Marble: is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. The word “marble” derives from the Greek “μάρμαρον” (mármaron),[2] from “μάρμαρος” (mármaros), “crystalline rock”, “shining stone”, perhaps from the verb “μαρμαίρω” (marmaírō), “to flash, sparkle, gleam”. This stem is also the basis for the English word marmoreal, meaning “marble-like.”Whilst the English term resembles the French marbre, most other European languages (e.g. Spanish mármol, Italian marmo, Portuguese mármore, German, Norwegian, Danish and Swedish marmor, Dutch marmer, Polish marmur, Turkish mermer, Czech mramor and Russian мрáмор ) follow the original Greek.

Orchard: An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production.

News abound at Cloudberry HQ. First of all beginning next year the label will be based in New York City. Not sure where exactly, but in the next couple of weeks I should be traveling there to find a place (any suggestions?) I’m really excited about it as I’m starting a better job there, with a view to the Hudson, and also because I think is a step forward for Cloudberry. There’s not only NYC Popfest in town, but also plenty of gigs unlike Miami. Hopefully I’ll be able to take part on this, I’d love to start booking some bands, you know? A mini-Cloudberry fest would be fantastic. More news on this soon. Just giving you the heads up as your orders won’t come from sunny Miami no more, but from massive New York instead.

By now most of your favourite mailorders should be carrying the Youngfuck 7″s. If not, their copies should be arriving this week as the latest. The record has been selling quite well, even though the band’s last gig was in February. That proves that when music is good, you don’t need a band gigging all the time to promote it. And talking about promoting, we are working on a video for “Black Tulips”. Keep your eyes peeled.

Those who have visited the Cloudberry Rcords site you must have noticed that the Feverfew CD is already listed, tracklist and all. You can even preview one of the tracks: “Crimson Gloom”. As stated there, the CD includes 17 remastered tracks (which comprises all their recorded output), a booklet with liner notes by Phil Ball (bassist of Feverfew), and for the first 100 orders, a pin that has the original design of the pins Feverfew used to have back in the 80s. The digipack is custom made for our new series, the Cloudberry Cake Kitchen, were I plan to bring the best albums, retrospective mostly but new too. No fillers. So start making space in your book shelves, you’ll like to line these up. Future releases include…

… I won’t say yet.

But the start couldn’t be more promising. Feverfew’s “Something of Nothing” must be by far the best retrospective album of this year. It is really that good. Keith Girdler’s genius is all over it. And this was pre-Blueboy. Great lyrics, great vocals, great musicianship, a youthful edge, catchy melodies, it just has it all. You don’t want to miss it.

Alright, let’s move onto something else. The CDs on rotation this week:
1. Dot Dash – Spark>Flame>Ember (The Beautiful Music)
2. Various Artists – Amen (Richmond)
3. My Darling YOU! – AK Art (Luxury)
4. Almedal – Till Kyrkogården (Luxury)
5. Makthaverskan – Makthaverskan (Luxury)

And our obscure band of the week: Marble Orchard.

Looking at their Discogs page, I would have never thought they were obscure as they have 7 releases. But googling about the band members you barely find any information. My knowledge about the band is zero if I’m honest. I came into one of their songs, “Our Love is Up To You”, on my friend Heinz’s Youtube account. I thought it was a very nice tune. I looked around. I found the 7″ on ebay, I bought it. All of this, just today in the morning while working on some PDFs for a Sexual Health campaign in London. The cover of the 7″ is quite peculiar. It has a woman, it has a lamb, and it has cacti. Seem as if it was painted with watercolours. The woman looks like a Greek amphora painting. On the cover of this 7″, the title track is written in red, “Paradise”. This record was released by the German label September Gurls in 1994 and is catalog number SGs12.

On the label site there’s a little review of the title track: “Once you have listened to “Paradise” you will be hooked by melody, harmony and memories. Flip is outtake from session for 1st CD. Great twelve string 60’s style.” It seems you can also order the record from there for around 4 euros plus postage. Not bad, though I found it for 4 dollars. And talking about September Gurls, I do have some records by them, now that I think about it. I believe some Throw That Beat in the Garbagecan. So yeah, seems like a fine label I should explore more.

Anyhow, it’s the flipside the one I know and been enjoying all morning long. To my surprise this song doesn’t belong to one of those hundreds of bands that during the 80s contributed songs on different tape compilations in the UK. This band, even though it sounds like those other bands from Britain, is from Portland, Oregon. Go figure! Well, if you do look at the picture on Discogs of the band, well, two of the guys have long hair, that’s very American, isn’t it? So, there you go.

The track is really inspired, they remind me a lot to the most recent band The Librarians who had a release here in Cloudberry. Also they sound a bit like The Dupont Circles from Washington DC. Lots of sixties influences, but with that 80s production, perhaps could be a good description? A lot like the Perfect Pop releases in the early nineties too! Scroll down and have a shot I say.

The Marble Orchard were Jayson Breeton, Ron Kleim and Steve Frothingham. Prior to this 7″ they had an album called “Savage Sleep” released in 1991, and two 7″ singles: “Something Happens” (1990) and “It’s my Time” (1992). All of these releases were put out by Estrus Records, off from Bellingham, Washington. And after the September Gurl 7″ it seems they continued with the German imprint and released the albums “Agent Invisible” and “Adventures in Mutation” as well as a split 7″ in 2003 shared with Surf Trio. Surf Trio being the latest band of Ron Kleim.

The description for these albums don’t really catch my attention to be honest: “”Adventures in Mutation” shows the band’s versatility: heavy melodic Wiper-esque rock thunder, surf metal…”  Not sure I want to listen to surf metal! But well, I wonder if anyone has listened to these records and can tell me I should give them a chance. For now I enjoy this one track, waiting for my 7″ to arrive from the ebay seller from Port Lucie, FL, and hoping Paradise is another great jangly track!

And as always, please do share if you have any more information about the Marble Orchard!

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Listen
Marble Orchard – Our Love is Up To You

Blue: The word itself was loaned into Middle English from the Old French word bleu, blo ” “pale, pallid, discoloured; blue, blue-gray”, itself from an Old Frankish blao.

Siege: is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for “to sit”. Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static defensive position. Consequently, an opportunity for negotiation between combatants is not uncommon, as proximity and fluctuating advantage can encourage diplomacy.

It kind of feels as if I’m under siege here. So much work to do. I have managed to get into three freelance deals this past week and I have worked non-stop at home after the daily 8 hours at the office. One of them is the usual freelance I do for an art dealer: add, delete, change, some art pieces in his web catalog. Then I’m doing a sexual health poster for a London organization and last, I’m working on a site for some physician here that works with penile implants for erectile dysfunction. I know, very very odd. But it pays the bills. Anyhow, I still haven’t finished all of it, I’m almost there though. I should be done in a couple of hours, but I needed a break. Introspect a bit, write, blog. I have finished sending orders of the newly released Youngfuck 7″ though. That’s quite an achievement as there were plenty of pre-orders and orders. There are some things still due at Cloudberry HQ like finishing the Feverfew artwork (which is at a 99% stage), and then setting up the website with information for this new release. I will work hastily today to try to get that done. If not, there will be news during the week definitely.

You’ll forgive my short post today, I hope. I also have my mum visiting so you can imagine time is really something luxurious at the moment. I do have some interviews coming up for this week, so worry not, the blog won’t be left on a side.

The CDs that have been on rotation this week were:
1. The Jordans – Hallelujah Mine! (Constant)
2. The Jordans – Early & Not So (self-released CDR)
3. The Sundays – Reading, Writing and Arithmetic (Geffen)
4. The Rileys – The World And His Wife (A Turntable Friend)
5. Skansros – Vårsol (Luxury)

The obscure band for this week is Blue Siege. Blue being my favorite color.

Ed at Shelflife had already recommended them some time ago, but I didn’t pay them any attention then. The track he posted, “Into the Swing”, which according to him is better than the A side of their first 7″ (which I have never heard, so I trust him). The title track is called “Waiting River” and this 7″ was released by Pride Communications. Catalog number was 001. The cool part about this record is that it was produced by Chris Layhe from The Icicle Works at The Park in Liverpool. The photography of the sleeve was taken by Nick Kemp. Also four last names are credited on this record: Cumming, Gibbons, Rylance, Hall. Because of a comment on Youtube, we know the bass player was a girl. Which of the last names belonged to her? Not sure. And do you think it would be a safe guess to think they were all from Liverpool?

It was 1986 when that first 7″ was released. It was the same year when their second release came to life, a 12″ record. And this is the one I enjoy, especially because of the first track: “Ruins No Longer Remain”. I don’t have the record yet, but I have managed to secure a copy earlier today, hopefully arriving in a week or two from the UK. It doesn’t look difficult to track down as I found many offers in different pages. The cheapest, the one I got, was from a seller on Musicstack. So if interested, have a look there. You can find copies of this great record for 5 dollars or so plus postage.

Anyways, a nice tint of purple for the sleeve. Shouldn’t it be blue? That’s what I wonder. It was released again by Pride Communications, with catalog number LP001. Sounds as if the label was their own, right? Why Pride though? anything to do with gay pride? Who knows. Perhaps in 1986 it wasn’t like that, but these days, when I think of the word pride, I think of gay pride. Moving on. This is not an album, but a mini-album. It includes 6 songs, being the first 2 the best of the bunch. The tracklist is:
A1 Ruins No Longer Remain
A2 Stolen Daylight
A3 Like Red Rags To The Bull (Soweto)
B1 Hollow Man
B2 River Has Gone
B3 Drifting Apart

The sound of the 12″ is in between post-punk and indiepop. A bit like This Final Frame I’d say. Keyboards, great melodic jangle, but a bit darker and less luminous than your standard Bodines-like C86 indiepop. In any case it’s great, it’s not dreary and depressive post-punk, but catchy. Just give a try to the song. I’ve been enjoying it a lot today, a rainy autumn Sunday.

And after putting Google under a siege, that’s all the information I’ve been able to gather online. If you know anything else about this band, please share. Would be great to know a bit more about them!

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Listen
Blue Siege – Ruins No Longer Remain

A very busy week at Cloudberry HQ. To start, today, October 10th, we have a new 7″ out. A lush two-track vinyl record by Sweden’s Youngfuck. All pre-orders will be sent first thing in the morning. Also in a week or two, you should be able to find the record in your favourite online mailorder. Also this week we have unveiled the fanstastic artwork that Ray Kimura has done for the next 7″ in our catalog. This one is by Sarasota, Florida, darlings’ Cassolette. This slab of plastic has “Stay Heavy” on the A side and “Two Candles” on the B side. You can preview the first track in the Cloudberry page of course. And last but not least, the four songs that will be included in the Nixon 7″ have been also unveiled. See? Plenty of things happening here.

Also, on the new Cloudberry Cake series, the Feverfew artwork is almost done and I know the master CD is already crossing the Atlantic. What does this mean? This means that the album will be pressed very soon! I’m very excited to start this series after the really disappointing times I had releasing albums with my ex-partner Jalito in Plastilina. I do much better alone I’ve learned. Please stay tuned for more news on this series of retrospecive albums, you won’t be disappointed.

Life has got in the way too as my mum is visiting here for two weeks. She is funny, she thinks indie music means music from India. I can’t really explain to her what Cloudberry is. She just says every record sleeve is so pretty. She is the kind that needs attention and wants to go to the supermarket every single day. As you can imagine, she keeps me quite busy. There has been some great news on some legal matters for me, and also there might be even better news job-wise. I might relocate and leave this tropical city, but well, that’s yet to be seen.

It feels a bit like crunch time these days. A bit stressed as things are moving fast and not so much time to sit down, brainstorm, think, ponder. But at the same time, very hopeful as these are all opportunity windows that might open to me. It may take a bit to adapt and set up Cloudberry in another place indeed, but I won’t stop. This is what I enjoy the most.

This week I’ve listened not that many CDs:
1. Sambassadeur – Between the Lines (Labrador)
2. Various Artists – Dream Topping (Richmond)
3. The Jordans – Katydid (Sonorama)
4. Various Artists – A Young Person’s Guide to Felicité Singles Club (Vollwert)
5. Sad Day for Puppets – Shift to Another Color (Fastcut)

It must have been a year ago that two of my best friends stopped having a fish tank at home. They lived together, they were roomates, and in each room, they had their own fish tank, with their own fish, and their own shellfish. Also they had different decorations, from a scuba diver to a sunken castle. The pebbles in the tank were very colorful and matched the palette of the fish that swam in circles around the coral. Even though I don’t like taking care of fish (they all died very fast in my childhood experience and my grandma says they bring bad luck) I understood the passion they had in collecting different and rarer fish. It is the same for me with records.

Eventually to their two freshwater tanks they added a sea water tank where they started collecting much more exciting fish, but also more expensive. My knowledge of fish encompasses mostly the one that becomes seafood of course. Seafood is a staple of my city’s, Lima, cuisine. From flounder to sea bass, or the skipjack tuna or the grouper, all familiar faces in the traditional ceviche. But the fish they had, I had never seen.

Most of the fish that aquariums have, here in Miami, are caught in freshwater areas in South and Central America. You can find zebras, clowns, tiger barbs, cherry barbs, tetras, gouramis and swordtails, among others. The ones that come from saltwater come from down south, from the keys, were you can see these fish roam free while snorkeling or scuba diving, two very popular attractions in the area. Just drive a couple of hours south from here, to Key Largo or Islamorada. Or to Marathon, were I was last time with Tom from The Happy Couple as he wanted to see the Gulf of Mexico.

I’ve read that because of global warming and also when El Niño occurs, a tropical fish invasion happens in many cold water areas. Makes sense. No so long ago, in March, this happened in Northland in New Zealand.  “Eyestripe surgeon fish, yellow boxfish, black-spot goatfish, two-tone wrasse and an unknown species of damselfish have been found by divers off the east coast of Northland this month. Marine expert Wade Doak says they’re an indicator of climate change. “They come down in larval form from places like Lord Howe Island and the Kermadecs and spend the long voyage in a suspended state.” Doak said the fish travelled as far as islands in the Bay of Plenty but didn’t survive long enough to breed. As waters became warmer though, “sooner or later they’ll find it acceptable”.”

My friends eventually gave up their fish tank. One found a girlfriend and moved with her. The other gave Halo Reach on Xbox, all of his time.

So who were the Tropical Fish Invasion? Who knows. But maybe the mystery can be solved knowing that they were from Derby.

There was a healthy scene back in the early 90s there and they seem to have been part of it. You had the wonderful Peru, The Millers, The Almanacs, White Town and I believe Evergreen and The Fantastics were from there too. Perhaps there was some sort of connection with these other bands. The strange part is that Derbyshire doesn’t really have any coast, and even with global warming, there won’t be a tropical fish invasion. Which makes me wonder, perhaps some of the band members had fish tanks and that crazy passion my old friends had? Or was it just a random name?

There was at least one release and it was a flexi. The flexi included just ONE song. And well, it’s a great song that I didn’t mind paying 3.99 pounds plus postage for it.  The song is called “La Di Da” and it’s no tribute to the label of the same name that Grant Lyons used to run from Brighton. It’s such a catchy tune and has that great keyboard sound that I have only heard in bands like The Apple Moths or Windy Miller. This flexi was probably self-released. The catalog number is OCTY 6-5000, and there’s a big octupus printed on the flexi. Maybe the label was Octopus Records? Don’t know. The flexi is sleeve-less, it just came on a generic white paper jacket.

The other song I know by them is “Ring a Ding” that appeared on the “Seahorses” tape that was released by the Red Roses for Me fanzine. On this tape the likes of Whirlpool Heart, Girl of the World, and The Jordans, three bands that I’ve covered on the blog already, appear. Again, this is a super catchy song and I can only keep asking for more. Looking at some old eBay auctions, it seems in August a tape by Tropical Fish Invasion was put up for auction and no one bid for it. It was just 0.99 pounds. Shame on all of us. Wonder what tracks did this demo included. But I think this confirms that there were more than just two tracks recorded by the band.

The only other information I could gather comes from Youtube were someone has uploaded the “La Di Da” track. A comment there says two interesting facts. First, that the drummer was called Andy. And second that he was roomate with Andy at Ilkeston 8 Wilmot St. That’s just half a block away from Long Eaton Pet Sitters.

Ilkeston is a town within the Borough of Erewash, in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the River Erewash, from which the local borough takes its name. Its population at the 2001 census was 37,550. Its major industries were traditionally coal mining, iron working and lace making / textiles, but these have all but disappeared in the last few decades. The town is close to both Derby and Nottingham and is near to the M1 motorway. Although Ilkeston lies within Derbyshire, it is closer to Nottingham. The eastern boundary of Ilkeston is only two miles from Nottingham’s western edge. Ilkeston is considered by the Office for National Statistics to be part of Nottingham metropolitan area. Ilkeston was probably founded in the 6th century AD, and gets its name from its supposed founder, Elch or Elcha, who was an Anglian chieftain (“Elka’s Tun” = Elka’s Town). The town appears as Tilchestune in the Domesday Book when it was owned principally by Gilbert de Ghent. Gilbert also controlled nearby Shipley, West Hallam and Stanton by Dale. Ilkeston was created a borough by Queen Victoria in 1887. Ilkeston is one of the few places where the distinctive dialect of East Midlands English is extensively spoken. Ilkeston is referred to as ‘Ilson’ in this dialect. One might greet a friend with “Eh up, me duck!” or “Ah do?”. Did the guys in the band speak like that?

And that’s all I could find.  Maybe you all can help me fill in the blanks? Who were the Tropical Fish Invasion? Which years were they active? Did they collect fish? Did they love seafood? Did they have more songs?

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Listen
Tropical Fish Invasion – La Di Da

October. Now this blog has 4 years! I didn’t expect to write or interview bands this long to be honest. It’s funny, Emma, who pushed me to blog again, and helped me back in the day coming up with questions for the interviews, has been back in my life this week after a whole year of silence. Don’t know if that means anything, but it’s something really nice. She is one of my dearest friends and I had missed her during all this time. It’s true that she is out of the loop now when it comes to indiepop (she is into Beyoncé and that kind of things), and long are the days when we would talk about friends like The Pinefox, love_tropicana or the “sad girl”. Those were the early days of this blog. I remember many of the great questions she came up with for my interviews, some that I wouldn’t have even thought about asking! Like, when she asked if the Pink Noise’s vocalist hair was real blonde or not (!).

Also since August I have a new great friend, Yuiko, who has been pushing me even further, in making more and more interviews. Sometimes I feel I just blog for her. And I enjoy that idea. She was the one who has made the b-flower interview possible, first by translating my questions to Japanese, and then translating Hideshi’s answers to English. Lots of work, and just for the love of indiepop. Also she was the one who asked me to do interviews with The Thieves, Episode Four and East Village. On the pipeline there are other interviews she has requested like the one with Newsflash or Sugarfrost Records’ Akiko. Hopefully those will be up soon. And you know what’s funny, I’ve never met Yuiko, but before emailing, in July, we both attended the same Jasmine Minks gig in London. Who would have known. Small world.

So yes, I’m thanking those who have kept me blogging as you can already tell. I do blog for my own entertainment to be honest, as I’m a terribly curious person, and need to know the story behind the records and songs I have. It’s all like a big jigsaw for me, trying always to put the pieces together. But, there are people that share that same passion and that have given me feedback and inspiration for keeping this blog alive, even when there were catastrophic moments here earlier this year, and made me wonder if indiepop was dead or not. I figured out this month that indiepop has a chronic disease too, sometimes it feels great, vibrant, but sometimes it gets really ill.

Another person I want to thank is Bart Cummings for talking about every single band he has been in and always having the most interesting answers, he knows what I want to read! And yes, there’s a Bart & Friends interview coming up too these days. What is left? Hydroplane?

Helping me get in touch with bands both Uwe and Jessel have been fantastic through the years.

Also I want to thank Phil Ball for his support and all the great chats about lost bands. Someday I know he’ll digitise his tapes and lots of great obscure bands will be re-discovered. Same goes to my dear friend Andreas that really needs to fix his tape player! One of the few that I know that has the blog on an RSS reader 🙂

Thanks to William Jones from Friends & Summerhouse Records for being an inspiration. Always spaghetti carbonara with him.

Last but not least, to Jennifer for being such a big supporter through all these years. I know she prefers my blog posts to be shorter, but well, I can’t help it. One day I promise that I will retake the book idea for compiling interviews from the blog, so you can all read them just before going to sleep just like I do with my Tintins, comfortably in bed.

I know this blog won’t be as popular as those who offer the whole record for download. People enjoy the easiest route always, one click. Aside from those blogs making music throwaway, making these great songs have no value whatsoever, I believe in the challenge of finding out for yourself, going through the depths of ebay, musicstack, record stores, gemm, discogs, and the entire whole wide web trying to find a record. That’s way more rewarding than one click. So to all the readers who have stuck around, a big THANK YOU. And especially, those that leave comments, you make my day.

And to those that think that I steal their “finds”. Just a couple of words, grow up.

Moving on…

The CDs that have been played at home this week were:
1. The Haywains – A37 Revisited (Cider City)
2. Various Artists – The Legendary B Sides (Richmond)
3. The Ethnobabes – Thoughts on Barbecuing (Perfect Pop)
4. Blackberry Wine – Modern Living in a Survival Handbook (Pony Proof)
5. Sambassadeur – Coastal Affairs (Labrador)
6. Paisley & Charlie – Songs in Black and White (Pebble)

And listening to the Legendary B Sides of what was  él Records, I was struck on track number 14 of the second CD, repeating it over and over. I’d say it’s a very Cloudberry song, if that’s a thing you could say. The track was “Valediction” by a band called Ambassador 277. Immediately I started to google about them, to find out who made such a catchy and nostalgic song at the same time. Sad and upbeat. I wanted to know who was singing with breezy vocals, who was the girl that was doing such delicious backing vocals, and who came up with all these great different instrument arrangements all over the song. It’s just a perfect song!

First things first. What’s a valediction? A valediction (derivation from Latin vale dicere, ‘to say farewell’), or complimentary close in American English, is an expression used to say farewell, especially a word or phrase used to end a letter or message, or the act of saying parting words- whether brief, or extensive.

And to make things even more clear, an ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization. But what about the number 277? Is it a secret code?

I wasn’t surprised to find absolutely nothing about them. That’s the story of my life, haha. According to Twee.net and the liner notes of the B sides compilation CD, there was just one release. A 10″ that had on the A side the song “Pop Up Man” and on the B side this new favourite of mine, “Valediction”. I wonder why the 10″ format for just two songs. Could be one of Mike Alway eccentricities? From what I’ve read on many liner notes, él always was usually short on money, so they could have saved some pounds if this was released on 7″, right? But I’m sure there was a reason to do it on a 10″. If there was a label that had reasons to do something for aesthetic purposes and leave the economic reasons behind, that was él.

So now I’m listening to the “Pop Up Man” and it sounds very familiar to me. A little research and I figure out why. This song was covered by the great Minneapolis band Ninian Hawick on the “All Done with Mirrors” compilation released on Le Grand Magistery. It’s a very strange version of the song though, very eclectic. For starters it’s all electronic and has a dancey feel. Not really my thing. And it’s sung in French. I usually skipped this song when playing that compilation.

On the other hand, the original “Pop Up Man” is great, it has a sixties feel with it’s guitar riffs and soft trumpets in the chorus. Just so you know, don’t be deceived by the Minnesota version!  In any case,  for me, the winner on the record, is “Valediction”. That’s my song. I still don’t have this record, and I haven’t had the chance to see the sleeve. It’s not even listed on Discogs. I wonder if on the sleeve there are more details about this band. Probably. At least some last names.

The band did appear on many compilations usually with “Pop Up Man”. You can check many of these compilation albums here.

And that’s about all I could gather about them. I guess they were long forgotten, hard to compete in a label catalog that included the likes of The Monochrome Set, Momus, The Would Be Goods or Louis Philippe. If you happen to know anything else about them, or if you know what the 277 number means, please leave a nice comment down below. You’ll make my day!

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Listen
Ambassador 277 – Valediction

A week that things have had a normal flow. Any worries or doubts concerning the past weeks are left behind. I feel that what’s coming up is really exciting. Can’t believe than in a mere 5 months Cloudberry will be 5 years old, and that next month this blog will be 4 years old. That’s more or less what my old blog lasted before it was hacked. Hopefully this one doesn’t get hacked. I save a copy of every post these days, and it also gets copied to the Cloudberry facebook page. So I think it’s safe.

I had plans for traveling next month to Europe, but for one reason or another I couldn’t make it. So next stop for me will be Toronto in November. Hopefully it won’t be too cold and I can make it all the way to Niagara Falls. I’d love that. As for Europe goes, I’ll make sure to go to Madrid Popfest and travel around Spain. For sure I’d love to go to Toledo and Segovia. I might be there for a week there and another in Sweden, hopefully this time going to Goteborg at last. That’s what I’m planning.

As for Cloudberry news, the Youngfuck 7″ has a release date now: October 10th. So pre-order now! Sadly the pressing plant has raised the price of making vinyl and I believe this Youngfuck 7″ will be the last that will be 4 dollars plus postage (domestic =$7, international =$10). The next 7″s will be a bit more expensive, probably around 50 cents more. I wish I didn’t have to raise the prices but at least I have to break even. But for now, let’s not worry about it. Just giving the heads up.

Now we have Japanese illustrator Reiko Kimura working on the Cassolette artwork and it’s looking great. Hopefully this one will be out by the end of the year. Also keep your eyes peeled for the Nixon 7″ which now counts with the fantastic vocals of Christin from The Garlands on one of the tracks.

On the new Cloudberry Cake series of retrospective releases, we have some fantastic news concerning some great bands from the 80s. But for now let’s keep all our attention on the Feverfew release. We are looking into a November release. Masters are ready. Now it’s just a matter to get everything else sorted out. I think during this week there will be a pre-order button for the album!

Among non Cloudberry news, for me the best thing was that at last the Pushy Parents single was unveiled. I’ve been loving and listening this song for many months now but I had promised to keep it as a secret, it was hard as it was so good! Anyhow, happy to let you know that it is released on Elefant Records and it’s the new project by dear Amanda and Roger. Please check it out here on this video (note: these people on the video are NOT them, just actors!). The release date for the single is October 3rd.

And before moving on to our obscure band, here’s what I’ve been listening on the CD player this week:
1. The Relict – Tomorrow is Again (Vegas Morn)
2. The Vaselines – Sex with an X (Sub Pop)
3. Various Artists – Abracadabra (Richmond)
4. The Incredible Blondes – Where do I Stand? (No Strings)
5. Playing For Time – The Unreleased Sessions 1984-1989 (Firestation)

Wise: having or showing the ability to make good judgments, based on a deep understanding and experience of life

Acre: One acre comprises 4,840 square yards, 43,560 square feet or about 4,050 square metres (0.405 hectares). The acre is often used to express areas of land in the U.S and in countries where the Imperial System is still in use. As of 2010, the acre is not used officially in the United Kingdom. In the metric system, the hectare is commonly used for the same purpose. An acre is approximately 40% of a hectare.

Put that together and that’s The Wise Acres? Not so sure. The name doesn’t make much sense but I feel it’s a good band name. Maybe it means something totally different, maybe they were quoting something. No clue. The information about them is absolutely none on the internet. We only know there was one 7″ released by Cherry Red on 1986 and that’s about it. So let’s grab that record and see what else we can find.

First mystery for me. There’s a big butterfly as the cover artwork. Or is it a moth? I don’t know. If it’s one or another, what species is it?

The catalog number is Cherry 095 and as far as I can tell there was no 12″ version for this EP that included 4 fantastic songs. On the A side we find “So Finally Sweet” and “One Day” and on the B Side “Stay” and “Glow”. Simple names for the songs, they don’t tell us much. The record was released on the heyday of indiepop, 1986. The four members of the band are listed but doesn’t say what they play on the band. The names are John White, Sharon Bain, Robert Mitchell and Margo Strachan. We know that John White wrote the songs, so most probably he was the guitar player.

The songs are a bit like the Shop Assistants or The Vultures, maybe a bit rockier than them on “Stay” though, but great still. Catchy. The guitars usually have some exciting distortion that would make the hipsters today love them. On the other hand “Glow” is the melancholic piece, and it’s just precious.

A friend told me about two other songs “David” and “Cuts Me Deep”, but I’m not sure where he has listened to them. Were they on another release? Or maybe on a compilation? Don’t know. It is fair to think there were more songs than those 4 on the 7″, at least on demo form I’m sure. I wonder where they were based, if they played live often, and why did they break up. Also I come to think, how come there is nothing on the web about them,  aside from Bruce including them on his podcasts back in 2008!

So if you know anything else about them, please give me a shout! I’d love to learn more about them!

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Listen
The Wise Acres – One Day

The days of youth are over. Forgive the lack of updates on the blog on the last couple of weeks. After coming back from a great Labour Day weekend traveling around Seattle, Vancouver and Victoria, I ended up at the hospital. I was diagnosed a chronic disease. After five days I was discharged and started adapting to a new routine. I’m not ready yet though; I had to cancel a New York flight that I had scheduled this weekend, but I feel more comfortable each day that passes. I will be fine, and I look positively to what comes ahead. But I can’t deny that time has been a bit of a luxury this past week. Anyways, the world won’t halt its spinning for me, and nothing can make my projects and dreams crumble. So let’s make some good use of our time, let’s continue celebrating the music we love! Let’s keep up the fight! Nothing can stop indiepop!

As expected I haven’t listened to many CDs in these two weeks. These are the ones that have been on rotation at home:
1. Amor de Días – Street of the Love of Days (Merge)
2. Various Artists – Too Good To Be True: The Very Best of El Records 1985-1988 (Cherry Red)
3. The Cherry Orchard – These Restless Days (Firestation)
4. The What Gives – Up All Night With the What Gives (Bus Stop)
5. The Mondo Crescendo – Young, Naked and Happy With It (Blackbean and Placenta Tape Club)
6. The Kick Inside – Ever the Optimist (Promo CD)

Now onto some Cloudberry news. I have started working on the artwork for the Feverfew reissue. I feel a great excitement to work on a new format. The release will be part of a new series of records that I hope turn to be a success. Probably on next weekend’s post I’ll have the cover artwork and the tracklist to show. We are hoping for a November release. I’ll be keeping you updated. On the 7″ front the Youngfuck test pressings should be arriving this week. We are on schedule. Also artwork has been started for both upcoming 7″s by Nixon and Cassolette. And that’s it for now. Starting this week things will start moving faster again.

Many moons ago when I was in university I had to put together a portfolio with my work to graduate. As many as you know I was studying graphic design and ended up, trying to be overtly creative, a huge Victorian tin cookie box as my portfolio. It looked great and classy. It looked more like a treasure box than anything else. In there. I glued a folder binder onto the back side of the top flap and set up my printed works on there. Inside, as there was so much space in it, I could also transport the magazines, brochures, CDs, and more. It was perfect. Every time I went to an interview with it, the interviewer was fascinated about it. It felt good, nonetheless these days, I would rather just show a website with my work instead of carrying this huge box around! So I have my huge Victorian tin stored in one of my closets alongside scarfs and jackets that barely see the day of light in humid Miami.

Today I look tanned. Swimming in the Atlantic alongside some jellyfish has been my kind of fun this weekend . Lonely days ahead as my father has just left today after being with me for the past week. During the afternoons it always changes. Around 6pm it becomes rainy weather. It pours and the stray cats hide under the cars. These are the days of youth, my last ones. But I’m sure I’ll always be young at heart. And now I daydream of moving to Sweden in a year or two. And that’s where the obscure band of the week comes from, from that great country of lingonberry and pancakes.

Victorian Tin were from Karlstad, Sweden. A city that derives its name from the King Charles IX, and that lies on the river delta of Sweden’s longest river, Klarälven, which runs into Sweden’s largest lake, Vänern. It was a two piece formed by Erik Bergqvist and Christian Gustafsson. There were no proper releases but a 7 song tape that was distributed by Everlasting Records from Cambridge, UK, the same label that released the likes of Emily or A Riot of Colour. The story says that the band sent them a demo tape and the label suggested them to put a tape together with their best songs. There was a catalog number for it, “Bait2”. I wonder what was “Bait1”.  This may also mean that there were more recordings than these seven songs. And that would be great news!

The songs on the tape were: “Agony Flower”, “Alienation”, “Lonely Days”, “Fragments of Roses”, “Silvery Mouths”, “In My Rainy Weather”, “The Days of Youth”. And I believe this tape was put out at some point in 1990. The guys will later get involved with a band called “Searching for Beatrice” which you can listen on myspace. Other bands they were involved with were Scapegoat Palace, Phone a fish, Popetree, Stoker, Recidius Catonium, Emelies Garden, Baren med Vin & Josefin, and The Wonder Boys. I can only hope, feeling very curious, that they they continued making great jangle pop in the same tradition as Victorian Tin.

The last news from the guys were from 1999 when they formed Ephemeron. They have a myspace set up for this band as well but they haven’t logged in a couple of months. Who can blame them. Myspace is the messiest mess.

Supposedly there was a couple of years ago a Swedish fanzine that interviewed them. I believe the name of the zine was Billig Underhållning. If anyone has a copy of the interview and would be kind to translate to English, please do! I’m sure I’m not the only one interested in it.

And that’s about it. Six great songs, and one fantastic song that should have been an A side of a 7″ back in the day: “The Days of Youth”. Perhaps listening it many times works as the fountain of youth or something. I feel great when the first chords start chiming, a big smile on my face, and I think, nothing is lost, there’s so much to hope still.

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Listen
Victorian Tin – The Days of Youth

I’m on a shoegazy mood today. I’ve been playing the first 12″ single by The Suncharms after lunch. It’s been spinning for an hour today. Mind you, it only has four songs. But I’m not bored or anything by it. I actually enjoy it, puts me on a good mood while playing some computer games on a relaxing summer Sunday. Yes, I stayed indoors this weekend, the weather is way too hot to walk a block and not be bathed in your own sweat. One of those reasons you would never want to live in this swamp called Miami.

The good news is that I’ve got a lot of things done. I got back on track and I’m up to date with almost everything. Just missing to answer some emails, but that won’t be any problem during the week. I finally sent to press the Youngfuck 7″ and I can say the release date will be within the first half of October. When the test pressings arrive I’ll set the release date. There has been many pre-orders and that is quite something as the band decided to split after that beautiful gig at London Popfest earlier this year. Still remember going backstage and convincing all of them to come for pizza. But that’s a story for another day. On other Cloudberry news, Very Truly Yours have just unveiled a video for the single “Girls Tell You Secrets” that we just put out less than a month ago. Please click here and have a look at this precious piece of Super 8 video.

Next weekend there won’t be a Cloudberry update on the blog or an obscure band of the week. I’ll be traveling to Seattle and Vancouver, possibly Victoria too, for the Labour Day weekend. Should be fun. I will try to update during the week. In any case, I’ve been conducting many interviews during the past weeks, so hopefully there will be answers and that will be posted on the blog. Talking about the blog, I know I had mentioned before about making a couple of books containing the posts and interviews. I may pick up that again starting October. It’s just that the past months have been really busy! Also the blog will have it’s on label, the Cloudberry Cake Library. First release is shaping up and hopefully it will be successful enough for more releases. More news on that soon. You’ll be really surprised!

By this time of the day the Let’s Kiss and Make Up festival, their Indie Pop Days, must be over. I feel gutted that I couldn’t attend. Last years was among my favourite weekends ever. I’m sure it was a success. I have all the intention to go next year. I have a dream of working together with them into making a Cloudberry special event for the 5 years of the label. Would anyone be interested in that?

Talking about LKAMU, that might be the reason I’m all shoegazy today. My dear friend Kat, one of the organizers, is one of those that dies for shoegaze. She knows much more about it of course, and she likes the more spacey shoegaze as well. I like the poppy one. I’m a bit jealous of her having the chance to watch Sundae play live. Cristóbal’s band doesn’t play often, even less outside their native Spain. Their sound is not that far away from The Suncharms,  with a Spanish edge if you know what I mean. Like Suncharms mixed with Dar Ful Ful. That would be something. And then the hefeweizen pouring at the Kreuzberg Wasserturm, how would I not like to be there?! And the table football! Wonder if anyone could beat Anders this year. Good times for indiepop!

This week I’ve also got to listen quite a bit of CDs:
1. Jasmine Minks – Poppy White (Oatcake)
2. Tiny Fireflies – Your Love (Little Treasure)
3. The Bicycle Thieves – 1986-1990 (CDR compiled by the band)
4. Northern Picturel Library – Alaska / Love Song for the Dead Che (LTM)
5. Various Artists – All Done with Mirrors (Le Grand Magistery)
6. The Candy Dates – Yep! (Twang)
7. Burning Hearts – Into the Wilderness (Shelflife)

A couple of weeks ago I managed to get a copy of the Suncharms EP 12″ from ebay. Today I ordered the second 12″. I don’t think that would change my mind about this band. I’ve heard the tracks already and they are as good. The information on the band is scarce on the web but there’s one page, that like an oasis, has very valuable information. That is the Birdpoo page.

The band was formed by Marcus Palmer on vocals, Matt Neale and John Malone on guitars, Richard Farnell on bass and Chris Ridley on drums. They hailed from Huddersfield and got their name from a soft drinks factory from their home town that sold Dandelion and Burdock Lemonade in glass bottles. But before settling on that name they released one track on a compilation album called “Rubberoid” under the name “Charming Seed”. The song on this album was “Where’s Your Mind Gone”. Sadly I haven’t had the chance to hear the song or the album. And no results on google.

Not long after they signed with Norwich’s (which is not a barren land at all) Wilde Club Records, home of Catherine Wheel. With them they will release their first 12″, simply named “EP” being catalog number WILDE 6 and then later the “Tranquil Day” EP, also a 12″, catalog number WILDE 8. Both of them are a burst of guitars, layers and layers, and the whispered vocals of Marcus. The sound is addictive, feels big and it swoons, and then it swirls, it’s not dreamy shoegaze, it’s quite aggressive, it has that C86 edge and nerve that I love. “Sparkle” has also that psychedelic vibe, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was played at a club and the dancefloor got on fire. Well, at least in my dreams it would happen. I should try DJing it next time.

The tracks on the first 12″ are: “Sparkle”, “Reflections”, “Time Will Tell” and “One I See”. It was recorded at Epic Head Studies in Sheffield and remixed at Purple Rain Studios in Norfolk. The contact information doesn’t say Huddersfield though, but Broomhall which is a district of Sheffield to the west of the city centre. It occupies the land that once belonged to Broom Hall, a historic mansion still in existence today, which dates from at least the 15th century. Maybe a place to visit next time? Never been to Sheffield.

On the second 12″ we find the songs: “Tranquil Day”, “Wash Away”, She Feels” and “Space Ship”. Don’t have much more information on this record, but when it gets delivered to my house I could do an update. It is worth mention that “Wash Away” also appears on a Wilde Club Records CD compilation called “I Might Walk Home Alone”. Also “Sparkle” from the first 12″ appears on this compilation album. I’ve been looking for this compilation for a while as it includes tracks by Shine! and The Bardots as well. If you have a spare copy, don’t be shy! Send it my way 🙂

In 1992, a big highlight happens in The Suncharms career. They get invited to record a Peel Session. On April 26 of that year they record four songs: “Magic Carpet”, “Into the Sun”, Space Ship” and “On Reflection”. These were produced by Mark Engles. Might be great to hear those songs at some point!

From the Birdpoo page we also learn that they played at the Radio One’s “Sound City” festival in 1993. I believe Pulp and Aphex Twin played this festival. I don’t like these bands but them playing means this festival was quite big. After that they kind of split, not officially though.

Doing some research I found two videos on Youtube. One for Sparkle and another for Space Ship. The Sparkle one seems to be not a proper video but an edition of live clips, whereas Space Ship does look like a proper video. Do check them out! The user who upload them seems to be part of the band as it’s name is “charmingseed”. As you remember that was the first incarnation of  The Suncharms. Sadly he hasn’t been online since 2008.

And that’s about it. No more traces of this great band. Whatever happened to them? Two EPs and no album? Maybe they had more recordings and we don’t know. Would be great to know more about them. If anyone has any more information about them, please let me know.

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Listen
The Suncharms – Sparkle

Before leaving to UK last month I bought many records on eBay and sent them to my friend Jennifer’s place. You know, to save some postage. Among those records was the “Nothing in Your Heart” 12″ by Life With Patrick. I believe I paid 1.99 pounds and funny enough I would later find it, some days after arriving in UK,  in ‘Love Music’ in Glasgow for around the same price . Upon picking it up from the box, I told Krister to buy it for himself  but he didn’t trust me. “I haven’t heard this band yet” he told me. So Krister, have a listen now, and feel a bit of remorse for letting this one go 🙂

Before continuing this important investigation, let me have a little break here to see what I’ve been listening on CD this week:
1. Vitesse – You Win Again Gravity (Hidden Agenda)
2. Lovejoy – Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Matinee)
3. Lovejoy – Songs in the Key of… (Matinee)

My favourite Patrick song is Kirsty Maccoll’s “Patrick” of course. I wonder where the name of this band comes from? Patrick Swayze? Who knows.

Today while listening to the record on the turntable I remembered how Patrik Lindgren saved the day. It was Indietracks time, Saturday, and I arrived around 1pm to catch the 1:15 acoustic set by Remi on the train. First things first, I headed to the bar where I met Cristóbal. He couldn’t handle the heat inside the carriage of the steam train and said he would pass watching Remi and would stay at the Indietracks grounds. Understandable. I grabbed a Newcastle can and head to the platform.

You could see some people already waiting but no sign of Remi. Ian and Emma seemed worried. The steam train just arrived and I saw Patrik coming down the carriage with his guitar (he was playing later with The Garlands), and his amazing green backpack-chair. It was nice to see him again because I knew he would like to see Remi play too. I asked him if he had seen him at the station, but he hadn’t. Thing was that on this same steam train the gig was going to happen. We were just waiting and I was joking with him, asking him to play a Hormones in Abundance impromptu gig. Ian finally got in touch with Remi on the mobile and he found out that Monsieur Parson was in Butterley station. So we all thought that by riding the train we would go back to Butterley, pick him up and start the gig. That was the plan. The train driver had a totally different idea. He went the other way.

So the train headed the other way. And finally stopped. I guess the driver thought someone was performing. Patrik, Gustaf and me, were chatting close to the bar on the second carriage, not because we were thirsty, but because there was a big window right there, in between carriages. The heat inside these wooden wagons was unbearable. You could see the people chit-chatting, and wondering what was going on. Suddenly Patrik grabbed his guitar and headed to the front carriage. We thought he was going to try to find a better space, maybe a place to sit down. To my surprise, he went all the way to the front, opened  the guitar case, and started tuning his guitar. “I’m going to play some of my songs” he said. And there he was, Pata Lindgren, with his short sleeve shirt, bleached jeans and basketball shoes, playing some Ring Snuten for all of us. And it was really good! Patrik catches me cold, “Roque, do you have any requests?”. I shouted “Only Fun in Town!”. And that was just way too brilliant.

Patrik played around 7 songs before arriving back to Indietracks. The people were really appreciative, he had played for us just for the sake of it. I asked him later why did he do it, if he was nervous. He said a bit at first, but he said that it seemed the right thing to do at the moment. And I agree with him, there was a crowd there waiting for some great pop tuns. And Patrik delivered that to them. And everyone left the wagon later with a big smile on their face. I feel, that what happened right there, that camaraderie, that love and respect for the community, is what indiepop ‘means’. There is A LOT in your heart Patrik. You were our hero that day.

Back to Life with Patrick. This 12″ wasn’t their first release. There was another 12″ on the Tiger Lily label. Sadly I haven’t been able to get my hands on this one. Not sure which tracks are on this one. Could it be the “Swing on Revival” listed on Last.fm? In any case there is also another release on Tiger Lily. It’s a split 7″ shared with the Asphalt Ribbons. The track by Life With Patrick is “Wrong”. Just for the curious, these Asphalt Ribbons would later become the Tindersticks. Haven’t heard this one.

Now to what I have had the chance to hear. First I suggest checking the downloadable demos available on Last.fm. There you can download the tracks “Madonna”, Wrecking Crew”, “So Far Gone” and “About Time”. I can only wonder who uploaded these. Must have been someone from the band. How I wish this same person would have added some biography of the band or even some photos. Because honestly, there’s nothing online about them!

Now onto the blueish, greenish, 12″ I know. On the cover it reads big, “Nothing in Your Heart” (which probably is about one of those girls we sensible guys like falling in love with), and there’s a painted black heart. This artwork was done by Karen Sherridan and the record was released on Manchester’s In Tape Label. The catalog number is IT 070. Some of their labelmates were The June Brides, Rote Kapelle and Yeah Yeah Noh. The record includes three songs, the aforementioned “Nothing in Your Heart” on the A side, “Favour” and the instrumental “Something From Nothing” on the B Side.

I love and enjoy lots the B-side “Favour”. It has that galloping C-86-ish guitar I always die for. Great vocals, catchy lyrics, and upbeat drumming. Just exactly what I like on a pop song! For that song this record is worth buying. Have a listen and judge yourself. Anyhow…

The only other important information on the sleeve are the band members. David Jenkins on drums, Patrick Nicholson on vocals, guitars, John Conner on bass and Paul Foreman on guitar. That led me to a small paragraph on the Benny Profane’s biography page on LTM Records:

In February 1989 we did a one-month tour of Poland and The Soviet Union, including gigs in Warsaw, Vilnius, Riga and Leningrad. We just took guitars and travelled by coach and sleeper train – snow, forests, vodka and more vodka. Totally Glasnosted. Our good friends Patrick Nicholson (Life with Patrick, ROC) and Sue Digby organised the whole thing and it was a marvellous experience. We even appeared on Soviet TV for 60 seconds on a programme called 60 Seconds. The Leningrad promoter, a former circus ringmaster, stopped us mid-gig so we could watch ourselves before continuing.

So, Patrick Nicholson was also on a band called ROC. A little bit of googling takes me to this myspace where no one has logged in since mid-2010. It must be the same Patrick Nicholson because on this same band it lists Karen Sherridan, who was the one who did the artwork for the Life of Patrick 12″!

And that’s about it what I’ve gathered about this great lost band. If you happen to have the tracks of the first 12″, or a spare copy, if you know anything else about this band, want to share memories, please do. Would love to hear more about this great band!

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Listen
Life With Patrick – Favour

To my new job I walk around 8 blocks everyday. It’s quite close. Long gone are the days of taking the bus. Still, I still dream of taking the subway to work. There’s something about taking trains that I love. I don’t know if it’s the galloping sound, the shaky wagons, watching people coming in and out, looking around if there’s a cute girl to make eye contact, observing people, their clothes, their newspapers, their books. I’m always curious at what people are reading. Watching their hands, their shoes. I always watch also if people are balding, I will one day I’m sure, I am a bit obsessed with that. Anyhow, I don’t get to be in a subway that often. Maybe once or twice a year when I’m in New York, and then I usually take it lots of time very late at night, after a gig or going out, when it goes almost empty or with people so drunk that they fall asleep and miss their stop. And the other times I’m lucky enough to take my favourite mean of transport is when I’m in London. I must say that I’ve taken the subway also in Glasgow (which is a joke), in Berlin, Hamburg, Chicago and Stockholm. But none can compare to the network of rails under the ground of Londinium.

These days I’m very familiar with the London Underground even though I’ve never lived there. I don’t get lost, I don’t miss my stops, and I’ve even given directions to people. There have been times I’ve had to take the Overground, from Walthamstow or Brockley, but most of the time I’ve been taking the Jubilee Line, the Northern Line, the Central Line, the Victoria Line, and more. My memory is still fresh, it was just 11 days since I took the underground for the last time, taking the Piccadilly Line all the way to Heathrow terminal 4. It was the last day of a great trip around the UK, though I left very early that day from my friend’s Jennifer house, deep south in Lewisham, so I won’t count this day as a full day. But the rest of days, my memories of going up and down the escalators, with friends, by myself, listening to the handful of songs I’ve managed to put on the iPhone years ago, and saying goodbye to friends just as the paths fork towards different line platforms, are still very fresh in me.

Before continuing, let me have a little break here to see what I’ve been listening on CD this week:
1. Mo-Dettes – The Story So Far (Cherry Red)
2. Seapony – Go With Me (Hardly Art)
3. Brian – Bring Trouble (Setanta)

Just 3 CDs! I know, been quite slow, but I’ll start catching up soon!

“You are shaking my world, my subway girl”

The needle dances over this fantastic slab of black vinyl. I get a bit sentimental with the great lyrics of this song. I wonder if I have ever had any subway girl, or any girl that I could associate to my underground travels. I remember the one who I bought my first ‘remsa’ in Stockholm and rode with me the tunnelbana from Gullmarsplan to Hammarby, the same girl who later  would take me around in my first visit to London and not letting me get lost in that tangled network of little dots and lines of different colours that is the underground system. I remember clearly her red coat and silly hat, and her white tennis. The funny day when her and another friend invited the “air band” to the train’s crowd surprise, when they played the air guitar and the air bass. And then the trumpets come in, and the needle is reaching the end of the record. I play it again, it’s such a wonderful song. It’s Hellvyvelln’s “Subway”. And I know absolutely nothing about them.

As I recall my trips on different subway systems, with different friends, I remember the first time I took it. In New York City, in 2007, with my friend José. We took it from Penn Station to somewhere in Harlem that I can’t remember. We had met some friends and we needed to burn some time while we waited for the guy that was going to give us the key to the apartment we were staying in Brooklyn during the weekend. We were going to NYC Popfest that weekend. I remember we went to the apartment of Caitlin’s friend. If I remember correctly he played in the Alsace Lorraine band and was good friend’s with Isol, that Argentine muse that sang in Entre Ríos. He was an undertaker. At the time it resulted me shocking that an undertaker may like indiepop. Anyhow, my friend José, as a true Peruvian, asked if he could shower at his place. Nice.

Later that day we picked up some 75 cents carnitas from a Mexican place just next to the station, and rode the train, dripping salsa all over the train floor. Good times. I could go and on with stories about the subway that make my heart jump, but let’s go to the weekly obscure band.

I was introduced to Hellvyvelln by the great Peter Hahndorf when I was in Bremen with Nana, I remember he handed us a CD-R copy of a project he was working at the time called The Sound of Glen Waverly, a two CD compilation of Australian bands from the late 80s, early 90s. Included on the first CD was this fantastic track, Subway, by Hellvyveln. Some months after, I was able to track down this single on eBay. I think I paid very cheap for it, I think it was too obscure for even the indiepop collectors. It might be the case, if you google about this band, there is absolutely nothing aside from the obvious Twee.net entry (Peter’s page!).

The B side is “Elvis”, which is also a very nice track. But I’m obsessed with the A side, with “Subway”. It reminds me to many great bands and songs from the C86 era, from The Hepburns to The Chalk Giants or A Riot or Colour and more.  The record was released on Polyester Records, that was based in Fitzroy, Victoria, in Australia, and the catalog was LUV 13. This same label also released some stuff by Ripe and the great Little Murders. The record was recorded in August 1989 in Silkwood Studios, in Melbourne and released later that same year. It was produced by the band and Dane Simpson. Simpson also engineered it.

Hellvyveln were Jeremy, Nick and Andrew. No last names provided. The arrangements on “Elvis” were courtesy of Ben Grant whereas the trumpets on “Subway” were thanks to Stephen Grant. Where they brothers? Also Michael Kennedy helped on trumpets on this track. The horn arrangements on it came by the way of Dave Hannon.

Then the only other piece of info on the 7″ back cover are the thank you notes, but I can’t really recognize any of the people here. The band’s address shows that they lived in Brighton, Australia. There’s a Brighton every where, isn’t it? I was at the UK one, which I assume is the original, not so long ago either. Looked a bit like Miami, but with brown sand, and hills.

And that’s all there is about this fantastic, and elusive band. If you know anything else about them, what does the name Hellvyvelln means, who is the girl they sing about on “Subway”, if they had more releases, or even more songs, please get in touch! It would shake my world to know a bit more about these guys that penned such a beautiful song.

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Listen
Hellvyvelln – Subway

Hip flask: A hip flask is a thin flask for holding a distilled beverage; its size and shape are suited to a trouser pocket. Last time I saw one, was Leonardo’s at the Comet Gain gig a couple of weeks ago. Smart man, the beer at the venue was so expensive and bringing some vodka and juice makes so much sense. That’s my friend!

Hi there! Back from Indietracks and of course as everyone that attended I’ve been having the post-indietracks blues. That means that I’ll try to recover this week and next weekend have an extensive post about Indietracks and more. At this moment I can’t write much as everything in my head is quite messy! On top of it all I’ve been trying to catch up with emails, orders, and work, after being out of town for a week and a half.

But don’t think I’m moody, just tired. I was hoping that tropical storm Emily would hit us this weekend so I had the perfect excuse to stay in. Well, it didn’t happen, though we had some heavy rain today. I did go out and did groceries and some other errands. I should have rested. It’s hard to rest when you have a pile of stuff to do. Anyhow, the fanzine is out and the Very Truly Yours 7″ is out. This week I start working on the next release, the Youngfuck 7″. Keep your eyes peeled for that. Also this weekend I booked a ticket to Toronto to spend the long weekend of Thanksgiving. I will probably freeze. I would love to go see Niagara Falls.

I did want to blog again starting this week, after two weekends without obscure bands. I will skip the “CDs I’ve been listening to” section this week though as I really haven’t had time to listen anything really. So I’ll save that for next week. This week I want to introduce a band that the great Graeme Elston introduced me some days ago: Hipflasks.

It was such a pleasure to meet Graeme in London first and then at Indietracks. His set on the train, playing many of his classic songs, from Pure to Love Parade, was among my highlights. I will definitely cover that on my blog soon. We’ll actually make some interviews I believe! But for now, let’s review this fantastic band from his hometown, Newcastle.

Just after arriving from UK back to Miami, Graeme sent me a very nice email, linking me to many songs from this enigmatic band. “They were one of my favourites at the time, but as far as I know they never had anything released.. maybe a track or two on a compilation. Of all the bands from that period who’ve been reissued, none of them have songs as good as Hipflasks in my opinion. Witty. Clearly there’s a lot of Edwyn in his delivery, but I love his doleful voice too.“ He told me. He also mentioned me that they were featured on the first Woosh fanzine. So I ran into my fanzine box, unearthed that fantastic piece of indiepop that is that fanzine and this is what I found out:

“Following a recent Sonata at Newcastle’s ‘Riverside’, I managed to pin down the enigmatic Hipflasks, for brief exchange:

Woosh: There seems to have been quite a few changes to the band over the last couple of months, Tom, what are you up to?

Hipflasks: Well we’ve introduced the accordion playing skills of Miss Zoe Lambert, things were getting in a rut, and the one guitar wasn’t always enough to keep a full sound. Not that we’re sounding anything like the Chieftains….

Woosh: Indeed not, the accordion sounds great and gives the band something extra live and recorded, that most of the hoards of guitar bands lack.

If you’ve yet to hear anything of, or by the Hipflasks (which is likely, due to their deliberately ‘low profile’ approach. The band says “We want o either come from nowhere, or never have existed at all…”) then you have something to look forward to. Some classic songs, with melodies more instant than Birds Dreamtopping, with lyrics of subtle irony/humour on the ‘general dirt under the fingernails of life’.

Apart from some serious record label interest, meetings with A&R persons and the usual gigging, what’s happening Phil? “We’ve been working on new songs, they’re getting shorter, tighter and even better, in fact we’ve  about 40 or so to choose from live now”.

And how have the gigs been going? “Apart from one or two, very well, although we’re having a break to record a few more songs. We’ll keep you posted. Oh! and please come to our gigs”.

It also lists the band members: Tom Partridge (guitar, vocals), Andy Huscroft (bass), Phil Hayes (drums), and Zoe Lambert (accordion). Husky, the bassist went on to be in The Gravy Train (who released couple of 7″s on A Turntable Friend, Dolphin, Elefant and who hopefully we’ll cover in the blog) and Zoe was part of Friends of Harry and later became an Emmerdale Farm actress.

Their headlining appearance at the Riverside was on October 28th 1987. Graeme tells me: “The Riverside was a pretty big venue so if they headlined they must have had some kind of following.” I wouldn’t be surprised as all the songs I got are really nice! These are the songs that I’ve got the chance to listen: “All the Time in the World”, “Goodbye You Bastard”, “Let’s Pretend”, “A Year and a Day”, “Dorothy”, “Jellyfish”, “No One Should Live Here” and “Lovely Scar”. Great jangly pop! Because of the quality of these tracks one can only wonder why the hell there were no proper releases by this great Newcastle-Upon-Tyne band. From what we gather from the Woosh text, there was interest…

So why did they split? What happened to the other members? Were there more songs? It would be interesting to know the whole story of Hipflasks. If you know anything else about this great band, please share. Would love to hear more from them!

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Listen
Hipflasks – Jellyfish