Okay! Big news here! Our next 7″, Den Baron’s “Bonving”, will be released on July 1st! I will start shipping copies this Thursday and again, a reminder, if you are in Spain and want copies of any records let me know as I’ll be heading to your beautiful country next week.

I am very excited and happy with this 7″ by Den Baron. I think it came out great, 3 classic sounding indiepop tracks, and with great artwork for the jacket to boot. Do not miss this record. It is pretty pretty!

Remington Super 60: the Norwegian band is back after a bit with a wonderful and pretty song called “The Highway Again”. It is lovely. Fragile and sweet, with evocative vocals. I think this is my favourite song from my weekend!

Captain Scrunchie: Sarita, Shay, Zoe and Nate, a girl group from Richmond, Virginia, with artwork that resembles Beat Happening. Four new songs that make their demo simply titled “Demo”. The songs being “Tomorrow”, “True”, “Something Strange” and “Gift Horse”. They sound great.

Fresh: I have featured this London band on the blog before. And I am repeating because I like them of course. Now they have a new album called “Withdraw” that boasts 12 fun upbeat indiepop songs. The only problem is that if you wanted the vinyl version of it, only 5 copies are available! But there are CD copies too, so don’t despair!

The Caraway/Sweet Port: the two Japanese bands are part of a split cassette released by Kei’s label Disques Blue-Very. How cool! I had interviewed The Caraway before, but I was not familiar with Sweet Port. But hey, this sounds great. Three songs each, and they even cover Louis Philippe and Po! Great taste by the label and the bands!

Flying Fish Cove: Jigsaw Records just moved from Seattle to Portland and at the same time they are releasing new records! Impressive really. How productive is our friend Chris! This time around he is working again with the superb band from Seattle, releasing the “En Garde” EP. A 4 song CD that reminds us of bands from the 90s, like Twig or Heavenly. Good stuff!

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It has been a while since a Finnish band was featured on the blog, possibly since the wonderful Super. So today I wanted to talk about a classic indiepop band from Finland, Cessna, who I must say I don’t know much even though they are perhaps one of the most well-known bands that the country produced when it comes to indiepop!

The Cessna Aircraft Company was an American general aviation aircraft manufacturing corporation headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Best known for small, piston-powered aircraft, Cessna also produced business jets. For many years the company was one of the highest-volume producers of general aviation aircraft in the world. Founded in 1927, it was purchased by General Dynamics in 1985, then by Textron, Inc. in 1995. In March 2014, when Textron purchased the Beechcraft and Hawker Aircraft businesses, Cessna ceased operations as a subsidiary company and joined the others as one of the three distinct brands produced by Textron Aviation.

I have only just started trying to get all their records. It may take some time as they had quite a few singles plus many compilation appearances. But let’s see what I can find online for now, what do I need on my record collection.

The first release that Discogs lists dates from 1995. It is a tape called “Hobby-Like!” which was a self-released demo the band put together on September of that year. This must be pretty rare. It had 7 songs on it, “Utterly Alone”, “Cardamom Kiss”, “Reconcile”, “My Blue Anglia”, “Oh Grey”, “This Will End in Tears” and “Non-Stop”, and I wonder how many copies were made.

1997 seems to have been the year of their breakthrough as they put quite a few things out. The first was a 7″ on our friend Chris’s label Jigsaw Records (PZL006). It was a 7″ EP that included 1 of the songs from the demo tape, “Utterly Alone” and “Floating” on the A side and then “Garlic” and “Window Seat” on the B side. It originally was pressed on white vinyl and green sleeve and later repressed in April 1998 on white vinyl and yellow sleeve.

That year the band was to start working with Radio Khartoum. The Oakland based label was to be their biggest supporter. That year they released a double mini-CD album called “Bordeaux” (khz197). The first mini CD had the songs “Dreamt of You”, “Continental Dinner”, “Cardamom Kiss”, “Non-Stop” and “We Can Still Be Friends”. The second mini CD had “Birds”, “Skyscrapers”, “So Unreal”, “Explain to me Again”, “Sunday So Soon”, “Oh Grey”, “Rainy Season” and “Nikosia”. The song were recorded by Janne Jokinen, Aki Ala-Kakko and the band between January 1995 ad September 1996 and were mixed by Janne. The band was at this time Jani Tihinen, Kimmo Sääskilahti, Sami Rouhento and Tomi Takala, and on this record they had the help of Anna, Mikko and Saana. Also it is worth noting that the band hailed from the city of Tampere.

I visited Tampere when I was in Finland a few years back. It seemed a very quiet town. I didn’t check out any record stores and the Moomin museum hadn’t yet been inaugurated. I visited a museum that showed how people lived back in the day while working for the company Finlayson. I visited the area where this company, founded by a Scot, had their headquarters. I saw the river and its rapids. And their cathedral too that had this amazing frescoes by Hugo Simberg. I was there just for the morning as in the afternoon I headed to Hämeenlinna to check its castle.

The band contributed the song “It’s Time” to the compilation “This is Stereophonic Sunshine” (Castle-1) that the US label Sandcastle records released in 1997. Also, on this same year. the band had their song “Continental Dinner” on “Winter Rose” a compilation CD that came alongisde the 10th volume of the Beikoku-Ongaku magazine.

In 1998 the band returned with a new 7″ on the lovely Fantastic Records (fan007). Three new songs were included in the record, the A side had “My Blue Anglia” while the B side had “Well I Guess I Don’t Mind” and “Sunday Afternoon”. That same year the band had “Explain Me Again” on the legendary “Seven Summers International Pop Volume 2” that TweeNet Communications and Kindercore put together. I’ve talked quite a bit about this record in the past I think!

In 1999, on a silkscreened blue felt jacket and blue vinyl the band released “Television Song”, a new 7″. It had the song “Sunflowers” as the B side and was released by the Japanese label Honeydew 45 (dewbeedew-one). This is the only release listed for this label! Our friend Shirley Beans included them too that year on the compilation “I Made it Out of Clay: a Hannukah Pop Compilation” with their song “Home for Holiday”.

The year 2000 saw the light of day another single, this time on mini CD, on Radio Khartoum (khz100). It was titled “The Loves, Longings and Regrets of Cessna)”. It had 7 songs, “Summer Boy, Winter Girl”, “Why Be Bashful?”, “Milan, Japan”, “East Rigolo Motorway”, “What You Don’t Know”, “Coffee and Tea” and “Go Easy Gavin”. There is a much longer list here of performers, Anna Rouhento, Jani Tihinen, Kimmo Sääskilahti, Mikko Ojanen, Sami Rouhento, Tomi Takala and Tuure Välimaa. The art is credited to Bügelfrei who was of course Alexander Bailey who runs the Radio Khartoum label.

Their song “Milan, Japan” was to be included in the Philippines-only CD compilation “I’d Spend My Day With You” that was releasde by Universal Records (UR-1). There was a CD and cassette for this release.

2003. Another single, this time on 12″. It was a remixes record called “Time Ticks Remixes” (lento 301) that the Finnish label Amuri Air put out. It included “Time Ticks Away (Nu Science Version)” (Mikko Ojanen who produced some of the band’s music was in Nu Science) and “Time Ticks in Kauttua (Handmade Version)” on the A side and “Dub Ticks Away (Sami Koivikko Remix)” on the B side.

2004 would see the release of their first and only proper album, “Terminus”.  It came out on Radio Khartoum (khz303) and was released on CD. There are 14 songs, all mastered by Jiri Novak and recorded and mixed by Mikko Ojanen: “Untitled”, “Encore Toujours”, “What You Wanna Say”, “Untitled”, “Book”, “Wide Awake”, “Time Ticks Away”, “This Will End in Tears”, “It’s About Time”, “Like I Love You”, “Passikiven-Kekkosentie”, “Kauttua”, “Moving On” and “-“. Now the performers listed shrunk a little, Jani Tihinen, Jari Hilden, Kimmo Sääskilahti, Sami Rouhento and Tomi Takala. Bear in mind too that the “Untitled” tracks are not listed on the sleeve.

In the past, when covering Finnish bands, I’ve mentioned the 4CD boxset called “Sivulliset – Valikoima Suomalaista Vaihtoehtorockia Vuosilta 1985-2000” by Poko Poko Records. Here Cessna also appears, this time with their classic track “My Blue Anglia”. Almost 10 years later another label was to include them in another compilation. Jigsaw Records was to have their track “Television Song” on the “Puzzle Pieces” (PZL050) 2014 compilation that celebrated 50 releases of this label.

Is that all? Well no. The band also appeared on a tape called “McBain” that was released in the US I suppose sometime in the 90s. There is no date listed for it though we do know that Yuan-Min Lu compiled this tape in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Cessna contributed the song “My Blue Anglia” and they appear alongside other top 90s bands like Red Sleeping Beauty, The Cat’s Miaow, Moving Pictures and more.

After the demise of Cessna we know that Jani went to form Artisokka who released a fine album on Shelflife Records as well as the bands All Stars and Läski. Jari and Sami also were part of Artisokka, though Sami also played in Fuzzy Lights, Killa and Risto. Tomi was also part of The Villain.

I find some interesting details on a press sheet put together by Radio Khartoum for the “Terminus” album. There I notice that the band started in 1994. And that not only the band had a song remixed by Nu Science but that they actually collaborated with Nu Science on a single recording called “Maatamo” that was included in the 2001 soundtrack “The Soft Rains of Delta Cephel”. Ojanen, who I mentioned earlier was part of Nu Science, had contributed to every single release since a 1996 demo tape. Then I find out that Artisokka was going on as the same time as Cessna around the time that Hildén moved to Helsinki where he started that band.

I know there used to be a website for the band but it is long gone. So that’s about all I could find on the web.

Surely there are thousands of hits of the aeroplanes and so on of Cessna, but even finding photos of the band was tricky. So I would love to get some information about them. I noticed that Sam Rouhento was active on the Scandinavian mailing list in the 90s so I wonder what was their connection with other bands from the period. I would love to know what was on the 1996 demo tape that is mentioned to be the starting point for Ojanen’s collaboration with the band. If there are more recordings. And more importantly, what are they doing these days?

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Listen
Cessna – Milan, Japan

Friday and I can’t wait for the weekend. Especially as there is Copa America going on now, and as you know I support Peru, who will be playing Brazil tomorrow. That is overly complicated. A tie wouldn’t be bad. But we’ll see. Aside from that do remember that I am flying on July 4th to Spain, so if you are in Spain, in Asturias, or Madrid, and you want some records, let me know, I’ll happily bring them with me!

Mighty Mighty: so it seems the classic Birmingham band will be back with an album on Firestation Records pretty soon. That is terribly exciting! This news was announced when they shared this video for their song “Where Would I Be?” and one couldn’t help but notice that the band hasn’t lost it!

The Proctors: our other friends from Birmingham also have a new song and it is called “Silhouettes”. Not sure what will be the future of this song, if it will be released as a single or perhaps as part of an album. In any case I hope it gets released in some bona fide format because it deserves so!

Mind Wanders: this song and band I just discovered through Pierre from the Facebook group Twee Lovers Club. Mind Wavers hail from Thailand and they have a very sweet sound. “Time is Running Out” seems to be their latest digital single. It is pretty nice.

Orange & Lemons: I remember this band from the Philippines from many years ago. It seems they continue making music and they have a new song called “Pag-big Sa Tabing Dagat” on the Lilystars Records soundcloud. It is an interesting sound as it feels a bit of a mix of bossa nova and indiepop and also it mentions that it is influenced by “kundiman”, a traditional Filipino love song. Interesting!

Ocean Chimes: lastly a track from 3 months ago on the superb Indonesian label Shiny Happy Records. The song is called “Adios Amigos” and it seems it will be included in a new EP coming out sometime soon on this label! Good stuff.

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One of my favourite 7″s in my collection is the Collapsible Deckchairs’ “William Shakespeare” that was released in 1985 by the Mordent label. As I know very little about it why don’t you join me in finding out more about them?

The Mordent Music label. Who were they? It seems they released three singles in 1985 and that’s it. Aside from the Collapsible Deckchairs they released Baz Higgins and A to Z + the Girl Guides. But their first ever release was the Collapsible Deckchairs (dMOR1). This label was based in Cookridge, Leeds.

This 7″ with a portrait of Mr. Shakespeare on the cover art had the title song on the A side while “Ford Cortina” appears on the B side. This is quite interesting I must say, the Ford Cortina was a car that was built by Ford of Britain in various guises from 1962 to 1982, and was the United Kingdom’s best-selling car of the 1970s. 

I don’t think I need to say who William Shakespeare was, right? What about Stuart Skinner? Okay, he appears on the sleeve because he produced both songs. Skinner also produced another classic indiepop record, The Darling Buds’ “Shame on You”. Both songs were recorded at Vibrasound in Sheffield.

The back of the sleeve gives us a little more information. We know that “William Shakespeare” was written by Higgins and Morrison while “Ford Cortina” by Morrison and Higgins. Then on “William Shakespeare” there are some guest musicians, Paddy Hogan sang, Paul Stinchcombe played sax and Oonagh Stephenson the violin.

On the From a Northern Place blog there is a scan where it mentions the names of the band members, from left to right, as there was also a photo included in the record. It says they were Paddy, Baz and Simon Masters. Then I find that Mordent was run by Baz Higgins, which makes me guess that Paddy was Patrick Morrison. This also of course means that the second release on Mordent Music was Baz’s. And of course Baz was also part of A to Z + the Girl Guides!

Lastly, the only other thing I could find was a Spin magazine issue from September 1985 where there is a small review of the single. Incredible really as this was a US magazine.

Now, I hope someone can help me find out any more information about them!

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Listen
Collapsible Deckchairs – William Shakespeare

Now planning my next holidays, which will be in a few weeks in Asturias, Spain. If anyone in the cities of Oviedo, Gijón, León and Madrid, want to save on shipping for any Cloudberry releases let me know and I’ll be happy to bring the records you want with me. Just let me know!

Now here are some great indiepop finds!

Mousefolk / The Candy Darlings: There’s a Teatime Records Bandcamp now! What a surprise! This was the coolest thing from the weekend I think. I already placed my order of this split tape (that comes with a CD) that features two favourite bands from the 80s, Mousefolk and The Candy Darlings! There are 5 songs by each on this tape titled “The Kids Just Wanna Demo”. These songs are new recordings of classic tracks and demos too! I was lucky to interview The Candy Darlings many years ago, maybe it is time to interview Mousefolk next? 

The Candy Darlings: Speaking of the devil, the other release that is available to check out on Teatime Records is the 7″ The Candy Darlings relased back in the day. It seems some copies of the record were available but they are already sold out. The 7″ included 3 songs, but on Bandcamp the label has added a forth one for us to enjoy called “Railway View”.

The Crayon Set: “Summer Song” is the newest track by this Dublin 6 piece. I feel in the last few weeks I’ve stumbled upon many “summer” songs, I think it would be easy to make a mix this year. This one is really pretty, could be the opening track of this mix that lives (so far) in my imagination.

Bodywash: we can preview two songs of the “Comforter” album the Montreal band will be releasing on August 30th. These songs are “Reverie” and “Eye to Eye” and I have to say they sound brilliant. I hope the other 7 sound as good! I’ll have to wait until it is released I suppose. The album will be released on vinyl and CD.

Nax: who are these Buenos Aires kids? They seem to be intro dreampop and shoegaze and under that influence they have just published a nice new song caleld “Nuestra Noche”.

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Narcissus is a genus of predominantly spring perennial plants of the Amaryllidaceae family. Various common names including daffodil, daffadowndilly, narcissus and jonquil are used to describe all or some members of the genus.

Yoko Satori on vocals, Masato Ishida on guitars, Yasushi Donaka on guitar, Maikihiko Nomoto on bass and Yoko Ito on drums were the lovely Daffodil-19, a Japanese band that released two albums and an EP in the 90s and early 2000s.

As it is usual with Japanese bands I really know very little about them. In the case of Daffodil-19 is even worst, I still don’t own any of their records. I should track them down. If anyone wants to help with this crusade, I would be very thankful too. Anyhow… where to start? 1994.

That year the band released their “Audrey Carson” EP on the Wonder Release Records label (WRR026). This label, as many you may know is a very fine one, as they released Venus Peter, Sugar Plant, Penny Arcade or Debonaire among others. I really don’t know who Audrey Carson is/was, or why they named the EP after her. That is the first mystery here. The EP included five songs and was released on CD on September of that year. The songs were “Secret Halo”, “Inbetweens”, “Miles to Go”, “Audrey Carson” and “Presence Dear”. All songs were recorded by Taro Yoda and Hajime Ohnuki. The engineer for the record was Mitsuo Yasuda. Something interesting is that the song “Presence Dear” was actually a cover of Gary Valentine. The art was created by Misa Okonogi.

Another interesting fact of this record was that the lineup was different to what we would consider the “classic lineup”. Sure Yoko Satori was on vocals and Yasushi Donaka and Masato Ishida on guitar but on bass we find Yutaka Koga and on drums Sota O’Fulton. Yutaka Koga had been in bands like Venus Peter, Ecce Homo, Jupiter Smile, Rocket K or The Playmates.

Taht same year the band contributes a song to the “Hydrovane EP” that was released by Bloody Dolphins (BDBO-E0003) and that came along the legendary magazine Beikoku Ongaku. It was the third volume of the magazine and was called “That Summer Feeling”. The band contributed the song “Non”.

It will take 4 years or so until we hear again  from them. The band reappears and releases the wonderful album “Daffodilic” on Cardinal Records (BDCAR-DD0001). 11 tracks of superb indiepop, “Joan of Arc”, “Daffodilic Sunshine”, “Tangerine”, “Stranded Tower”, “Am I Troubling You?”, “Let’s Close the Circuit”, “All I hear Now is All” (this one produced by Shuntaro Okino of Venus Peter and remixed by Techla-P), “Planet News” (remixed by Eiichi Tanaka), “Cicada Daze”, “River Flow” and “Circuit Endless” (which was coproduced by Shuntaro). The band was the main producer for these songs.  The artwork for the record was taken care by Mayumi Hirooka. On this record Yoko also played flute and we see that Mikihiko Nomoto was now in bass. In drums though we find Kimitoshi Sotomura who had been in great bands like Here is Eden, Jupter Smile, Penny Arcade or Sherbets. The organ, keyboards, accordion and some backing vocals on this record came thanks to Mayumi Ikemizu who we all know from Three Berry Icecream and Bridge.

That same year the band contributed the song “Let’s Close the Circuit” to another Beikoku-Ongaku compilation: “Dream On”. This time it was issue number 11 of the famed magazine. Here they shared the CD with top bands like Girlfrendo, Tullycraft or The Aislers Set among others.

In 2001 the band would contribute a cover of New Order’s “Leave Me Alone” to the tribute album “Re:Movement – Tribute to New Order” that was released by SAL Disc (SALD-002). The year after, 2002, the band had their song “Re-Creation” included in “Pop Jingu Volume 3 (A Japanese Compilation)” that was released by Clover Records (CLCD-416). And lastly, in 2003, the band had their song “Sleepyhead” on the CD comp “Radio Cookie Scene 0011 April/May 2003” that came along the Cookie Scene Magazine volume 30.

That same year, 2003, the band released their last release, the album “Circuit” on Clover Records (CLCD-418). This album had 12 songs, “Sleepyhead”, “Crimson Star”, “Re-Creation”, “Memory Circuit”, “Stick Boy”, “Marcus#5”, “Sonambullistic Ray”, “Larkspur Blue”, “Honey Blue”, “Launderette”, “I Don’t Believe in Happy Endings” and “Vermilion Sands”. This album was recorded at Stonesound Studio and in their own house studio between February and September of 2002. The record was produced by Noboyuki Ohashi who was of course in the classic band Bridge. No we see the classic lineup of the band playing the record. The art was created by Masako Kato who was part of the great band Pervenche.

Now now, what are the connections of the Daffodil-19 members with other bands? We know that Yoko Satori had been in Marble Hammock as well as in Penny Arcade as well as collaborating with Venus Peter.  Yasushi Donaka was on Venus Peter. Masato Ishida was in Venus Peter, Penny Arcade, Jupiter Smile and Peltone. It looks it was a big extended family for these bands, right?

There was also a website for the band, the issue is that it now points to their Myspace which as we all know is really useless this days.

Aside from all of this information I could find on the web there is very little about them. I will try to track their releases as I’d love them in my collection, but I also hope there’s a chance to interview the members at some point. I would love to know more about Daffodil-19 and also of each and every band they were in!

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Listen
Daffodil-19 – Cicada Daze

Let’s start a new week with some weekend finds!

Able: my friends from Uppsala, who I interviewed some time ago, are back with a new single called “Another Of Our Things”. It sounds lovely, bright and chiming. There will be a B side called “Talking” soon too, and both will be available in all digital outlets.

Azure Blue: “Event Horizon” is the latest song Matinée is letting us preview of the wonderful new album “Images of You”! It is brilliant. I can’t wait for the album. It is already to pre-order with June as its release date. So I guess it will be out any day now? From what I’ve heard, it is already a favourite record this year.

The Motorcycle Boy: not really some music to hear if you click the link, but perhaps the best piece of news in ages. So yes, remember the wonderful band that had Alex Taylor on vocals? They had recorded an album called “Scarlet” back in the 80s but it never got released. Now Michael Kerr, who played guitar in the band, is going to release this album this October in his own Forgotten Astronaut Records. I’ll be keeping an eye on any news about it!

Sushi Backpack: the Japanese label Galaxy Train is releasing a tape by this quirky and fun band. The tape EP is titled “Your Room Looks the Same” and has 5 brand new songs that reminds one of Vehicle Flips, Tullycraft and Beanpole. Very 90s American pop sounding!

Naive Super: Yushi Ibuki, the keyboardist of Pictured Resort, is the man behind this project. So far I’ve been able to listen the fantastic “Pacific Sketches”, the opening track of the debut 7″ the band is releasing on Sailyard Records on July 3rd. 3 more songs should be included in it and will feature guest musicians from bands like Pictured Resort, Wallflower and Luby Sparks!

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Formed in Streatham, South London, Jamie Wednesday is definitely more famous for the band it became afterwards, Carter USM.

The band formed in 1984 with James Morrison on acoustic guitar and lead vocals, Leslie George Carter (later renamed as Fruitbat) on bass guitar and backing vocals, Dean Leggett on drums and percussion, Lindsey Lowe on trumpet and Simon Herny on saxophone. They sounded quite different to Carter USM, they more more jangly, more poppy, just as the many bands from the period. Before being named Jamie Wednesday they were called Jeepster,  The Ballpoints and Peter Pan’s Playground. I wonder if there are any recordings by these bands?

A Wikipedia entry on the band mentions that Ray Buckley may have played drums in the band. What does that mean? Did he or did he not?

The band released two EPs but it looks like they didn’t sell well at all. Both of them on the Pink Label that was run by Simon Down between 1984 and 1987. It is not the first band from this label I get to feature here as The Ringing was interviewed on the blog.

The first release was the “Vote for Love” single that was available in 1985 on 7″ and 12″ (PINKY 6). The A side, written by Morrison and Carter, was “Vote for Love”, while the B side was “White Horses”, a song written by Michael Carr and Ben Nisbet which was first released by Jacky in 1968. The 12″ included two more songs. The A had also “The Wall” which was written by Harlan Howard but made famous by Johnny Cash and the B2 was an original song, “Buttons and Bows”. All songs were recorded at Scarf Studios in London with Tony Poole as the engineer and Paul Simmonds as producer. The photgraphy on the jacked was taken by Maria Mortimer.

Their next release was the year after, 1986. The 7″ had “We Three Kings of Orient Aren’t” on the A side and “Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream” on the B side. This last song written by Ed McCurdy and made famous by Simon & Garfunkel. The record, with catalog number PINKY 10 was also released on 12″ and included one extra B side, “I Think I’ll Throw a Party For Myself”.

The band appeared on two Pink compilations back then and lately they’ve appeared on Cherry Red boxsets. In 1986 the band contributed the song “Till the Cows Come Home” to the 12″ compilation “It Sells or it Smells” (PINKY 11). This song was an original by the band and was recorded in London.

In 1987 the band appears on the “Beauty” (PINKY 15) compilation . They contributed two songs here, “Buttons and Bows” and “We Three Kings of Orient Aren’t”. This same compilation was reissued the same year by Justine Records (GREEN 1) in Spain.

In 2013 their song “Vote for Love” is part of the Cherry Red boxed “Scared to Get Happy” and in 2016 the song “We Three Kings of Orient Aren’t” appeared on the “CD87” boxset.

The only other information available on Discogs is that Ray Buckley aka. Mutley was also on Buddy Curtess & The Grasshoppers and Hidden Charms. James, Jim Bob, had also been in Who’s The Daddy Now? And Lesley Carter has been in Abdoujaparov, Ferocious Dog and Who’s the Daddy Now?

The band is also responsible for the name of the band Pop Will Eat Itself as an article by David Quantick about Jamie Wednesday in the NME, mentioned that pop music is ever-recycling its ideas and that eventually ‘pop will eat itself’.

The band split up in 1987 just before a scheduled gig. Some of the band members, James Morrison and Leslie Carter, decided to stay and play that gig. That is how Carter USM was born. Later on Dean Leggett was to join the superb indiepop band Bob.

Some information I find odd is that that it says that the band have many unrecorded and unreleased songs. Many of these were recorded on a portastudio which was sold to a friend of the band Aqua Maria Monday who was the Maria who took the photos for the first record. The rights of these songs seem to be now in possession of hers. One of them was “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You”. There is actually an interview on the website Everything Over 40 where Jim Bob talks about these songs, saying he doesn’t want to be available. On this interview he also mentions how Jamie Wednesday started as a band. It seems it was his alter ego, Jim Bob was playing these songs by himself while Leslie was calling himself Cartoon Carter. When Jim Bob wanted to play live that’s when Leslie joined and the rest of the band did too.

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Listen
Jamie Wednesday – Vote for Love

Met Martin from Brideshead last Wednesday, and as you remember he also runs the superb Apricot Records (we should do an interview!). So I got many many records, and enjoyed some beers. Then at some point Elisabeth from the lovely Leaving Mornington Crescent joined us. It was a small little indiepop reunion, talking about all sorts of things. I had a very nice time. I wonder why many friends from abroad are coming during this month to New York! Who will be next? Get in touch as I’d love to grab a beer with you!

Here are some new finds for this coming weekend!

Río Arga: I really like this Pamplona band. They are going to release an album sometime soon on Caballito Records and Mondo Canapé and so they are letting us preview the song “No Quieres Verme”. The song has a promo clip which I urge you all to check out. I missed their 10″ that was released by Caballito (I thought I was going to get it from the label and well, waited a long time and of course now it is sold out), so this time around I’ll just order it, because I don’t want to miss it!

Bedflowers: the Manchester band from the late 80s have put up on Bandcamp what was supposed to be released as a 12″, the “Little Deaths” EP. I wrote about the band many years ago, I think it might even be among my earliest posts. Sadly I still haven’t being able to interview the band. I hope that happens soon. But here you can listen to 4 amazing songs, “Address”, “Making Out in Public Places”, “Pillow Talk” and “Little Death”.

The Catherines: the Hamburg band is back with two wonderful songs, “I Can’t Believe You Leaev Me for That Dumbo” and “Fumbleknob”. The band is calling these songs as the “two sides” of the band, one being a piano ballad and another one being a punkpop track.

The Blue Herons: after two months the Lucerne, Switzerland, project by Andy Jossi is back. This is good news, as before this they made us wait a year! I hope they become more prolific as they really make lovely songs. This time around they are presenting us this new track called “The Way You Look at Me” which features Krissy Vanderwoude on vocals.

Happypills: the lovely indiepop project from Fukuoka is also back with a summer single called “Summersong”. It is very short, clocking under 2 minutes, but it is a sweet lo-fi poppy song worth including in your own summer mix!

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Many many years ago, I interviewed The Grooveyard. That time I asked Perry from The Grooveyard about a flexi they were part of. They had the first song on it, “Summer”, while the second song was by a band called Ever. It is time to go back to that flexi and find out any information about Ever because they contributed to this flexi a most wonderful song, “Sleepyhead”.

The flexi I am talking about was released by Playroom Discs (PLAYFLEX 1) in 1988. This label was started in the late 1980s by Gordon Kaye and Sean Sullivan and they were based in Brighton. They also ran the weekly club night Sunshine Playroom in the Escape Club. A top label. All bands they put out have been already featured here like Whirl, The Morrisons, The Grooveyard, and now Ever.

At the time of the flexi Ever were Lyndon Dempsey on vocals, Colin Ray on bass and Peter Whittick on guitars. There is a photo of the band on the inner sleeve of the flexi but it shows a four-man band and not a three one. I wonder who is the fourth in this photo. The drummer? It says that a drumbox was programmed by Nick Odle for the song.

We also know that “Sleepyhead” was recorded on a 16-track at Cherry Studios in Croydon and was produced by Andy Dalby and the band.

The band was to sign to the Midnight Music label that Nick Ralph used to run back then. With this label they were to release in 1991 an EP on 12″ vinyl and CD called “Virginize” (DONG 72). The 12″ had two songs on each side. The A side had “Virgin Eyes”and “Svg”. The B side had two remixed, “Schizo Virgin Girl” and “Interstate”, both remixed by Kevin Harris. Harris had also been the engineer in these recordings. The producers were Fluffy Bunny for “Svg” and Genesis P-Orridge from Throbbing Gristle for the rest of tracks. The recordings were done by Malcolm Page at The Twilight Zone in Berry Street, London though “Svg” was recorded at 124 Studio. The CDEP had the same running order.

The art for this EP was created by Malcolm. Then other credits include breaks, beats and management by Gordon Kaye. The songs were written by Dempsey, Whittick, Prosser, Steele and Kenny. I notice there is no more Colin Ray mentioned. Maybe the band lineup had changed.

“Sleepyhead”, as it is such a wonderful song, was included in the classic tape “Uncle Arthurs Pop Parlour” that our friend Dave Driscoll released in 1987.

In 1991 they had the song “Really Tired” on the compilation “Forever Changing” that was released on vinyl LP and CD by Beechwood Music (EVER 001). This compilation includes many great bands like The Impossibles, The Clouds and more. It even has a track by Blur.

Then in 1997 the band had their song “Virgin Eyes” on “Nocturnal – The Best of Midnight Music” that was released by Cherry Red (CDMRED). I suppose at this point Cherry Red already owned all recordings that Midnight Music had put out. This means of course that it will prove quite impossible to see a re-release of these tracks as Cherry Red is a complicated label. Unless of course Cherry Red puts a retrospective out themselves.

On Youtube, you can find a 1988 unreleased EP that the band was supposed to release with Playroom Records. It was to be called “Carousel” and it seems it already had artwork. What happened to it? Three songs were included, “Wednesday“, “Quicksand” and “Carousel“. How wonderful they sound! I would totally release them as a retrospective if I could!

On this same channel on Youtube we find a demo version of “Quicksand” from 1988. But that’s not all. This channel which I’ve explored extensively in the past on posts about The Friendly Fires and Bobby Scarlet, has more Ever tracks. For example there is “We Run and Hide“, “France Falls“, “Paper Tiger“, “Colour Scheme” and “Velvet“, all demos from 1984. Then there is a demo from 1987 of the superb “Wednesday“.

There’s a trove of tracks here indeed. There are two more demos from 1985, “The Winter of Love” and “Velvet“.

I found two more videos even for the band. The first is “Really Tired” which sounds BRILLIANT. The second is for “Interstate“.

I can’t find much more information about the band. I do believe Lyndon Dempsey has been involved in a band called Poppy Tea Room after he was in Ever. But there is not much more online about them. A shame as their songs are amazing. I am pretty sure too that they hailed from Crawley, so I am hoping people from the area remember them and can give me some details!

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Listen
Ever – Sleepyhead

It was very nice meeting with Martin from Baby Lemonade last Saturday for some beers. Talked lots about music, about the Glasgow scene mostly. It was great to hear so many anecdotes about those late 80s and early 90s. For those wondering about the retrospective album I hope the CDs will be ready next month, I’ll keep you all updated.

There has been a few more bits of music I’ve stumbled upon the last few days. So of course I will share with you all.

Blanco: last Friday I shared you the new video by the Tokyo band. Now I will share you the whole EP which is titled “Slice of Life”. It is a great record and I can’t wait for it to be released on CD on June 23rd! Definitely check it out, they even have a gig coming that same day if you are in Tokyo!

The Lousy Pop Group: it is a bit early for Christmas, right? But it doesn’t matter for the Depok, Indonesia, band as they are treating us to their latest digital single called “When Santa Got Stuck Up the Chimney”! It is pretty nice, so let’s save it for our holiday mix CDs later this year.

Flowerbed: now onto some superb shoegazy sounds by the Dallas band Flowerbed! I had featured them a few months ago and I am happy to do so again as this time there are 5 songs on their self-titled EP. The band formed by Steven, Andrew, Bailey and Nathan, have some terrific songs, all titled with flower names.

Kissamatic Lovebubbles ft. The Twelve Hour Foundation: the new Athens label Old Bad Habits are releasing two songs by the classic Greek band. They are not the old recordings but reworked versions with the cooperation with the electronic Bristol duo The Twelve Hour Foundation. Iit is being released on the 22nd as a 7″ and will include two songs, “Endless” and “Me”.

Herbario: this Santiago, Chile, band sounds terrific. It is the solo project of Ricardo Valdés and from what I understand his latest song called “Movimientos” will be part of the debut album he is working on. Lots of jangle here, lots of pop fun!

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The Crimpolene Explosion is one of those obscure bands that I am way too curious about. You see, I only know one song by them, “Souvenir”, which is absolutely fantastic. A rush of shambolic pop, ramshackling guitars and a foot-stomping rhythm that I am always left wondering if there are any more songs by them.

It has been years since I’ve been fixated with this song. Not sure why it has taken me this long to post about them. Maybe because I am in the mood of finding bands that would be great to put out? Well, that one song I know, called “Souvenir”, I would totally release it. It is strange that it wasn’t back in the 80s. That they didn’t get a single. Or a flexi.

The song did appear on a legendary compilation, the “Uncle Arthurs Pop Parlour” tape. We know a bit about this tape. We know it was our friend Dave Driscoll who was in The Aurbisons who put out this tape in 1987. Also I’ve featured a few of the band son this tape like The Grooveyard, The Doris Days, Bluetrain And Some Other Day. The tape, whicha acme in a clear plastic bag with a 20 page fanzine with presentations of all the bands. I’ve never seen a copy of this zine. I am hoping someone still owns it and could tell me what information appears for The Crimpolene Explosion. Any names? Where were they based? Any other songs?

I don’t know what a crimpolene is. I did find what “crimplene” is. Maybe there was a typo? Crimplene was created in 1950 by the British chemical company Imperial Chemicals Industries.  It is a thick polyester yarn. The yarn can be woven, but was most usually seen in a double knit. Crimplene fabric is heavy, wrinkle-resistant, wash-and-wear and easy to sew. It may have been named after the Crimple Valley which is near the ICI Laboratory where the fiber was developed.

Something interesting is that there is another band (or is it not another band?) that was formed in 2010 by members of the Birmingham band The Noseflutes. This is something I wonder as The Noseflutes were around the time the Uncle Arthurs Pop Parlour tape was released. Maybe they recorded a few songs under this name then and in 2010 decided to use it back? It is just a supposition. I couldn’t say.

There is absolutely nothing on the web about them. So either someone remembers them, or someone owns the fanzine that came with the compilation tape and can give me any details. I would love to know (and listen) more.

EDIT June 12 2019: Uwe from Firestation Records just pointed me to a post on the blog Indie Through the Looking Glass that our friend Jo from Bluetrain and Go Service runs. The post dates from a few months ago, April, and it is about a band called The New Tennessee Waltz. At first I didn’t know what was the connection until I played the songs that were available, “My Sin”, “Precious Days”, “My Town” and “Souvenirs”. When I played “Souvenirs” I knew it was the same song as “Souvenir” by The Crimpolene Explosion! I start to wonder then why did they release songs under two different names? There is some info about the band too, mentioning that the band was based in Fleet, Hampshire, and that they played many times at The Buzz Club, the club Jo ran back in the 80s. She describes the band as a semi-acoustic combo that wore great clothes. For example I know that they played at the club alongside the BMX Bandits and The House Hunters.
Their lead singer was called Gary, and they recorded at least one demo tape with 4 songs in 1986. These four songs are the ones available on Spotify now. Of course, I can’t support Spotify because it doesn’t share any of the indie ideals but, it is the only place right now to listen to these tracks. And the songs are so so good that I have to listen to them. I just wish they were released physically.

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Listen
The Crimpolene Explosion – Souvenir

Finds from last weekend!

Blanco: I like this Japanese band a lot. I have featured them in the past too. Well, today I found a promo video they have made for the song “Lazy” that will be included in their new EP “Slice of Life” that is going to be released on June 16th!

Drims: first time I’m listening to this Nuevo León, Mexico, band and it is through the video for their song “Casa”. It turns out it is not exactly a new song, it is actually part of their “Demos” from 2016 and 2017. The video is new though.

Ampersand: quite surprised to see the Ampersand EP titled “<<<<<<<<” on Bandcamp. I like this record that was released on 7″ back in the year 2000 on the lovely Fantastic Pop records. I have a copy of it myself. So I thought, if you are not aware of it, here is a chance to have a listen to this jangly record from the San Francisco band.

My Darling You!: really? the band is joining Matinée Recordings? That is quite a surprise! I never thought the sound of the band would be something that would fit in the label! But that is great news in any case. I love this band! It was many many years ago when I was in touch with them, even releasing a collection of their recordings. I didn’t even know they were around still. The two new songs that Matinée is releasing are “Thanks for Letting Me Stay” and “Spring”. Digitally for now. I am hoping a physical release!

Llojd: I found about this band through my friend David from Barcelona. He had shared the song “Drömmare och Visionär” which sounded great! I don’t know much about the band but the Soundcloud has many tracks by the Stockholm based outfit. Worth checking them out for sure.

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A 7″ I don’t own. An incomplete discography. No surprise here. That’s the case with many of the records and bands I feature, as these are bands I want to know their story, their background.

Wall of Orchids was Lane Steinberg. He wrote and performed all the songs the band released. The first two which were released in 1993’s 7″ with “Life Must Go On” on the A side and “Come Back to Me” in the B side. The label that put it out was Pop Look & Listen (POP-1) which seems to have been a self-release as there are no other releases listed on this label.

There is some more information on the sleeve. We know that the photo on the front was taken by Jamie Gordon and the one in the back by Adene Mechanic. Both songs were recorded by James MacMillan, John Siket and John Rosenber at Water Music Recorders in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Interestingly enough this record was reissued 10 years later, in 2003, by EM Records (EM7015EP) from Japan. Aside from the two songs that were included in the original release, it was expanded, with “I Could Have Told You” on the A side and “Great Blue” on the B side. We know that “Great Blue” was recorded at Wild Feed Studios in 1996 while “I Could Have Told You” was recorded at the same studio but in 1999. This song also had the help of Steven Katz. The record was mastered by Koichi HAra at Free People Studios in Osaka, Japan, while the art was designed by Yasuhiro Morimoto for Cloudy, Later Fine. Something interesting in this release is that it mentions that the songs are taken from the album “Late Steinberg Collection 1984-2000”.

The band did release another record under the name Wall of Orchids. It was a CD EP that the legendary label Bus Stop put out in 2001 (BUS058). This EP included 5 tracks, “Great Blue”, “If Not Now, When?”, “No One is Looking at the Rain”, “Come Back to Me” and “Life Must Go On”. All songs were written and performed by Lane. It is said that these songs were recorded wile Lane was managing a recording studio in New York, and when he wasn’t working he would take advantage of the studio’s equipment to record his songs.

There are also three compilation appearances. The first dates from 1996 on the Japanese CD compilation “New One” that was put out by Escalator Records (ESCD001). The band appears with the song “How High is Up?” and is accompanied in this compilation by great bands such as Charlots, Super or Lester Noel.

The other compilation mentioned is the one I was talking about before, the “Lane Steinberg Collection 1984-2000” that EM Records put out (EM1015CD). On this record we see some of his solo work, tracks by the bands Noel Coward’s Ghost, Tan Sleeve and The Wind. Wall of Orchids appears here too with the songs “Life Must Go On”, “I Could Have Told You” (written by VanHeusen and Cahn), “Come Back to Me”, “Give the Devil Has Due”, “Great Blue” and “If Not Now, When?”. It would be interesting too find a copy of this record as it is said it comes with a booklet with information about these recordings.

Lastly, two years ago, in 2017, the label Sugarbush Records put out the vinyl compilation “A Spoonful of Sugarbush” (SB027) where Wall of Orchids was included with the track “Come Back to Me”.

Aside from all this we know too that Lane has been involved with other bands like 8×8 and Cracked Latin.

Aside from that we don’t know much more about Wall of Orchids. Was it just a recording project? Did he ever play live these songs? Why weren’t there more releases especially in the 90s? Are there any more songs? I wonder. Who knows? Who remembers them?

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Listen
Wall of Orchids – Life Must Go On

Friday! That’s all I have to say today!

If you want some new music for the weekend, here you go:

Tennis Club: I’ve recommended the Joplin, Missouri, band many times now. Well, this might not be the last time, but this time I have to say that there are 9 songs to listen and a 10″ to buy from the band’s Bandcamp. “Pink” is the name of this mini-album that boasts a bunch of great songs, most of them very short, leaving you hoping for more.

Pictured Resort: the Japanese band is back on Sailyard Records preparing to release their second album on July 3rd. The album is self-titled and will include 12 songs and will be available digitally and on vinyl. You can preview one of the tracks, “Someday”, on Soundcloud. Sounds very good!

Real Numbers: the latest by the Minneapolis band is a 7 song compilation of live performances and radio sessions, including tracks from WFMU, a cover of The Golden Dawn and a live gig at the venue Secret Service. There are some nice jangly songs here.

The Silent Boys: I’ve always being a fan of the band formed by Wallace Dietz in Virginia. They have been making quality indiepop for three decades now. Their latest release is a 9 song album titled “By the Light of the Moon”. I would totally recommend it if you like classic indiepop, jangly guitars and fine melodies!

Espíritusanto: there are two digital singles available to preview while we wait for the new album “Exfuturo” that will be released on June 14th on Jabalina Discos from Spain. The Madrid based band is back with “La Clausura” and “El Rayo que no Cesa”, two terrific and catchy popsongs!

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The blue tit, Cyanistes caeruleus, is a passerine songbird in the family Paridae. It is 10.5 to 12 cm (4.2 to 4.8 inches) long. The blue tit is a widespread and common resident breeder. It lives throughout temperate and subarctic Europe and western Asia in deciduous or mixed woodlands. It is a resident bird; most do not migrate.

Dawn Chorus and the Blue Tits. You know who was behind this band? Liz Kershaw. Who? Elizabeth Marguerita Mary Kershaw from Littleborough, Lancashire, England. She, who goes by Liz, a pretty well known English radio broadcaster. Actually the third longest serving female radio DJ after Annie Nightingale and Janice Long. She celebrated 25 years as a DJ on BBC radio in 2012.

But she hasn’t only been a DJ. She has made music. And there are some great tracks she has been involved with of course.

The first Dawn Chorus & the Blue Tits release was a 7″ on Stiff Records (DAWN 1) in 1985. It had two songs, a cover of The Undertones’ classic “Teenage Kicks” on the A side and “Dream Lover” on the B side which I know as a song by Bobby Darin. The record came with a fold-out poster.

Something I do wonder about this project of hers was if all songs were covers. It may as well be. Let’s continue checking out her releases.

“I’m Going Down”, a cover of Bruce Springsteen, was her second A side. This 7″ was also released by Stiff Records (DAWN 2) in 1985. It included a B side, one that was actually written by Dawn Chorus, “What’s Wrong With Me”. Both songs were produced by Neil Ferguson who has been part of Chumbawamba, Sportchestral and The Donkeys.

The last release was came in two different formats, 7″ and 12″. Both had “When You Walk in the Room” as the A side and “Lonely Lips” on the B side. the first song being a cover of Jackie De Shannon while the 2nd I know from The Chordettes. Both songs were once again produced by Neil Ferguson.

The band appeared also in three compilations, but much much later than when they were around in the 80s. In 2006 the band contributed “I’m Going Down” to a tribute of Bruce Springsteen CD called “If I Were the Boss – The Songs of Bruce Springsteen” that Castle Music released. Then in 2016 the band contributed “Teenage Kicks” to the all-female vocalist CD boxset “Sharon Signs to Cherry Red” that RPM Records put out on CD and later, in 2017, School Daze on vinyl.

What else we know about the band? We know for example that Liz Kershaw is not the only DJ in the family, her brother Andy is also a DJ for BBC. The other two members in the band were Lindsay Forrest and Carol Vonderman who was already a TV presenter on the show Countdown until 2008. We know too that the band did a Peel Session in 1985 but only Liz Kershaw was present and not the other two girls. Why? I don’t know. Her brother Andy and backing musicians were part of the recording. For the session that was first broadcast on March 4th 1985 the band had recorded on February 24th of the same year the songs “Teenage Kicks”, “Photographs”, “Lovely Lips” and “That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine”.

Sadly I can’t find if the band played live at all. Or if there are any other recordings by the band. Of course there are many hits when it comes to Liz and Carol on the web, but not about her involvement with the band but with their more famous careers, DJ and TV presenter.

I do find something worth reading though, an article written by Liz on the Daily Mail from September 2010. Here she talks a bit how the band formed and her friendship with Carol. On it we learn that Liz stage name was Dawn Chorus, Carol’s was May Bank Holiday and Lindsay was April Showers.

Anyone remembers them?

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Listen
Dawn Chorus and the Blue Tits – What’s Wrong With Me?

I wonder if this was a good challenge, going through all the alphabet. I like these sort of things as it makes me dig deeper. I wonder what other sort of “challenges” one can don. I know at the Janglepophub they do themes for songs. Maybe that is an idea. Would love some suggestions so I can find out more music that way.

It feels too like sometime this summer I may revive the Cloudberry podcast. There is the possibility that I will get help with the “production” part. When my friend Toni couldn’t help anymore with that a few years ago, the podcast was over. But there’s some interest now though I’ve been told interviews have to be much shorter!!

New finds? Bien sur!

Friedrich Sunlight: Tapete Records will be releasing the new album “Sagt es Erst Morgen” on June 28th. To promote the album the label and the band have put together a video for the title song and what can I tell you other than it sounds great!! It was so cool by the way to see Ronny from Kleine Schallplatten and Fred from The BV’s in the video!

Tennis Club: another video, this time from the US band that has just released a 10″ on Elefant Records. The name of the song is “Vodkas” and it is a catchy one.

Lisasinson: went to check other new sounds on the Madrid based label Elefant Records. This band is totally new to me. None of my friends have mentioned or linked to them. From what I know it is a trio from Valencia formed by Miriam, Mar and María. The band has a new video for the track “Barakaldo” which is being released as a mini-LP though not sure in what format it will be released. Sounds fun!

Girl from Mars: I feel transported back to the early/mid 2000s where lots of lo-fi bedroom pop bands appeared. Everyone was recording at home. That’s the effect the Los Angeles based Girl from Mars made on me. She has a new 4 song EP called “Mousy” which is worth the listen. Fragile, cute, and very personal.

Blue-Very Pavilion: the Japanese label run by our friend Kei is turning 20 years! For this occasion the label has put together a tape compilation that features lots of great Japanese bands like Sloppy Joe, Thee Windless Gates, 101 Dalmatians, Johnny Dee, Alvysinger and more! Great release!

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The last letter of the challenge, letter Z. I made it! The turn now for letter Z is for the German band Zirf Gum Gum Baddel!

I can say I do own their “Poppin’ Pies in Flowerland” 7″ that was released in 1991 by the Love Lane label. I bought it many years ago, can’t remember where. Might have been on eBay. If my memory serves me right I saw their name in the Twee.net website and without knowing how they sounded like I just bought their record. A good idea, right?

This 7″ had not 2, not 3, but 5 songs on it. A good deal you might say. The A side included 2 songs, “Dentalmania” and “Potato Pie” while the B side had “Let Me Go”, “Simplicity” and “Fisherman”. All songs were recorded and mixed at Soundgarden Tonstudio in Hamburg between August 27 and 28 in 1991. Does this mean the band was Hamburg based? The answer is yes.

I love Hamburg. What can I say. It has been many years since I visited though. I hope I can remedy that next year. See all my good friends that live there. And had some good German food. Labskaus anyone?

The record was recorded by Vijay Sapre who had been in a band called The Gift which I’m curious about now as Discogs lists their album as an indiepop record.

Now, the band members. We know Zirf Gum Gum Baddel was formed by:
Jörn Tietgen – drums, tambourine, bass and vocals
Martin Dobkowitz – guitar, bass and vocals
Gregor Hartz – guitar, bass, vocals, drums and keyboards

Interestingly no compilation appearances are listed on Discogs. But there is a tape that the band release in 1993 that I was totally unaware it existed. This tape titled “The Abstract Happiness!” was probably sort of a promo tape with their latest songs. I don’t know how many copies were made but there are a few details that we do know. For example that it was recorded over a weekend in autumn 1993 on an 8-track recorder. There were four songs, two on each side, “Dirty” and “Scared” on the A side while “Come Inside” and “Like Spiders” on the B side. Now I notice that the band had lost Gregor Hartz at this point. Frank Andersohn was playing bass while Mathias Geisler played guitar and vocals on “Scared”. Also at this point the band was calling themselves just Zirf!

I see if any other bands are listed for the band members. Gregor Hartz actually went to be in Liedertafel Margot Honecker, Tulip and Die Singende Tulpe. He is the only one on Discogs that appears to have been involved in other groups.

I do find though that Jörn might be a book writer. I found three related Hamburg books that he might have published, “Das große Hamburg-Erklär-Buch” (2016), “St. Pauli & Schanzenbuch” (2014) and “Altona & Ottensenbuch” (2002).

I keep googling and it seems to be that Martin Dobkowitz is a media planner in Hamburg.

Not sure about the rest. But that sounds like worthy information I found. I do wonder though if this was their first band ever? Did they have more recordings? If they appeared on any compilation? Why no more releases? When did they split? I hope my Hamburg friends remember them and can point me in the right direction!

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Listen
Zirf Gum Gum Baddel – Let Me Go

About to wrap this “challenge” of bands with names starting with each letter of the alphabet. After this one, just one more to go.

The weekend was busy with friends visiting town and the Champions League final, but one always has to find some time to write about indiepop, isn’t that right?

Kinoue64: who is Kinoue64? It looks like it is a single person’s project from Japan. But other than that I can’t figure out any other details. The band have 3 superb jangly songs on their Bandcamp though they are instrumental. I wish they had vocals though! Maybe they will be added later?

Kidsmoke: the Wrexham, UK, band is back with a new brand song called “She Takes You Under” which shimmers! This song is the third single to promote the upcoming debut album the band will release this summer. So let’s wait for that!

The Slow Summits: this new band from Linkoping in Sweden has just uploaded 4 great indiepop songs on their Bandcamp. It says it is released by Hundred and Thousand Records, the question is, is there a physical version? Something pretty cool too is that our heroine Amelia Fletcher sings backing vocals on the opening track “The Spirit of the Lyrics” and also on “Regrets”. This is so good! Can’t wait to hear more! And please if someone knows if there is a CD or vinyl version of this let me know.

Horsebeach: a true blog favourite. I have featured the Manchester band so many times. The band is working on a new album these days which will be called “The Unforgiving Current” and the band has already started promoting it with the song “Dreaming”. They even have a video for it!

Seaside Stars: remember this band from Wieden, Germany? They released their album “The Magic of Stereo” in 2001, on Firestation Records. If you do that’s great, if you don’t that is great too. This is a great opportunity to check it out, the band formed by Hans Forster and Andi Schuwirth has made the album available digitally on Bandcamp now.

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This probably will be a short post. The letter Y is for The Yesterday Sky. Our challenge is almost over.

Only one song was released by them. It was a special occasion. But first we need to understand who were behind the band. It was illustrious people. Important names in the indiepop world. Two nice people from London: Annemari Davies and Robert Wratten who used to be in a band called The Field Mice. Yes, I assume you know who The Field Mice is, right? One of the best indiepop bands ever. They were around from 1988 to 1991 and released a bunch of records on Sarah. All classic records.

Now I remember I met once Bobby Wratten at a London Popfest. That was really awesome. I got a fan photo with him at The Lexington. Annemari I haven’t met but I love the way she sings. Together they would release records as Northern Picture Library and also later in Trembling Blue Stars. The thing is, between The Field Mice and Northern Picture Library they were called The Yesterday Sky.

They only released one song, “A Winter’s Dawn”, on the legendary compilation 7″ “International Pop” that was released by Mind The Gap (SEAGAP ONE) and Season Records (SEAGAP ONE). Mind The Gap being the label of Peter Hahndorf from Twee.net. Peter gave me a copy of this record many years ago when I visited him in Bremen. A record I cherish because it has songs by Red Sleeping Beauty, The Sugargliders, The Legendary Bang and The Yesterday Sky. All top tracks. Season Records was based in Australia of course. There was the intention of releasing more compilation 7″s by both labels afterwards but it seems they never happened.

According to the insert that came with the 7″ The Yesterday Sky only existed for this one song. I assume then that no other songs were recorded for this project? Or who knows? Maybe there were a few more in the same recording session? I would love to think that happened. Maybe in a parallel universe. The insert also mentions that the label was to release the Northern Picture Library albums on the French label Danceteria. As far as I know that didn’t happen. The label went bust and the band signed to Vinyl Japan. But that’s another story.

I find a blog called A Goldfish Called Regret that dedicated a post to The Yesterday Sky and other Bobby Wratten projects. Here the author describes with detail the song, how much it made an impression to him. Even though it doesn’t add any details or information about the Yesterday Sky, reading it inspired me. I love posts like this, where the love of music is number 1.

There is not much more written about this band or this song. Perhaps it was just a demo song. I don’t know. I just feel I would love to hear more. It probably won’t happen. But I do wonder why this project only lasted the one song?

EDIT: Peter from Twee.net just gave me an interesting tidbit on Twitter: there is a different, original version of Winter’s Dawn, but I never heard of any other songs, they moved on to NPL quickly.

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Listen
The Yesterday Sky – A Winter’s Dawn