SILKWORM
Marco Collins Sessions dbl 7"/CD5
The single
most influential band to come from Montana, move to Seattle and leave CZ Records (is this
a qualification? Are you stupid?) is having a very exciting 1995. In addition to playing
every nook and cranny in our United States with folks like Chavez, Shellac, Hum,
aMiniature and Jessamine, Silkworm have marked the Year of the Snake by a) waving bye-bye
to guitarist Joel Phelps and b) signing to Matador (now that there's fewer guys to split
the money between). First bounty of this new association will just have to tide you over
'til the release of '96's Firewater double album...Four Silkworm
"classics" done acoustic-style during a live broadcast on Seattle's KNDD. The
popular and influential alternative outlet changed their format to all-talk/Limbaugh
halfway through Silkworm's performance, then switched back to music three hours later when
ratings failed to improve.
These guys have more range than Jose Offerman (but so does my grandmother), and they are better-looking. Great songwriting, inventive musicianship, equally at home busting eardrums as they are with the more subtle, campfire-action showcased on this EP, Silkworm master multiple styles and moods like no other performers we can think of (except for Tom Hanks, who was just as good in Bonfire of the Vanities as he was in Bosom Buddies and that's not easy).
Michael Dahlquist - drums
Tim Midgett - acoustic/electric guitar, vocals
Andy Cohen - acoustic guitar, vocals
Joel Phelps - electric guitar, vocals
Libertine LP/CD
on Matador in Europe; in the USA, it's on El Recordo
(also available via Matador mailorder)
Sole, singular, peerless, the only of a kind, lonesome, aroused and engaged, Silkworm's third album Libertine is at last being released in Europe, on Matador Records (U.S. release on El Recordo, August 1994). Three national tours and year and a half had elapsed after the recording of the previous album In The West, which wasn't released until January 1994 on C/Z Records, the well-known Seattle-based independent label. While on these tours, Silkworm played almost every bullshit/alphabet soup/blowhard music industry convention known in North America and can now apparently fill these rooms with Scooby-Doo beards and ill-fitting Italian suits alike. Talk about progress.
As has been their custom, Silkworm recorded Libertine cheaply and efficiently in a mid-Western recording studio after a lengthy gestation. Discerning listeners will notice the songs of the recording combine to form a compelling inner-rhythm and feel of a high-concept album due to a refinement in the playing and marked diversity in the songs themselves. Libertine includes several classics: Cohen's "Grotto of Miracles", Phelps' "Yen + Janet Forever" and Midgett's "Couldn't You Wait", to our ears the best composition by each of the three writers to date. Many memorable performances are captured on the record: "Written On The Wind" (a self-empowerment dirge), "The Cigarette Lighters" (hey, if W.D.C. can base an entire youth movement on a Gang of 4 rip, please allow this one song nod to Wire, O.K.?), and especially on "Wild In My Day" where the band meticulously recreated the sound and studio environment of the Wedding Present's Seamonsters LP (from the amp settings down to the string guages and studio engineer).
At the conclusion of the recording the band was asked if they were comfortable with the Hendrix/Television/Band/Roxy Music genre they've invented. Tim Midgett replied "Oh yeah sure". So are we.
The band at the time of this record:
Joel R.L. Phelps -- Telecaster guitar, vocals ("Yen + Janet Forever", "Oh How We Laughed", "The Cigarette Lighters" & "A Tunnel"
Michael Dahlquist -- Drums
Tim Midgett -- Bass, vocals ("Cotton Girl", "Couldn't You Wait?", "Written On The Wind", "Wild In My Day", "Bloody Eyes")
Andrew Cohen -- Stratocaster guitar, vocals ("There Is A Party In Warsaw Tonight", "Grotto Of Miracles")
Firewater
Seattle-based trio ring in '96 with their long-awaited fourth album. Since we are paid to say so, we cannot use strong enough words -- Firewater is the most thoughtful, expansive and powerful record of Silkworm's under-recognized career.
If there's another band that ties so many disparate elements together -- loud & quiet, tragic & comic, instrumental flash & lyrical insight -- please do not give them our phone number or address, we're already committed to this Silkworm album for the next six months.
Andy Cohen -- electric gtr, vocals
Michael Dahlquist -- drums
Tim Midgett -- bass and acoustic guitar, vocals
Developer
The roots of Silkworm extend
to the town of Missoula, Montana, from whence Tim and Andy come (Missoula is perhaps
better known as the hometown of David Lynch and Steve Albini.) It was in Missoula that
Tim, Andy and founding member Joel Phelps met and had their first musical experiences with
each other. From mid-1985 until June 1987, the three of us made up part of Ein Heit, a
group which provided the basic framework for what was later to come. Silkworm itself
started in November 1987 when Joel and Andy reconvened with EH's old drummer. In June
1988, Tim left the college he was attending to return to Montana and join the band. This
scenario was repeated a little over a year later, when Andy left the school he was
attending in order to move to Seattle with Joel and Tim.
Missoula is a fascinating town in some ways. It contains a strange mix of people and continues to provide fodder for our imaginations. As a whole the town wasn't especially receptive to what we were doing but the isolated conditions helped us in the long run. Other than Ein Heit, we had no other good bands similar to ours from which to take our cues, and having to make our own way has made us a stronger and more interesting group than we would have been otherwise. Moving to a larger city, however, was necessary if we wanted to actually play more than once every other month or so. And we did.
Silkworm arrived in Seattle at the very beginning of 1990. It's an understatement to say that it wasn't very easy for us to "break into the scene." We put out our first album and our second single on our own for lack of interest from anyone else, and I am continually amazed when I reflect on the endless number of sparsely attended shows we played over the course of our first four years in this town. How could we do that, week after week? We simply didn't know any better! Our second album, In The West, was released by a local record label which helped somewhat; it became easier for us to book shows at good local clubs, and we could attract crowds that ensured we would be able to play in these places again. To this day, however, we feel more comfortable playing and are better received in Chicago or New York or San Francisco than in Seattle. Why not move, you ask? A good question, for which the only answers are inertia, a lot of nice trees, and pretty good coffee.
Touring became a major part of our lives after In The West was released. We have spent many months of every year (starting with 1994) on the road, playing in places all over the U.S. and elsewhere. The process of leaving the day-to-day life behind for night after night of rock and roll and living out of a van can be very liberating at times and a complete drag at others, but on the whole it made us better musicians and closer friends. The three of us who are still in the band, anyway; Joel Phelps quit just before the release of our third album, Libertine.
Much hay was made of Joel's departure, especially among the little cadre of big fans we had at the time. He was an important part of what made that version of the band good. In most ways we found it easy, however, to continue on without him, and over the course of a year recorded our first record as a trio, Firewater, which was released by Matador in the spring of 1996.
It was with the release of Firewater that we found ourselves touring on occasion with the kinds of bands that you might see mentioned in a typical press bio. We had always enjoyed sharing stages with bands more or less on our level but this was the first chance we had to go out with the likes of Pavement in the U.S. or Guided By Voices (and Spoon) in Europe.
Our fourth album did reasonably well; certainly it sold much better than any of our previous releases. We don't have great expectations as far as sales are concerned; it seems especially ludicrous to waste much time thinking about that kind of stuff when just keeping ourselves going is challenge enough! We've always sort of doubted our chances at making any kind of special headway in those terms anyway. While what we do seems pretty straightforward to us, the reactions our music engenders are too disparate for us to be confident that it is necessarily easy to grasp and possessed of broad appeal. It's a mystery to me as to why this is the case. I think that covers most of what might be considered important. We like the new record, Developer, quite a bit and hope you do too.
Tim Midgett
Seattle, WA
April 17, 97
Silkworm today is:
Andy Cohen (guitar/vocals)
Michael Dalquist (drums)
Tim Midgett (bass/vocals)
Discography
Advantage (cass) 1987
Girl Harbrr (cass) 1989
"Slipstream" /"Inside Outside" (7") Punchdrunk 1991
L'ajre (CD) Temporary Freedom 1992
"The Chain" /"Our Secret" (7") Temporary Freedom 1992
"Violet" /"Around A Light" (7") Blatant 1992
...his absence is a blessing (12") Stampede 1993
"Into The Woods"/"Incanduce California" (7") Rockamundo 1993
"In The Bleak Midwinter"/"Drummer Boy" (7" split w/ Engine Kid) C/Z 1993
In The West (CD/cass.) C/Z 1994
Libertine (CD/LP) El Recordo 1994
"Insider" You Got Lucky: A Tribute to Tom Petty Scotti Bros.1995
The Marco Collins Sessions (dbl. 7"/CD5) Matador 1995
"Quicksand"/"on the road, one more time" (7") My Pal God 1995
Firewater (dbl LP/CD/CS) Matador 1996
"I Never Met a Man I Didn't Like"/"You Ain't Going Nowhere" (7") Matador 1997
Developer (LP/CD/CS) Matador 1997
Even a Blind Chicken Finds A Kernal of Corn Every Now And then (CD compilation) Matador 1998
