mine. They had entered into the pop culture mainstream. And so, too, has Pitchfork, and criticism is one of the unfortunate prices you have to pay once you get there. Caring is creepy, I guess.
So anyway, the analysis. There’s some interesting stuff in there. Like the fact that PF has reviewed KISS 17 times. I know what you’re thinking. Does KISS even have 17 albums?!! (They have 30). But the more interesting point is that the the same guy reviewed all 17 and his average score for them was a 5.38 out of 10.
One of the most startling findings? Save Ferris is awesome.
Plus, the appendix should make Chaddigan happy, as he’s not the only one who’s Super Furry addicted.
Here’s a Shins cover of the Postal Service for your trouble (they’e still good).
- Listen to We Will Become Silhouettes.
Buy The Postal Service Such Great Heights from the Public Music RadioSource.
Cincinnati’s NPR station, WVXU, is in the middle of its spring pledge drive right now, and it’s pledge-driving me insane.
I get it. I like public radio. But I’ve already donated and I can only listen to the same commercial so many times. Can’t you at least do something interesting like maybe bring The High and Low or Wussy into the studio?
The good folks over at New Jersey’s WFMU figured out 10 years ago that entertainment is such a crucial piece of the fundraising puzzle that it doesn’t even have to be good. Get Yo La Tengo in here and have them take requests. The kids will love it.