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NEWS
- MARCH 1997
Hello
to all. Since the last time you heard from us, we moved into
snazzy new offices (well, some of us--Jesper kinda got screwed),
sold 49% of our souls to Capitol Records, and lost two receptionists.
Okay, one of of 'em was fired and the other quit. We know
where to find them if we have to . . .
"Substantial"
news this month is an overflow of info. We're shocked and
amazed to announce the signing of San Francisco's FUCK,
whose two previous CD's (and singles and compilation tracks)
have left us hypnotized for some time. Much like other big
deal Matador signings, we're using Walt and Lamplighter as
glorified farm teams and giving them absolutely no credit
for recognizing talent while we were hanging out at the bar
at Brownies. We're also insanely fortunate to be able to announce
the signing of the Brooklyn, NY super-trio LYNNFIELD
PIONEERS. Their third 7" is coming out on the Lamp
Shop label, followed by a CD compilation of their output to
date. Watch mail-odor land (and not the gossip column) for
more details.
Our old (not chronologically) crew have been busy as well.
The new SPOON EP is Soft
Effects, five compact, impossible-to-shake-from-your-head
new songs from Britt Daniel, the most underrated songwriter
of his generation/peer group/neighborhood . . . Barbara Manning
has completed work on her new album, 1212 (nothing
to do with Come or Lydia Lunch, I think). Most of the album
was recorded in Arizona with the Giant Sand/Calexico team
of Joey Burns and Jon Convertino, with additional bits done
by Barbara solo, recorded in Chicago with help from Jim O'Rourke.
I don't want to give away too many clues about this one, but
let's just say GBV aren't the only band on the label into
this song-cycle thing. Barbara, currently on tour (and recording)
in New Zealand, can also be heard on the new Roy Montgomery
double 7" (Siltbreeze), along with a new CD compilation on
the German Hausmusik label . . . oh yeah, the super-controversial
upcoming GUIDED BY VOICES album is now called Mag
Earwhig and has undergone additional changes by Mr. Pollard.
If you insist on believing the band is dead and buried, prepare
yourself for any number of resurrections. This whig-flipper
features contributions from Cleveland's Cobra Verde (John
Petkovic, Doug Gillard, Don Depew, Dave Swanson), and was
recorded by Don Depew. (There's also stuff done with the previous
GBV lineup of Robert, Tobin, Kevin, and Mitch, recorded with
John Croslin.) As always, there are a slew of non-Matador
GBV products to choose from (sundry legal bootlegs and 7"
's), but since we never know about them until we get to the
record store, you should probably check out the GBV
website instead.
PAVEMENT's
latest Brighten the Corners debuted on the Billboard
Pop chart at #70, narrowly beaten by the new Elton John album.
And we didn't even know that Elton John was still alive! In
addition, SM can be heard on the soundtrack to the new Richard
Linklater/Eric Bogosian film Suburbia, joining his
pals in Elastica for a version of X's "The Unheard Music."
Nice to know that Art Linklater had some other talented kids
who didn't jump out of windows. Pavement have also filled
in for Zorak and the Original Way-Outs on an upcoming episode
of Space Ghost: Coast-To-Coast.
And if that weren't enough for you, a Spike Jonze-directed
video of "Shady Lane" will be playing somewhere (BET?) very
very soon.
RAILROAD
JERK and CHAVEZ just finished a joint European
tour. Chavez were joined by temp. bassist Damon Che, he of
the extremely awesome Speaking Canaries (new Opponents
12" EP on Scat makes the perfect Easter gift) while Scott
Marshall takes a break. A Chavez video for "Unreal Is Here"
will be shown somewhere (Nashville Network?) soon and features
a cast of thousands (literally). Chavez also had a song in
the Greg Kinnear vehicle (now playing on an airplane near
you) Dear God. Hopefully this will inspire nearly as
much discussion on our bulletin board as Pavement's inclusion
on the Very Brady Mass Murder soundtrack.
The new YO LA TENGO album I Can Hear the Heart Beating
as One; is coming out on April 22, but it'll be proceeded
by a 12" EP and CDEP featuring several different versions
of the song "Autumn Sweater," including remixes by Kevin Shields
of My Bloody Valentine, the Tortoise gang, Sebastian of 18th
Dye/Astoria, and other celebrities whose names we plan to
exploit.
Fans of rock video (and Scott Marshall) will be thrilled to
learn that the new BETTIE SERVEERT clip "Co-Coward,"
taken from the upcoming album Dustbunnies, will be
on your television sets sometime soon. Several Matador staffers
make appearances in this video, but that probably had something
to do with the low budget. A new Bettie Serveert video for
"Rudder" will probably happen later this spring. If that weren't
confusing enough, there's a European-only video (and European-only
CD5) for "What Friends" (the Beggars Banquet pre-album single)
but we can't pick up European TV, not this time of year at
least. Look for Bettie Serveert dates in North America starting
in early May.
THE
BLUES EXPLOSION are taking their show on the road again
(see tour dates) and we encourage you to attend (and if the
show is sold out, picket). There will be some kinda bonus
CDEP available later this spring, but we're still busy polling
focus groups to figure out what the track listing and price
will be. The "Wail" video (directed by some guy named Al)
is the first Matador video to be added to regular rotation
on MTV in almost three years, proving that we've got at least
one band that can make as good a video as the Unsane . . .
which reminds me, there's a new R.L. Burnside album called
Mr. Wizard coming out on Epitaph/Fat Possum really
soon. If you think you played on the album, don't worry about,
it's not like anyone makes money on selling CD's.
Jean Smith tells us that 2 FOOT FLAME will be touring
after the March release of their Ultra Drowning album,
but it doesn't look likely that Michael Morley will be on
this trip. Check our website for more updates. In the meantime,
Mecca Normal (Jean, David, and new drummer Charlie) are recording
a new album for autumn release. If you're still keeping up
with all of this, Peter Jefferies is still in Two Foot Flame,
but he's not in Mecca Normal anymore. Peter's latest solo
album, Elevator Madness, is out now on Trance Syndicate
(PO Box 49771, Austin, TX 78765) and features production and
guitar playing by Jean Smith.
SILKWORM's
latest is called Developer, is coming out on April
8, and was recorded throughout the fall of '96 in Chicago
with a guy who knows a guy who knows Bush. The oft-cited,
rarely shipped single "Never Met A Man I Didn't Like" is included,
and so are nine other classics. Look for Silkworm in a town
within four hours' drive sometime this spring.
There's a nut on our bulletin board who will kill me if there's
no news about Helium, so guess what, there's a new EP, No
Guitars, a real stunner. There are plenty of guitars on
it, so be sure to sue Mary for false advertising. Helium will
begin recording their next full-length this month with Mitch
Easter, who also toiled on the EP.
COME
have a song on an upcoming Rykodisc tribute to Jack Kerouac
(a collaboration with 21 Jump Street star Johnny Depp,
we're told) that will also feature Helium, Thurston Moore,
Morphine, and a bunch of other big shots. Come will be playing
at the Green St. Grill in Cambridge on March 20. We think
this is a benefit for people who have been evicted, so don't
try to get in for free.
BARDO
POND and THE FOR CARNATION are each working on
new albums this spring for release in the autumn. Bardo Pond
have one 12" worth of music on the new Harmony of the Spheres
box set (Drunken Fish), which also features new recordings
by Flying Saucer Attack, Loren Mazzacane Connors, Roy Montgomery,
and the Charalambidies. Bardo Pond are scheduled to play the
Ptolemaic Providence Perambulaton (April 25-27, Providence,
RI) along with Barbara Manning, the Bevis Frond, and the U.S.
debut performance of Flying Saucer Attack. For more information,
contact Flydaddy Records at info@flydaddy.com. Bardo Pond
also have a collaboration album with Roy Montgomery coming
via Drunken Fish under the name Hash Jar Tempo . . . any day
now is when we hope to hear some of the new LIZ PHAIR recordings
she's been working on with Scott Litt. Friends of friends
of people who've met guys who know Bush tell us the stuff
is awesome, however, so we're not complaining. Liz sings on
a song on the new Shudder to Think album, which makes perfect
sense to us--those guys need a singer . . . Big congrats to
Liz and Jim Staskauskas on the birth of their son, James Nicholas,
this past December.
Despite collosal printing errors (like putting barcode stickers
right atop the cryptic anti-establishment slogans on the back
cover), Run On's second album, No Way (we'll kill any
reviewer who jokes about the title) is out now, recorded in
cold, cold Chicago with our friend Casey Rice. This is the
first Run On record to feature the violin and keyboard work
of newest member Katie Gentile. As they say on MSG, she's
all over it. Run On are touring the USA this spring.
Hip hip hoorahs to our friends the Tower Recordings. Not only
did they win this year's Pazz & Jop poll by a landslide,
but they've just signed in blood for their next album to come
out via Siltbreeze. I keep telling Capitol not to worry, almost
all of our bands feature drummers and bass players, so cashing
in on this drum and bass thing should be a breeze. Where do
we put the guitar players?
Chan Marshall, aka CAT POWER, aka The Fugitive, just
got back from a whirlwind tour of Europe and South Africa.
No, Chan didn't play Sun City, she was simply on a fact-finding
mission. But the trip did result in Euro-only 7"/CD of "Nude
as the News," plus an appearance on live French TV (their
version of Oprah, we think) that resulted in Chan becoming
more famous than Alan Vega, John Felice, and Jerry Lewis combined.
MARK
EITZEL has finally gotten 'round to finishing his long-promised
Matador LP. Joined by bassist James McNew (Dump, Yo La Tengo),
guitarist Kid Congo Powers (Congo Norvell, Bad Seeds, Cramps,
Gun Club) and drummer Steve Shelley (Cat Power, Two Dollar
Guitar, Crucifucks, Beatles), Mark said something about this
album being "the return of indie rock," but he was probably
just kidding around and will really resent me repeating it.
Mark also has a new Warner Bros. album and tour with Peter
Buck happening this spring but if you want the details go
look it up on Sonic Net or something.
Philly and New York fans of late night TV were blessed with
repeated showings of the Blues Explosion TV commercial on
broadcasts of Extreme Championship Wrestling (Fridays
at 2 a.m., MSG or Prime Network East). Our sincere apologies
to anyone who might've been offended by the graphic depictions
of violence, sex, bad language, etc. And that was just during
the opening credits. I always knew ECW was on the cutting
edge (in more ways than one) but how about their replacing
Beck's "Loser" with the Butthole Surfers' "Pepper" as Mikey
Whipwreck's intro music? Man, everyone's a rock critic . .
. ECW's first ever pay-per-view, Barely Legal
is coming to a cable system near you on Sunday, April 13 at
9 p.m.
Other than that, I stood in line for so long at the midnight
sale for U2's Pop that I got confused and bought the
Middle Class's A Blueprint For Joy (Velvetone) comp.
instead. As a result, I don't know a fucking thing about rock
being dead or Jesus getting booked on Leno, but I promise
to keep reading Lisa Robinson's columns until I catch up.
Gerard Cosloy
Escandalo!
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