How I wish to write and write, make long posts. But I’m busy. So busy. Today I’m waking up much earlier than usual for a whole day of orientation at work. Tomorrow the same. Every day I end up leaving a bit later than the day before. I know it is because I’m only learning the ropes, getting to know all the processes and dynamics of the workplace, but I haven’t been this busy in a long time! I am barely listening to new music! I’m glad I had a bunch of posts prepared in advance, as if I could predict the future.

So what’s new?

Avind: I think back in February I recommended one song by this Norwegian songstress whose real name is Tonje Tafjord. A song called “Dumrian”. I think at that time she was just telling everyone that her album was going to be released in May and was sharing some songs that were to be included in it. Today I find myself listening to the full album, that was indeed released in May. It is titled “Evig Blenda” and it has 8 songs all sung in Norwegian. It is pretty nice I have to say. The sort of pop music that is great for rainy afternoons. You know what I mean.

Dronjo Kept By 4: a new tape by this fan-favourite Japanese band is now available on Galaxy Train Records. That’s good news of course! The “Exhibition EP” is limited to 100 copies and brings to us 4 brand new songs: “Parasol”, “Flowers”, “Lemonn” and “Never Let You Down”. If you like your indiepop to sound canonical, to have boy/girl vocals, and be catchy, why not give these Japanese popsters a chance?

Useless Youth: this Mexico city quartet have just released their new digital single, “En Este Lugar”. I don’t know much about it, if it will be part of an album, an EP, or even something bigger. But I do know the guitars are jangly, the song sounds fun, and the art for the digital single is quite lovely. The band is formed by Yak, Ian, Pepe and Emi.

Pelopincho: I found this Argentinean band from Valentin Alsina (in the province of Buenos Aires) by following my friend’s David Bandcamp activity. He is such a tastemaker I must say! Anyways I found this song called “Guía básica para zafar del bajón un ratito <3 ” which kind of translates as basic guide to escape from being down just for a moment, and thought it was pretty good! There is not much more on their Bandcamp only another song called “Oscuridarks” which is also terrific. I really should keep an eye on this band. Sounds very promising!

It Looks Sad: and the last band for this post hails from Charlotte, North Carolina, and it is the dreamiest of the bunch. If you are into dreampop/shoegaze this might catch your ears. There are right now two songs streaming from their forthcoming album “Sky Lake” which is set to be released on November 2nd. Right now you can actually pre-order it by the way. The two songs you can check out are titled “Light” and “Drool”, and if I had to choose my favourite, it might be the latter!

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As I continue traveling the world remembering bands that made an impression on me I think of Sybil Vane from Spain, a superb girl group that was around the 2000s and that I loved dearly their first album. I must admit that I didn’t follow them afterwards, and I have no clue what are they doing now. I just remember loving that first record, playing a burned copy quite a lot on my CD player. Today I just managed to order a copy of that first album, “Mermelada de Tomate”, from Discogs, and I can’t wait to have it at home. Why did I wait so many years to get a copy?!

The ban formed by a trio of girls, Luciana della Villa, Padi Fuster and Rocío Campaña, released as far as I know two albums, a single and a split 10″ while they were around. I hope to complete my collection in the next few months if there’s luck.

The first album as I was saying earlier was that pop masterpiece that is “Mermelada de Tomate” that was originally released by Cydonia Records (CY29) in 2004. That album included 10 songs, “Iba a Decirte”, “Arde Puente”, “Invisible sin Desaparecer del Todo”, “Agua en los Bolsillos”, “Pomme de Terre”, “Heynananá”, “You Disparo Tú”, “Pachorra”, “Hongos” and a hidden track. Two years later, a bigger label called B-Core Discs would sign them and was to re-release this same album, changing the artwork reds for greens and adding three more songs: “Funhouse”, “El Sabe Que Le Estamos Mirando” and “Bananas”. This CD also included the promo video for the song “Invisible Sin Desaparecer del Todo“. The album was produced by Lluís Cots at the Cydonia studios at Vilassar de Dalt. It was mixed and mastered by Santi Garcia at Ultramarinos Costa Brava in Sant Feliu de Guíxols.

That same year, 2005, the band released a 7” with Piedra Papel Tijera Discos. This label doesn’t have a catalog, might it be a self-release? Also something that caught my attention is that three of the songs that were added to the reissue of “Mermelada de Tomate” are included here. This record had on the A side “Fecha de Caducidad” and “Bananas” while the B side had “Funhouse” and “Él Sabe que le estamos Mirando”.  Maybe this record was released before the reissue? Would be good to get the timeline right.

Moving on to 2006 to see the light of their sophomore album, “Turismo de Interior”. This one was released by B-Core Disc (BC.142) in both CD and LP versions. It is clear the label had a lot of hope in them. The record art was designed by Alicia Roselló and was again mastered and mixed by Santi García at Ultramarinos Costa Brava. The record included 11 songs: “Mientras Dura”, “Turismo de Interior”, “La Primera Piedra”, “Enésima Oportunidad”, “Fracciones y Fricciones”, “Madre Soltera”, “Perdiendo el Tiempo”, “Bahamas”, “Te Voy a Matar”, “Fecha de Caducidad” and “El Fusell Que Va Coquerir L’oest”. There was a video made for the song “Turismo de Interior“.

Lastly, in 2007, the band put out a split 10” with the band Mondo Ray on B-Core Disc. Interestingly the record doesn’t have a catalog number. On this record each band contributed 4 songs, and the A side was for Sibyl Vane. They had the songs “Me Quiero”, “He Estado de Ánimo”, “Te He Dicho Que No” and “Marinera”.

There are also a bunch of compilation appearances. The first is on the 3CD set “Indie Radio 2” released by El Diablo! (EDD163) were the band appears with their name spelled wrongly as Sybil Vane and contributing the song “Invisible sin Desaparecer del Todo”. That was released in 2005 just as the compilation “BCore 1990-2005” that included “Pomme de Terre” and “Made in Barcelona” double CD that included “Pomme de Terre” and “Invisible sin Desaparecer del Todo” that was released by Satélite K (SAT K-CD-043).

The band also appears on two 2006 compilations. On the “Rock One Vol.21” that was released by Rock One (RONECD021) they had “Invisible sin Desaparecer del Todo” and on the “Bendito Pop” released by Junk Records (JKR 30) the song “Turismo de Interior”.

For 2007 they had “Madre Soltera” on the “Sidecar: Tinc 25 Anys!” released by Sinedín Music (SM-108) and “Invisible sin Desaparecer del Todo” on the DVD compilation “Fruits of the Season” released by B-Core Disc (BC.132). Lastly in 2008 they had “Mientras Dura” on the “Bcore Disc Sampler 2008”.

I check out also what other bands were the three girls involved with. Padi had been in a band called Centella who released an album in 2008 on Producciones Doradas. The one that continues making music to this day is Luciana della Villa with the band Svper who were previously known as Pegasvs who released a super self-titled album in 2012 on Canada. I missed this record. And I didn’t know at the time the connection with Sibyl Vane. It is a small world. But that is not all, Luciana had also been involved in Anticonceptivas, Amore and Thelemáticos. She also contributed vocals to the band La Otra Gloria. Rocío had been in Thelemáticos and La Otra Gloria as well.

Time to dig deeper. And guess what, I immediately find an interview the girls did with Rafa Skam from the Yellow Melodies fanzine. Here they say a bunch of interesting things about the band:
– They hail from Barcelona, specifically from the Vallès Occidental
– Their name is indeed taken from the character with the same name from the “Portrait of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde.
– The title of their first album, “Mermelada de Tomate”, is due to the tomato mermalade Rocío’s grandma does.
– At the time Padi was studying maths and used to work at a pool. Luciana studied art history and had studied fashion. Rocío was studying fine arts and photography and some days used to work at the Heliogábal bar in Barcelona.
– They had played Primavera Sound and Easy Pop Weekend.

Then another interview on the fine Popchild website. Here we learn:
– The band formed during the summer of 2003.
– There was a time when Padi was living in Madrid. It was due to her studies.

On the University of Alicante website I notice the band played a gig there at the International Women’s Day and the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Student Council. Then on indierock.es there are mentions of the band playing at La Telonera in Granada (22/10/2005).

There is yet another interview I find on La Factoría del Ritmo though it doesn’t give us many details about the band but it does tell us what were the favourite songs about the band, how they like to tour, etc. It is in Spanish though.

I keep looking for more information. I only see biographies and biographies of the band with the basic information I’ve shared already. It is clear that the label managed to promote them in many different blogs and zines back in the day. I do see a few websites for their newer projects where their old band is mentioned. But can’t find the reason why they split. If they had been in any bands before being in Sibyl Vane. If there are any other recordings by the band. Perhaps some demos? If they prefer singing in Spanish over Catalan? And why? What about that 7″ they released? Why that one is barely mentioned? What other cities in Spain did they play? Did they ever play abroad? Many questions I would love to ask them.

Does anyone remember them?

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Listen
Sibyl Vane – Pachorra

I’ll go straight to the point with 5 new finds on the web. For the time being, while there are no news on the label side, I’ll just share with you some new finds straight away. I’m quite tired and busy to give much attention to the blog. Well, still it is not terrible, right? It’s much more than what you would find elsewhere on the web, right? Anyways…

Botschaft: oh wow wow wow! When Ronny from the Kleine Untergrund label told me a new 7″ was coming out by this brilliant band I couldn’t wait to see how it sounded like. I loved their previous effort so I knew I was going to like “Sozialisiert in der BRD”, the A side of of their new record. But more than liked it, I loved it. It is terrific! The record  was released last Friday, and it includes a B side of course and it is called “Daseinsweck”. But that is not all. No way. I’m even happier to share the promo video for “Sozialisiert in der BRD“, with footage of West Germany in the  90s. I need this record in my hand. It is only limited to 200 copies, so my sound advice is to get it fast.

Cosmo K: some lovely acoustic pop from this Madrid band. There are 7 very short songs to stream on Bandcamp and also available on 7″ vinyl which is co-released by Discos de Kirlian, Aplasta tus Gafas de Pasta and the band. I am really enjoying it, the smart lyrics and easy to sing along melodies. I hope I can get a copy of it. The band is formed by Ángela, Álvaro y Maria and it seems only 10 records are left. Damn. Everything feels so limited these days.

Señalada: still checking out the new releases by Discos de Kirlian, and I find a band I have never heard before, Señalada from Zaragoza, Spain. They have a 10″ out now called “Mejores Amigos” which sounds great. 8 songs, 200 copies of the record, and 4 people form the band: Alba González, Alberto Cano, Tito Andrés y Pedro Señalada. Looks like the Barcelona label is on a roll, finding superb up and coming Spanish pop bands. Definitely worth checking now and then what the label has to offer as they are very prolific!

Taneli Lucis: found this Peruvian duo through the Latin American Twee Facebook page. Luz and Daniel form the band and they seem to be influenced by Slowdive, The Radio Dept and Pia Fraus. Last year, in March 2017, they uploaded 6 songs to Youtube, and this might be their debut EP, I don’t really know. What I do know is that they sound pretty good. I hope to hear new songs by them in the near future.

Tropical Fuzz: Brazilian Guitars 1988-2018: lastly I want to recommend this comprehensive compilation done by the Brazilian label Midsummer Madness. I do believe the title is wrong, it should be 1998, but who knows. I don’t know which band is from 1988 in the tracklist. Maybe someone can tell me. Anyhow, it is true that some important bands from Brazil are missing, like Pale Sunday or Brincando de Deus, but it is definitely a good introduction to Brazilian guitar pop. Check it out.

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Personal Column were a Liverpool band, functioning from 1980-1986, based around the songwriting of Marc Vormawah and Colin Brown. Big favourites of John Peel, they did three sessions for his show, as well as sessions for Kid Jenson and Simon Bates.

That’s how Discogs introduces Personal Column. It is the first time I’m listening to their music. I was brought here thanks to the chiming guitars of “Same Old Situation”, a song I immediately dubbed as a long lost indiepop classic, even if it dates from 1983, years before C86 or similar terms were coined.

Listening now to some of their other songs I can tell they were more of a new wave band than a classic guitar pop band. Nonetheless there are terrific guitar pop moments in their songs, and their more new wavey tracks are still very enjoyable. So don’t doubt checking them out on Youtube where a trove of songs have been uploaded, including a video for their last single “Strictly Confidential” and a live performance at Exchange Flags in 1982 of their first single “Ignorance is Bliss?“.

I have a good feeling about them. I think I will find quite a lot of information and details about them, unlike many bands I feature here.

As I said earlier their first single was “Ignorance is Bliss?” with the B side “Dreamer in Babylon”. It was released in 1982 by Contrast Records (CON 001) which I’m assuming it was their own label as the only two records listed by it are theirs. The sleeve gives us our first clues about the band: their members. They were Mike Hayes on bass, Mike McCarrol on drums, Colin Brown on keyboards and Marc Vormawah on vocals and guitars. Thanks to these names we know that Mark Hayes had also been in a band called Salvation (which Cherry Red put out a retrospective collection in 2005)  and Mark Vormawah had played in John Jenkins and That Sure Thing and also released a solo album called “Too True” as Marc V. on Elektra.

The next year, 1983, their 2nd single would see the light. It is the superb “The Same Old Situation” that had “Terminal Suspicion” on the B side. It was released on Contrast Records (CON 002) and was recorded at The Pink studios in Liverpool in May of 83. It was engineered by Steve Power.  For this record the band lineup had changed too. We see now that Rob Boardman is also playing guitar and Terry Sterling has replaced Mike McCarrol on drums. Terry would later play with a band called Two’s A Crowd.

Lastly their last single “Strictly Confidential” was released in 1984 on the well known Stiff Records (BUY 202). It was released in both 7″ and 12″ formats and also there were international versions for this record in Spain, Netherlands and Germany. The 7″ single had the song “Here’s Looking at You” on the B side and we see that the A side, “Strictly Confidential” was mixed by Julian Mendelsohn and recorded by the band and Pete Coleman.

The 12″ version was available in Spain and included three different versions of “Strictly Confidential”. On the A side was the Radio Version and the Dub version, while on the B side there was the Long Mix. I wonder how this record do in the different countries it was licensed…

A good find with information about the band is an old website. It seems that all the data in it dates from 2006. The first thing that we see is a paragraph or two by Phil Hargreaves were he mentions that there was many tapes with recordings by the band. But was Phil in the band? It seems he joined at a later point as a saxophonist.

There is a biography by the band written by John Jenkins. He mentions that he was a keyboard player in a band called Come in Tokyo. This is the same John Jenkins Mark would play with later on in John Jenkins and That Sure Thing. It was at a venue called The Warehouse. He liked them, especially the songs “Friction”, “Here’s Looking at Your”, “Liverpool 8 999” and “Struck By Lightning”. Then he mentions a demo tape with 8 songs that included “A Women’s Place”, “His Master’s Voice”, “Jury Service”, “Personal Column” and “World in Action”. What other songs were in it?

Then he mentions that the first single was recorded at Alan Peters studio in Liverpool’s city centre and the band self-financed this record. Thanks to this the band got to appear on television playing both “Ignorance is Bliss?” and the song “Institutions” at Granada’s Exchange Flags programme. That’s where the Youtube video I linked earlier comes from.

Afterwards the band started performing new songs at gigs like “Same Old Situation”, “Astrology”, “The Nature of Things”, “Dangerous Places”, “Points of No Return”, “Cosmetic Surgery” and “Terminal Suspicion”. Were all of these recorded?

Then John says that he was asked to be the band’s manager, but because he was busy with Come in Tokyo he had to decline the offer. Even though he declined he went with the band to the recording of the 1st Peel Session of Personal Column. They recorded that day “Dangerous Places”, “Red”, “Same Old Situation” and “Friction”. This was recorded in 1982. Oh! I wish I could listen to it!

There was another Peel Session and also a Kid Jenssen Session. Then the band signed a publishing deal with ATV music. That would mean that Personal Column’s songs are (were?) owned by Michael Jackson?

Lastly he mentions a few other songs the band had like “Waiting for the Axe to Fall”, “Hook Line” or “Sink Without a Trace”. Then the band ended without getting a good offer to release an album.

Jenkins mentions he has a lot of Personal Column gigs on tape. Would be great if someday they see the light of day, maybe on Bandcamp or Youtube.

From pictures on the website we know the band played gigs at the Left Bank Bistro supporting Phil Battle & the Sensible Shoes, Magic in the Desert and Andy Pike, at the Masonic, the Everyman Bistro, The Venue, The Zigzag Club in London, and in Switzerland as part of a festival of Liverpool bands in that country. Something that is also interesting from these pictures is that Mark Moraghan, the television actor, ex Holby City, was at some point part of the band as a backing singer and percussionist.

On the BBC website, looking for Peel Sessions I find the tracklist for the other sessions the band did. The one from 1983, with Dale Griffin as producer, had the usual four songs, “Strictly Confidential”, “Sleight of Hand”, “Ignorance is Bliss” and “Crusade”. Lastly the 1984 session with Paul Smith as a producer had “World in Action”, “British Style”, “Cosmetic Surgery” and “The Price You Pay”. For this session the drummer was Tom Fenner.

Thanks to this website I find out that Mike Hayes and Robbie Boardman once did a European tour with Afraid of Mice. That Marc, Tony and Phil were once part of 16 Tambourines. That Mike Hayes was running Boho Records in the South Coast. And Phil Hargreaves was running his own label Whi Music.

Lastly the Music tab offers 17 songs to listen and download! Fantastic! There is even a cover art to download and print if you’d like to make your own CD.  Then a sort of discography that I think I will just copy and paste here:
1981: Recording at Open Eye studio, Liverpool (British Style, His Master’s Voice)
1982: ‘Ignorance is Bliss/Dreamer in Babylon’, single on Contrast records, recorded SOS studios, Liverpool. Marc Vormawah: voice, guitar; Mike Hayes: bass, backing vocal; Colin Brown: keyboards; Robbie Boardman: guitar; Terry Sterling: drums; phil hargreaves: sax on Point of No Return
1982: Peel Session one (Red)
1983: ‘The Same Old Situation/ Terminal Suspicion’, single on Contrast records, recorded at Pink studios, Liverpool.
1983: Session for Simon Bates (Dangerous Places)
1983: Session for Kid Jensen (Point of No Return)
1983: Peel Session two (Sleight of Hand, Crusade)
1984: Album recorded for Stiff, ultimately unreleased (Institutions) 1984: Gig at ICA, recorded for Radio Kent (A Woman’s Place)
1984: ‘Strictly Confidential/Here’s Looking at You’, single on Stiff
1984: Peel Session Three Marc Vormawah: vocal, guitar; Shaun McLoughlin: bass; Tony McGuigan: drums; Colin Brown: keyboards
1984: demo in Amazon Studios, Kirkby (New Victorian Age)

I keep looking for more information and see that Mark Vormawah had been playing gigs as late as last year. I noticed for example he played at the Folk on the Dock on August 26 2017. And has even released an album this year called “Goodbye to Yesterday” which is available to stream on his Soundcloud.

I also find out that Ed Shelflife had written about them many years ago. Maybe that’s why I had this sort of memory of having heard them in the past? My memory is not how it used to be.

Lastly I found out that Mark Vormawah had been in Upsets, Rob Boardman in Jass Babies, Visual Aids and Clique, Mike Carroll in Sebastian’s Men, Shaun McLaughlin (bassist in 1985) in Acheans and Afraid of Mic and Toni Guigan (drums in 1985) in Indangerous Rhythm. There seems to have been a session for Simon Bates and that the original lineup had recorded a session with John Hall in 1982 under another name, Inside Information.

According to a WIKI, the Kid Jensen included three songs, “Strictly Confidential”, “Influence is Bliss” and “Slight of Hand”. Is that right?

About Inside Information or John Hall I couldn’t find anything nor about the Simon Bates session. But I think in the end I did find a trove of information, even 17 songs to listen. Nothing to complain. Now, I need to get copies of the records!

Does anyone remember them?

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Listen
Personal Column – Same Old Situation

Still with very little time in my hands to write full-fledged posts, but I’m sure at some point soon I’ll be able to do so. In the meantime have a good weekend listening to:

Chorusgirl: one of my favourite London bands is this one. I’ve seen them only once, at New York Popfest, and they were brilliant. I wish I had put something out by them. Maybe it is not too late? Definitely they are busy these days with their new album “Shimmer and Spin” that will be out on November 2018 on the Reckless Yes label. To give us a taster of what to expect on their second album they have shared on SoundCloud the song “No Goodbye”, which is not “No Moon”, but it is still pretty good!

Toy Tambourine: a new song alert by this great Bandung band that often surprises us with some superb tracks on their Bandcamp. This new song is called “Sparks” and it seems to be a demo. Will it be properly recorded in the near future? Maybe for an album? I guess we just need to keep an eye and see what happens!

The Sweetest Touch: another Indonesian band, but this time one that has got a release out. And actually in a different country than their own. Their 5 song EP “Crystal Shades” is out now on Mellotron Recordings from Greece. The limited edition CD is already sold out, but the regular version is available to pre-order. The release is slated for October 1st. If you like Sarah-influenced popsongs, if you are into Field Mice and Brighter, this might be something for you. Very nice indeed!

Vamping: earlier in March I was recommending this band on the blog. Now comes October and the band will be releasing also on October 1st and again on Mellotron Recordings from Greece a new CD EP. In the same fashion as Sweetest Touch, there’s a regular CD and a limited special version which has sold out to. The EP is titled “Caves and Voodoos” and the one song available to stream, “Divination”, sounds lovely.

Plant Cell: and to finish this roundup I found this shoegazy band from Japan that was formed in 2015 by Eriko, Masaki, Nao and Sino. They have uploaded a bunch of digital singles to their Bandcamp but I’m mostly listening to what looks like an album called “Flowergaze? (Rebuild)” which sounds excellent. It dates from 2017, but for me this is brand new, so it counts! Did you know them already?

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Solace: comfort or consolation in a time of distress or sadness.

Been a while since I had a French band on the blog. I do have mixed feelings with them. I have got in touch with many, sent them questions for an interview, and never heard back. It is not the best. I wish they told me they are not into it, or lazy, or something. Maybe that it is hard to answer in English. I can understand that. Of course, this happens too with UK bands, and bands from all over. I write questions, and then I never hear back. But with the French it happens more often. Why?!

I hope if I ever get in touch with Solace and they are keen to answer my questions, I hope to get them. I would really love to hear their story. And share it with everyone. That’s the whole point of the blog. Finding out about all of these bands whose story is not on the web. Whose story matters to the big story of indiepop. Now that some books are being written about indiepop, it matters, as most bands on these books are the bigger names. But indiepop was also about the small names. It is important to acknowledge that.

Solace was a small band. A small band that eventually their two members went to be in a bigger band. A more renown band. I believe the story goes like this: A brother/duo from Rennes wanted to write a perfect love song. One that was touching and funny. About a perfect boy. Who could be that perfect boy? No other than Bobby Gillespie. The brother and sister wrote “My Brightest Star”, they produced it too. And from what I’ve read on the web it was kind of a small underground hit in France. Is that true?

This song was to be published on a label called Glam Records in 1991. It had the catalog (GLAM 001). It was released on a flexidisc. No other song on it. Just this one. Glam Records was to release a few more flexis afterwards by Smiley Post or Des Garçons Ordinaires. But this was the first one by them. The label was also based in Rennes. Who run this label?

The simple artwork for the single, printed in blue, black and pink stars, doesn’t give us any other information about the band. We do know though that the brother and sister duo were Chafik and Yasmine Mohammedi that would later form the band Lighthouse who were to release albums in labels like Rosebud and Tricatel, as well as on Glam Records (I suspect the siblings might be involved in this label in some way?). Yasmine had also been part of the band Novela and had helped a band called Octet.

Of course there is nothing else about the band on the web. You can find quite a good amount of information about Lighthouse. But I’m more interested now in the humble beginning. In their indiepop influences. In them singing about Bobby Gillespie. That period. If they had more recordings then. Why they didn’t release any other records. When did they stopped Solace and started Lighthouse. How was that evolution. I want to know that part of the story. It does seem Rennes had a great pop scene in the early 90s from what I’ve been finding out through the blog. Were they part of that scene? Did they play many gigs or they were more of a bedroom project? So many questions, and only the one song.

Who remembers them?

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Listen
Solace – My Brightest Star

These first few days at my new job have been hectic. Haven’t had much time for music-related things. I’m writing this on an evening, but I have not much energy. Nonetheless here are a few cool finds for your listening pleasure:

Las Infrarrojas: listening to these two brand new songs by this Alicante, Spain, band that have just been released on vinyl as a 7″ by the Madrid based label Hurrah! Musica, and I think, no surprise, the Spanish language song, meaning the B side, is the better one. It is a really nice tune. That doesn’t mean the A side is bad, but I am picking the B side over it. The A side is sung in English and is called “Can’t Have it All”, while the B side is titled “Infrarrojas”.

Manon Meurt: if you want to be transported back to the mid and late 90s, this Czech band from Rakovnik has the music for that. Their self-titled six song mini-album on Bandcamp mixes dreampop, shoegaze and more spacey sounds in a good way. It is quite a surprise to listen a band from this small town that lies in between Prague and Plzen. For sure it is the first time I listen to a band from there. They are formed by Katerina, Vojtech, Dave and Jiri.

Sugar Pond: hailing not too far from where I am at. From upstate New York, from the town of Hastings of Houston, this band’s latest effort is a 3 song digital single called “Triple You” with the songs “What End?”, “Wings” and “Wit’s End”.

Owls of Now: time for a London band. I was missing bands from the UK, I feel I’m not finding that many these days. Anyhow, this band has just put out a 4 song tape with the label For the Sake of Tapes. The band is formed by Caz, J Bell, Kate and Becky and I think some of them are based in Glasgow? I don’t have that part very clear. The superb “Lead Singer” opens the tape and then we find “Powers”, “Creature” and “Peg (We Rise From the Lake)”. Some nice pop tunes here. Definitely worth checking them out!

Enids: three Fat Tulips influenced demos? That’s what I found on this Copenhagen based Bandcamp! That is a great find if you ask me. Check out “Forget You”, “Scenekid of Misery” and “Springtime” by the trio formed by Louise, Julia and Charlotte. Hopefully these songs get recorded properly and they find a physical release!

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Here is another very obscure band that I will need help with. I don’t really have many ideas where to look. I stumbled upon wall after wall. Every path has been taken on the web and no information was found. The only real information that exists is that Splendour in the Grass put out one song called “Twist Me” on a split flexi in 1988.

It was 1988 when Penetration Records put out a flexi shared by 14 Iced Bears and Splendour in the Grass with the catalog number 001. It seems this was the only release by this label. It is definitely not the first split record that I feature on the blog with 14 Iced Bears on it. Not too long ago I was writing about Crocodile Ride and before that The Hermit Crabs who shared a split with the Brighton band.

Does this mean, maybe, that Splendour in the Grass also hailed from Brighton? Probably not. You see, on the sleeve of the flexi there’s an address for the band. It has Croydon in it. A bit north of Brighton.

The sleeve also gives us some little details about the band members.
Nic – vocals
Christopher – bass
Tim – drums
James – guitars

But there are no last names. So it is pretty hard to track them down with just first names. We know also that the band thanks Laurence for the gear, Dave for engineering and Robert Black for living.

There is no more information on the web. I can’t seem to find anything else. Maybe some of you, south of London, remember them? Were they involved in any other bands perhaps? What can you tell me?

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Listen
Splendour in the Grass – Twist Me

A short post this Monday. I prepared this over the weekend as today I’m starting a new job. Hoping it works out great.

There are a few good finds for me to share today:

Dot Dash: I was recommending their new album “Proto Retro” some days ago, today is a turn to show you an example of what you can find it. The Washington D.C. band has just published a video for their song “Unfair Weather” which is one of the best songs on the album, so it is a no brainer to click the link and check it out now. The album is now available on the Beautiful Music label.

Anemone: I’m checking out this brand new song by the Montreal, Canada, titled “Daffodils”. And it does sound great! The band is formed by Chloe Soldevila, Miles Dupire-Gagnon, Gabriel Lambert, Samuel Gemme and Zachary Irving and earlier this year they put out a tape and LP album called “Baby Only You & I” which also sounds great. I wonder why I am only stumbling upon them now?

The Radio Dept.: well, everyone knows how great The Radio Dept. is. I don’t have much to say. They don’t need an introduction. But this is just a reminder that a few days ago the band unveiled a new song: “Going Down Swinging”, so if you haven’t listened to it don’t wait any longer and head to the Bandcamp and sing along with the lyrics available there.

The Shining Hour: you can’t imagine how happy has made me to discover Mark Cohen is still making music. I lost touch after the release of the wonderful 3″ CD we did many years ago, around 10 years ago (!). To find on Bandcamp  the “Reflection” album, consisting of 14 brand new songs has really surprised me, thrilled me, excited me. I’m listening with a grin on my face the wonderful jangle that The Shining Hour has always made. The freshness, the class, the quality, are still there. Hopefully this will get a proper release somehow!

Odd Gesture: this release came out in February but it slipped under the cracks for me. Released by one of the best Jakarta labels, Dismantled Records, the 5 track debut EP by this poppunk combo formed by Fajar, Ruli, Mamet and Tyo is a rush of energy and upbeat happy tunes! I’m not sure if it is available on any physical formats but you can stream the songs “Sick Of You”, “Me Holding Hands”, “Saccharine”, “I H8 Sharesprings” and “You and I (Die Together)”.

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Today I want to share one of the biggest mysteries to me. One that for years I’ve tried to solve on my own with no luck. Maybe you can help me? It has to do with a Greek band. From where in Greece? I don’t know. Most possibly Athens. Their name? The Wish. Their releases? None.

What do I really know about then? Just a few things. I have a CD compilation called “Pop Secrets… From the Greek Underground Scene” that was released in 1997 by Voice (VOICE 001). This CD came accompanying the first issue of the Voice Magazine. This was a short lived magazine. Only 4 issues were put out. Each of them came with a CD. Definitely for us indiepop lovers is the first CD that interests us.

I only own the CD. It was given to me by a Greek fan many years ago after we did a trade. Must be more than 10 years ago. I didn’t get the magazine so I don’t know if there was any information about the bands that appear on the CD. In any case I would probably wouldn’t understand as I can’t read Greek.

The band I’m interested as I said was The Wish. They appear on the compilation with the song “All Over”. It is one of my favourite Greek indiepop songs ever. It is catchy as hell, dreamy, with great vocals and energy. So good that I have played it many times when I had the chance to DJ at different indiepop parties. Most of the songs on this compilation have a copyright, like many belong to This Happy Feeling, another to Lazy Dog and so on. The Wish doesn’t have any copyright, no ownership. It is like if the compilers had found this song from a secret box. There are no other compilations listed for the band. Nothing. We only know that the song was remastered at Morph Flow Sound Laboratories for the compilation. But who knows about the original recording?

We know the person that compiled the CD was Dimitris Argyropoulos. That’s really all.

I once uploaded the song to Youtube and I had the wrong photo. Someone called Maria Bati wrote that the photo has nothing to do with The Wish. That there are no photos from them. Maybe she knew them? Maybe she was part? I don’t know. I couldn’t find any connection between The Wish and her. I mean, for sure there was a woman in the band. Or more than one. But I can’t really figure out anything else. I don’t want to be guessing forever.

So today I make this plea. Hopefully my Greek readers know about this band. Who were they? Any details, even if it is small, would be appreciated!

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Listen
The Wish – All Over

Friday and I’m getting a little anxious. I start a new job on Monday, so don’t want to think much. I need to keep myself relaxed. I did go to see St. Etienne on Wednesday at the Bowery Ballroom as part of their tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of “Good Humour”.  And that was nice.

I felt there was more people than the last time I saw them. Or perhaps the venue was smaller this time. Oddly enough next to me was the head of HR of my previous workplace. I thought that was odd. Seeing her dancing to the songs.

Bob Stanley wasn’t on stage. I wonder why. I missed him. It is not the same as when the three members are part of the show. But of course seeing Sarah and Debsey dancing makes me happy.

Another thing that didn’t work out for the band was that the exclusive CDs that were going to be available for the US tour weren’t available. Seems the pressing plant didn’t provide them in time. So the band was taking money from whoever wanted them and were taking the address so they could mail them in around 3 to 4 weeks from now. I guess that’s fine. But I’m sure the band would have loved it to be differently. Now we just wait.

Oh, one complain. A t-shirt for $30 is a bit too much. Realistically $20 is ok. I wanted one, and could have paid that price, but thought it was unfair. So I didn’t.

The gig was very nice, what can I say. Even if I was not up front I loved hearing many songs that don’t get to be played at a regular Saint Etienne gig!

Future World Moves: many years ago I interviewed this fab 80s Scottish band. Well, this November 23rd the band is reuniting for a one-off gig at the Dreadnaught Bathgate venue. This is a reunion after 27 years of silence. It will be a very special night and I wish I could attend. So I urge anyone that will be around to make it. Should be great!

Comet Gain: so the superb Comet Gain have signed with the German label Tapete. To start this relationship the band will be releasing a 2-song 7″ on October 5th. Both songs are available to stream as snippets, though you can probably find them in full in some lucky blogs that get the chance to promote this record! Anyhow, they sound fantastic as always!! I dream of seeing them again live. It’s been a while!

Carbon Poppies: the latest on the New Adventures in Pop series by Elefant Records is this 7″ EP by a Louisiana, USA, trio formed by Allison Bohl DeHart, Jonny Campos and Peter DeHart. This seems to be a side-project by them. The Lost Bayou Ramblers, Kind Cousin and Brass Red are other of their projects. This 7″ will be released as a 300 limited edition and will include the songs “Rain On My face” (a cover of the Shape & Sizes original from 1966), “You and I”, “How Long” and “I’ll Meet You There”.

動物園釘子户 Zoo Gazer: some Chinese pop from this band from Xuzhou. A 7-song mini-album released on cassette by the Qii Snacks label form Guagzhou while the CD version was released by Shengjian Records from Shanghai. I don’t understand much (as expected), but there are some very pretty songs here like “Lakeside” or “Cube”. There’s some good stuff happening in China the last few years!

The Autumn Stones:  lastly for this week I have a Toronto band that have released a digital single a week or so ago with “The Bigger They Fail” as the main song and an acoustic version of it to accompany it. The band is formed by Ciaran Megahey, Dan Dervaitis, Gary Butler, Marcus Tamm and Ray Cara have a bunch of releases on their Bandcamp and this is their latest. I will check out their back catalogue in the days to come. But this seems to be a good introduction.

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Ade Moose and Walker were formed in 1984 in Watford, North London. They released two singles on Lost Moment Records: – “Peppermint Park/Lounge Around” and “Dance” in 84/85. Soon after the band split. Dave Williamson went on to play drums on “Blue Eyed Slide” by Brian Knight (also on Lost Moment) which also feat. Charlie Watts, Peter Green and Micky Moody. Shane Lamont re-located to Seattle U.S.A. and played in various bands

That’s how the Sound of Leamington Spa Vol. 5 introduced to many of us the music and the band Ade Moose and Walker. They appeared on the classic compilation series released by Firestation Records with their song “Lounge Around”. I believe too that this is also the only compilation appearance by the band. But what about the singles?

I have to track them down. I haven’t yet. But on Discogs only one of them is listed. So that doesn’t help me at all. The “Lounge Around” 7″ was indeed released by Lost Moment Records in 1984 and had the catalog number LOM 008. I’ll be honest and say I’m not familiar with this label even though they had released another band I like, Jesus Couldn’t Drum. I don’t really know the rest of bands, maybe there are some poppy ones in there? Maybe some of you know? I do notice that a band called The Krewmen have most of the releases on this label. They were based in Hempstead, Hertsfordshire.

As said on the description, two songs appeared on the single, “Lounge Around” on the A side and “Peppermint Park” on the B side. So far “Lounge Around” is the only song I’ve listened. The green and pink sleeve of a mysterious man smoking against a lamp post has a few details on the back sleeve.

The band members were: Alan Culley on percussion, Dave Williamson on drums, Paul Burgess on bass, Shane Lamont on guitar, Tony Randall on vocals and Colin Smith on sax. Both songs on the 7″ are credited to Randall and Lamont.  They were recorded at the Pyramid studios in Luton during March and April 1984.  It was engineered by Ian Nichols and two producers are credited Steve Carter and Nick Miles. The art was created by Nick Peck.

So what about that second single? Are there any mentions on the web about it? I look and I find something that scares me, the “Lounge Around” 7″ is owned by Cherry Red these days. It is part of its licensing catalog. That doesn’t sound good to me. How much crazy money would they ask to re-release it? Or to include the songs on a compilation? I prefer not to think much about that. I hope the band gets something out of it if it ever happens.

Well, I looked and looked with no luck. The thing was that the bio wasn’t really explicit about what had really happened. They had changed names when they released “Dance”. Now they were called Ice Club! That’s why! This record was indeed released by Lost Moment Records. It included the song “Dance” and an instrumental of the song on the B side. I see that this record has been listed on eBay as Italo Disco. Is it safe then to assume they changed their sound and style? I couldn’t find audio for it anywhere on the web. I’m very curious!

It looks like all the band continued in this project but Allan Culley. Dave, Shane, Paul, Colin and Tony were in it. They added backing vocals from Lisa Sinclair and it says that they had Toyah as a special guest!

Thanks to this listing on Discogs I could find that a few of the members were involved in other bands. It seems Paul Burgess had been in a band called The Early Bathers. Dave Williamson in a band called Ugly as Sin. But who has been in more projects seems to be the saxophonist Colin Smith. He is listed as being part in Moses and Helicopter Girl and playing in many bands including favourites like Marden Hill. Now maybe not all of these are right, Colin Smith is not the rarest of names. But I want to think he has been involved in most of them.

I keep searching and find a Soundcloud for Tony Randall, the vocalist, now based in Dorchester. Here he mentions that he has been in many bands such as Intravenous, The Rubber Chex, The Reason Why, Some Say, Mr. Pitiful and Superfly. Also he has worked with many other musicians and is these days a novelist embarked in writing two novels. Having said all that, there are a bunch of songs, dating from 3 to 7 years ago to listen.

And that might be my best find of all about Ade Moose and Walker. I wonder of course about the band name. Who or what is Ade Moose? And Walker? Why the change of names? Did they record any more songs as a unit? Did they play all over the UK? Were they also based in Hampstead as their label? Why did Shane move to Seattle? And if anyone has a spare copy of the 7″? Many questions, little answers on the web. Anyone remember them?

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Listen
Ade Moose and Walker – Lounge Around

Later today I’m going to see St. Etienne once again. Pretty excited about it. As always. Still some quiet days for me and the label. I’m taking it easy this week as the next one I start a new job, so want to be relaxed and not anxious if you know what I mean. Also there are some footie games I want to check these coming days. Plus I’ve been playing a lot of PES 2019!

Alpaca Sports: sweetness, that’s what I thought when I heard “Eiffel Tower”, the latest song the band is sharing to promote their 2nd album “From Paris With Love”. The album which I’ve seen shared on different social networks is out now on Elefant Records.  It is one not to be missed.

Deerful: I end up listening Emma Winston’s last album “Tell Me I Can Fix This On My Own” thanks to some friends sharing the song “Sunset Drive” on Facebook. I thought the electronic pop song was really nice! Then I was reading at the blurb on her Bandcamp and I learn that she created this album by programming all songs on a music programming language called ixi lang. I have never heard of such a thing. So this is quite a novelty to me. I wonder how many indiepop bands are using it? If any?

Cloudgazing: by Weatnu Records: this Oklahoma label has put together a very nice compilation, with a bunch of dreampop tracks. It is odd to have the label name on the compilation title, but maybe that’s their style. Some of the best ones are the songs by Citrus Clouds, Fluffytails and Wake in June. Definitely worth a listen.

Bye Bye Pride, A Tribute to the Go-Betweens: another compilation but this time put together by a blog. The Sao Paulo, Brazil, based blog The Blog that Celebrates Itself has compiled 15 tracks of bands from different corners of the world covering the one and only Go-Betweens. Of course, I prefer the originals, but it is pretty interesting to see how the bands have reinterpreted these classics.

True Primitives: formed by Clint Sargent, John Mason IV, Tony Hilsmeier and Eric Rubalcava, the Portland based band are definitely a good surprise. They have just released their album on vinyl LP and CD and called it “Revolutions”. There are 8 songs of dreamy and fuzzy pop. Can’t say I know much about them, but I believe this is their debut record. I think my favourite track so far on it is “Real Love”.

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I do own many Japanese bands records. But my collection is quite small percentage wise when you think of the huge output of indiepop that has been produced in the island country of the rising sun. One thing that makes this matter complicated is that the price of their records normally is higher than usual. The shipping is not that bad though. Today I was looking into getting the discography of another band with numbers on their name, just like the previous I featured, Cyclon86. The band in question is called Pitcher56 and I have to say I have just discovered them and I liked what I heard. So would be nice to own their records and listen to all of their songs, not just the ones available on the web. Right?

As far as I know, thanks to Discogs, the band put out two CDs in the first decade of the 2000s. The first one being a mini-album consisting of 7 songs called “A Direction of the Ball She Hit”. The cover shows a girl with a baseball uniform with the name Pitcher 56. It is clear to me the band was big fan of baseball. The mini-album included the songs “Tears of the Banana”, “Chubby”, “175”, “My Special Sneakers”, “Splash!!!”, “Good Night in Dim Light” and “Green Cart”. Quite a strange name the one for the first song. But I really like that song! The album was released by the label Broccolo with the catalog number BRO 801 in 2003. This label was a sub-label of the more known abcdefg*record label. This parent label is a fine one, and here on the blog we’ve featured one of their bands as it is Pastelshot. Would be nice to get in touch with whoever run this label and find out more. An interview would be great.

The song “Splash!!!” which appears on this record also appears on a compilation called “Good Compi” (a-g010) released by abcdefg*record in 2002. I’m not familiar with this CD but it does look pretty interesting with Spaghetti Vabune! or Naivepop or Petitfool.

5 years later, in 2008, the band now signed to TKO New Music Corporation releases their first album called “Her Abiding Memory”(TKOK0003) with that lovely artwork of a blond cartoon girl. I don’t know much about this label but it is true that a few of their releases were compilations of bands and labels from abroad as it is the case of La Casa Azul’s “Cerca de Shibuya” compilation or Firestation Records’ “Firestation Pavilion” double CD.

This album is kind of short. It includes 9 songs: “1,2,3!”, “Humming Word”, “Dewy Roses”, “WOMAN”, “すじをえがく”, “Another Season”, “Jump Out From the Bed”, “Love Letter (Original Version)” and “サヨナラマタイツカ”. One of these songs, “Jump Out from the Bed” was to appear on the 2005 compilation “Guitar Pop Crazy! (Bluebadge Compilation Vol.3)” that was released by Bluebadge Label (BBCD-009). On this compilation of course they appear alongside a bunch of terrific bands like The Pancakes, Cyclon86, Melting Holidays or Hairsalon.

Thanks to this compilation, we find some credits. We know the lyrics, at least for “Jump out from the Bed”, were written by Yuki Nakano while the music was by Hiroyuki Morita.

I look for them. Hiroyuki Morita doesn’t seem involved with music these days. Instead it looks like he is a medical economic journalist and formed director of the Yubari municipal clinic. From the Japanese Wikipedia I could find out that all members are doctors, and at the time of their debut mini-album they were medical students.

Then I figure too that “Tears of the Banana” is actually a cover! The original was called “Banana no Namida” by Ushiroyubi Sasaregumi, a female Japanese pop music duo from the 80s.

Then a third member. Now I have the complete lineup and what each of them played.
Hiroyuki Morita played guitar, bass, drums and programming
Manabu Takano played acoustic guitar, guitar and sang
Yuki Nakano, vocals

Then there is even more interesting facts. The band also released a single called “すじをえがく” on the Way Escape Sound label (WES – 056). I look for it, and find that it was a CD single with 4 songs: “To Draw Squirrel”, “Humming Word”, “Love Letter” and “Hypocratical Waltz”.

There are also more compilations where the band appeared. Damn. Discogs is so incomplete! So…

2007 – “Vol.1 Headstart for Happiness” on the TKO Music corporation with the song “1,2,3!”
2007 – “Vol.2 Boys (& Girls) Wonder” on the TKO Music corporation with the song “Another Season”
2010 – “TOKYO Auto Reverse” on the Studio Rissen label with the song “My Revolution” which is another cover, this time a cover of the Misato Watanabe 1986 single
2012 – “TKO New Music Corporation” with the song “Camera full of Kisses”

And now I hit a wall. I need to find the records. And I would love to find out more about the band. Where were they based? Where were they students at? In Tokyo? Have I figured out their whole discography? Were they involved in any other bands? Did they play any other covers? My Japanese friends who have been very helfpul as of late, give me a hand! Would love to hear more about this superb band!

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Listen
Pitcher56 – Tears of the Banana

Not much to update on this US holiday for Labor Day. I’m just staying home and relaxing after visiting Yale University and it’s museums this weekend. Here are a few finds from last Friday. See you Wednesday!

Blushing: released back in January, the 5 song EP “Weak”, is a lovely record. It is only available on tape, sadly, and you know I’m no fan of tapes. Those who female fronted jangly bands, this is for you. It is a winner I think. The band formed by Christina Carmona, Michelle Soto, Noe Carmona and Jake Soto (are they two pairs of siblings?) are based in Austin, Texas. And as you know, I also love when I see more latino people in indiepop.

Gauche:  sounding a bit like The Modettes or our contemporaries Shopping, this DC band has a tape mini-album called “Get Away With…” where their fun and catchy post-punk is a very nice discovery for me. Especially as this tape was released back in 2015! As the time I write these lines only 1 copy of the tape is available direct from the band.

Hearts and Tigers: another band from some years ago. I guess I couldn’t find much new stuff this weekend! But at least these are all new for the blog (and for me). Their self-titled album might be my favourite find this weekend, an upbeat and catchy indiepop band, with brilliant songs like “Sunny the Bully”. Don’t know much about them, especially would like to know if they are still going. The band is formed by Anna Wallis, Graye Guidotti, Ian White, Sarah Cameron-Puttonen, Sawyer Simonson and Zachariah Shelley. They are from Portland.

Babyteeth: some noisy guitar pop from this girl band from St. Petersburg, Florida. Formed by Gigi La Roux, Zsa Zsa St. Maire and Bunny Von Doren, they have their debut EP on Bandcamp streaming now. There are 5 songs of punky pop quality. My favourite? “Timothy”.

Strawberry Generation: lastly just one song out of their “Losing Our Way” EP. It is called “Coffee” and sounds pretty good to me. This Providence, Rhode Island, band is formed by Luk Yeah, Valerie Zhu, Max Lowndes, Michelle Bazile and Alejandro Subiotto Marqués and I’m guessing that the record will be available in a physical format as they are only sharing one song instead of all 4 that comprise this EP. It is slated to release on October 12th.

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C-Saim were ‘born’ in Bedford in 1980 when Bryn Daniels, Andy Bennette and Steve Brown were brought together from different bands in the local area. The blend of humor and common goals held the band together for 3 years during which time they built a solid and loyal following across the UK. With influences drawn from many different sources from hard rock to jazz and punk, the songs produced by C-Saim were always very original and in some cases, downright quirky!
Although the band stopped performing in 1983 the three original members still work together occasionally on song writing projects. 

Those lines were my introduction to C-Saim on “The Sound of Leamington Spa Vol. 3” compilation. On that classic CD released in 2003 by Firestation Records, the band contributed “Give and Take” one of the the songs that appeared on their one and only 7″.

Many years would pass until I got a copy of the 7″. Maybe a decade or more. It was Ed from Shelflife Records who helped me find their 7″. I believe he was the first to write a proper blog post featuring C-Saim. Definitely a lot of information on this post will come from there.

Two songs were included in the record, “Night Air” and “Give and Take”. It was released in 1983 by Summit Records (SUM 3 T). This label is quite unknown to me, but I notice they released two records before C-Saim by the bands Rizz Wah Wah and Close to Tears. The credits tell us: Andy Bennette (on guitar, vocals, piano, whistle, and whoops), Bryn Daniels (on 8 & 4 string bass, whistle, and whoops), and Steve Brown (on drums, congas, additional perc, whoops, and whistles).

Discogs lists two compilation appearances by the band. The first in 1982 on a Vroom Records compilation called “Lend An Ear 1992?” (TRY 1) where the band contributed the songs “Only Yesterday” and “General Custer”. I don’t know any of the other bands on this vinyl LP. Their other compilation appearance was with the song “Night Air”. This song was included in the “Disco Mix Club – July 1983 – Tape 2”, a cassette that was available exclusively to the Disco Club members for use in their discotheques and bars and to radio programmers for their information and convenience. Not sure how the band ended up here alongside Aretha Franklin!

As Ed wrote on his blog post, there was a website for Night Air Music, Andy Bennette’s publishing company. It doesn’t exist anymore but one can access to its contents through the Web Archive. And that’s what I’m doing now.

The band started in 1980. Andy and Bryn were in a cover band with a drummer and a bassist. When the drummer left, Steve Brown joined them and Bryn went to play bass, with the old bassist quitting. That’s how C-Saim was formed. The band became very busy playing in their hometown of Bedford and also all around the UK. There is a list of all the gigs the bands played.

Bedford. By the way, I feel it is the first time I’m featuring a band from that town. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, England. The town has a population of around 80,000, whereas the Borough of Bedford had a population of 169,912 in mid 2017 together with Kempston. Bedford was founded at a ford on the River Great Ouse, and is thought to have been the burial place of Offa of Mercia. Bedford Castle was built by Henry I, although it was destroyed in 1224. Bedford was granted borough status in 1165 and has been represented in Parliament since 1265. It is well known for its large population of Italian descent. Bedford is on the Midland Main Line, with stopping services to London and Brighton operated by Thameslink, and express services to London and the East Midlands operated by East Midlands Trains. The name of the town is thought to derive from the name of a Saxon chief called Beda, and a ford crossing the River Great Ouse. Bedford was a market town for the surrounding agricultural region from the early Middle Ages

It seems they played quite a lot at The Crown Cellar Bar in Bedford. But they also played at Horse and Groom (Bedford), Blowins (Luton), The White Hart (Bletchley), The White Horse (Husborne Crawley – an open air festival), Blowins (Luton), Fosseway Hotel (Leicester), The Crawford Arms (Wolverton), Bedford Town F.C. (Bedford), The Barron of Beef (Luton), Silsoe College (Luton), Ye Olde White Swan (Milton Keynes), Kempston Rovers F.C. (Kempston), The Swan (Stevenage), Nags Head (Woolston), Gladstone Arms (Peterborough), Kings Head (Bicester), Shuttleworth College (Old Warden), The Griffin (Bury St Edmunds), Mander College (Bedford), The Corn Dolly (Oxford), Motorcycle Festival (Peterborough), The Windsor Castle (London), The Red Lion (Watford), Civic Theatre (Bedford), The Art College Basement (Brighton), The Target Club (Reading), The Nowhere Club (Bicester), The Bull and Dolphin (Peterborough), National Youthrama (Rushdan), The Olde Black Lion (Northampton), The Romany (Northampton), The Youth Club (Olney), Mad Hatter (Luton), Verulum Arms (Watford), Althorpe Community Centre (Bedford), The Crown (Leamington Spa), The Penny Farthing (Oxford), The Chequers (Wellingborough), The Queen Victoria Hotel (Rushden), City Hall (St Albans), The Mail Coach (Northampton), The Starlight Rooms (London), The Gemma (Watford), The Sportsman (Chorley Wood), Polhill College (Bedford), Goodyear (Wolverhampton), Compass Club (Bletchley), Technical College (Luton), The Moonlight Club (London), Xtreems (Brighton), Clapham School (Bedford), Woughton Leisure Centre (Milton Keynes), Drury Lane (London), Boys Club (Bedford) and The Fortune of War (Brighton).

They got support by many bands too, Junction 13, Tobruk, Dave Ellis Band, Trimmer and Jenkins, A Bigger Splash, Jaxs, Sly Device, Primitive Culture, Alan Norman (Magician), Graphyte, Reasonable Man, Zip Code, Psy-Kicks, Ballon Sculpter, Why?, Chinatown, Bone, Faded Secret, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Kulture Kamp, Gone Fission, Dave Pugh, Rubber Chex, Diving Club, PLE, Giraffe, Liquorice Allsorts, Gambit of Shame, Going Straight, Living Daylights, Terminal Spectators and Actors and Famous People. To be honest, I don’t know any of these bands.

This interesting event list also mentions an interview with Soundmaker and a live session recorded at MK Radio in Milton Keynes.

But what is most interesting is that they recorded a 1st demo at the Crypt Studios in Stevenage on September 5th 1980. Which songs were they recorded then? That same year, on December 1st, at the same studio, they recorded their 2nd demo. Would be great to find out what songs appeared on both of these demos.

The band also want to record at Leyland Farm Studios in 1981. In 1982 the band went to record more demos at Rocksnake Studios in Rushden. What was recorded there? And in April and May that year they headed to Vroom Studio and Woppalong Studio to record again. My guess here is that they recorded the 2 songs that appear on the compilation LP released by Vroom.

In 1983 it seems they recorded another demo at Rocksnake Studios and Wilbury Studios. But not sure which songs they were.

The old C-Saim website gives us more. It seems Bryn Daniels went to be in a band called Tough at the Top after the demise of C-Saim. Also we learn two song names from the demos, “Johny’s Stripey Jumper” and “Last Time”. Seems the band lost the original DAT tapes for these recordings sadly.

Then I stumble upon a C-Saim Facebook page. But there is not much info there aside from photos. It was last updated in 2015.

Lastly, my last find on the web, is quite sad news. It seems that in 2013, Steve Brown, the band’s drummer passed away.

That is all I could find on the web. Quite a load of information thanks to that list the band had put together back in the day. But it also made me very very curious. They had made many more recordings other than the 4 songs that were released. There are more. And I really would love to listen to them someday! Does anyone remember them?

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Listen
C-Saim – Give and Take

Just a few days ago I learned that the Sound of Leamington Spa Vol. 9 is being pressed as I write these lines. That is quite fast if we think of it. Previously between volumes there were years! Now it is less than a year I think between Vol. 8 and 9.

From what I know the record will be released in double vinyl LP and CD. Again, against my liking, the vinyl version will have a bonus track. I don’t like this because I find it a bit gimmicky and forces me to buy both editions. I’m not a fan of these things. That is my only complain. The rest about these compilations I LOVE. I have always loved.

Some bands that will appear on it have been announced too like The Persuaders, Spish, The Flex, The Fontaines, Public Address, Chinese Gangster Element, Ten Million Quentins or Queue Dance. Some of them have been featured on the blog so maybe they are not that obscure anymore (?). It would be great to read the small bios about each of these bands. And discover new ones as Uwe has always had a talent for finding out superb obscure bands. I can’t wait for it!

Dot Dash: remember the Washington DC band I interviewed a while back? The band that features Terry from Tree Fort Angst? Well they continue making fabulous music. They have a new album out on the great The Beautiful Music from Ottawa, Canada, and it is titled “Proto Retro”. A good name, right? This is the sixth album by the band and it includs 12 new brilliant tracks, full of energy and catchyness. Terrific. It is available digitally and also on CD. I need a copy asap!

Cold Beat: I feel the San Francisco band has changed a bit their style. I remember them at NYC Popfest been much guitar based. Right? That doesn’t mean I’m not liking their new album “A Simple Reflection”, which is a collection of 7 Eurythmics covers. It is perhaps strange, but the story goes like this: Hannah Lew, vocalist of Cold Beat, stumbled across many 12″ of Annie Lenox’s band while buying records for her record shop Contact Records. She loved them and became obsessed. Now she is paying them a tribute of course.

The Hannah Barberas: the UK band is back! After their previous EP where we were introduced to the lovely music Damien, Lucy, Doug and Matthew are doing, they have three new treats for us. This digital EP called “Go Go Hannah Barberas!” includes “Slow Cooked”, “10 Free Tall” and “Go Go Pepper”. Three classic sounding indiepop tracks to enjoy!

Horrible/Adorable: this Oakland, California, girl duo has  anew split tape with the band Bearcats. I’m not much of a fan of the Bearcats shouty side, but the Horrible/Adorable track, “Surf, Rock, Beach, Party, UFO” is great. It is released by the label Yr First Crush which is based in the same city. Also be sure to check the band’s Bandcamp for some great pop tunes like “Merry Christmas, Baby”!

Zooey: it seems the tape for the album “Bottlerocket” is already sold out. At least we can stream the songs on Bandcamp. This shoegazy band, in the vein of The Swirlies, noisy and all, hail from Tallahassee and this is their debut album, released back in April 2017. 50 copies. I arrive late of course. There are 8 songs of fine lo-fi pop noise in here.

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If my memory serves me right I found out about this Finnish band through a great obscure indiepop collector, Joel from Portugal. He shared with me some mp3s of the first single of Bird in Bush, “I Fell Like Rome”. Weeks, or even days, after, I was happy to find a cheap copy of this single on Discogs.

There are a few more records by them, but I don’t own them. Yet. This single, “I Fell Like Rome”, was the first one they released. So let’s start there.

This 7″ was released by ABLoved (A-B-L-003) in 1990 and also included the song “French Resistance” on the B side. The sleeve doesn’t tell much, it doesn’t give us much information, just the lyrics for each song on each side of the jacket. There is also not much information about the label on Discogs. We do know though that another record was released the previous year, one by the Livin’ Drops. Looking on Finnmusic.net I could find out that the songs were produced by Jogi Kosonen who also played trumpet on the A side. The band at this point was formed by Tommi Viitamies on vocals and guitar, Micke Söderström on bass and Taito Palvanen on drums.

In 1992 the band released an LP album called “Swinging on the Edge of the Ridiculous” on Strawberry Records (SBLP-012). This label has been mentioned before on the blog when I wrote about The Kidneys. Again there is no information about this album on Discogs, just the tracklist. The A side had the songs “Something That Hits Me”, “Slur Like a Loose Mouth”, “The Twintown Affair”, “Pillars of the Past”, “Class Hatred” and “Keep it Up, Keep it Up, Keep it Up”. The B side had “A Few Real Slaps”, “Swinging on the Edge of the Ridiculous”, “Dad’s Little Slip”, “Mess With Me”, “The Bookkeeper’s Plight” and “I Fell Like Rome”.  Finnmusic.net gives us more details. The producer for this record was Gabi Hakanen with the exception of “I Fell Like Rome” which of course was Jogi Kosonen. Jogi also appears playing trumpet on this song and “The Bookkeeper’s Plight” and backing vocals on “Class Hatred” and “Pillars of the Past”. Gabi Hakanen did backing vocals on “A Few Real Slaps”.

One year later, in 1993, the band released another 7″ record on Strawberry Records (SBS-014) with the songs “I’ll Keep it Hidden” and “Love Speaks Out”.

In 1994 the band releases a CD album called “Young Immortals”. On this album the band adds Hannu Tornivuori on guitars. It was released on Strawberry Records (SBCD 021) and included 13 songs: “Central”, “Man Overboard”, “Department Store”, “Playing House”, “Groovy Engagement”, “Spokesman”, “Young Immortals”, “Man with a Memory”, “I’ll Keep it Hidden”, “Breaking Banks”, “Second Nature”, “Love Speaks Out” and “Unexpected Burst of Life”.

In 1998, after 5 years, the band releases a CD album called “Anyone for Heartaches?” on Lilith Records (LILCD 02). This label was really a cooperative society founded in 1997 by a group of Finnish artists including Maritta Kuula, A. W. Yrjänä, Kikke Heikkinen, Kauko Röyhkä, Martti Salminen and Mikael Söderström. The 13 songs on the album are “Little Women”, “Wasn’t Born to Swallow (a.k.a. The Rift)”, “Anyone for Heartaches?”, “Stand Up Comedian”, “To Get Things Done”, “Talk to Me”, “Goin’ Straight”, “Trigger Happy Girl”, “Down in the Canteen”, “Any Trouble Will Do”, “Popular Boy”, “Abandon” and “Talks to Me”.

Strangely enough it seems Micke Söderström only appears on this record doing some backing vocals on “Any Trouble Will Do”. It seems Mikko Tornivuori had replaced him by this point. Maybe he was brother with Hannu Tornivuori who was in the band in the previous album? Hannu had left too it seems and was replaced by Kim Mansnerus on guitar.

Other musicians that played in this album were Martti Salminen (from the bands Imatra Big Band and Stressi) on keyboards, Mikko Vilunki on theremin on “Little Women” and “Anyone For Heartaches?”, Mikko Mustonen played trombone on “Wasn’t Born to Swallow” and “Stand up Comedian”, Markus Jaatinen played percussion on “Anyone for Heartaches?”, “Stand up Comedian”, “Down in the Canteen” and “Popular Boy”, Assi Kartunen and Kaarina Kilpiö (from the band Little Mary Mixup) did backing vocals on “Any Trouble Will Do”, Jouni Lappalainen played banjo on “To Get Things Done”, Riitta Talasniemi (from Little Mary Mixup) sang on “To Get Things Done”, Toivo Kokko played saxophone on “Abandon”, Jogi Kosonen and Sussana Karkulehto did backing vocals on “Abandon” and Keijo Puumalainen played percussion on “Talks to Me”.

The album was recorded at Seawolf Studios in Helsinki and mastered by Pauli Saastamoinen at Finnvox. It was mixed by the band, Jogi Kosonen and Petri Majuri. The photography for the album was taken by Mia Söderström and Marjo Tynkkynen.

Lastly it seems a CD single was released that same year to promote the album. It included two songs that appeared on the album, “Anyone for Heartaches?” and “Popular Boy”. This was also released by Lilith Records (LISCD-03).

Something I did notice throughout all of their releses is that they always used the same typography for their band name on the cover of their records but on their first album “Swining on the Edge of the Ridiculous”.

There are a few compilation appearances listed on Discogs. On the “Reindeer Rock ’99” CD released by CD-Linja (Poropromo 99) released in 1999, the band contributed their song “Stand Up Comedian”. Then in 2005 their song “I Fell Like Rome” appears on the Poko Records 4 CD box set “Sivulliset – Valikoima Suomalaista Vaihtoehtorockia Vuosilta 1985-2000” (VALOSA 1). And lastly their song “Little Woman” appears on an undated CD compilation called “Rytmi-CD #1” released by Lilith (LISCD-06).

I look into what the band members are doing these days. I find out that Tommi Viitamies is today in charge of Helsinki City Library’s catalog of music. There is a good interview (in Finnish) about what his job consists of.  He is also today the managing director of the Lilith cooperative.

What about Taito Palvanen? He is still playing drums in a band called Martha ja Vankkurit which has a Bandcamp and a bunch of releases there. The last one being “Heikkaa”.

I must say it turns out to be quite a challenge to find information about the band in the Finnish language. I do get hits on google but not sure what to open. I do see a list someone in Rateyourmusic has put together of bands he has seen live. One of them is Bird in the Bush. So we do know that the band played at Botta, Club Berlin and Uusi Yo-Talo in Helsinki sometime in the 90s.

I think this time around I will need some Finnish friends to give me more details about the band. I also should try to track down their other records, see if in any case I can find sound files for these records. The few tracks I’ve heard, I’ve liked a lot! But there are so many questions to answer. Like if they were based in Helsinki? Did they get to play abroad? Was there ever any interest from big labels? Had they been in any other guitar pop bands?

Anyone remember them?

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Listen
Bird in the Bush – I Fell Like Rome

Not much news today. Kind of quiet for me though I’ve started working on a new compilation for the Cloudberry Cake Kitchen series. I will have some news about that soon. I should also start working on the 10th Cloudberry fanzine. It’s really been a while since I did one. The 10th should be the last so I’ve been putting it off for some time. But I think early next year would be a good time to put it out. Well here are some new finds this week:

Balaclava: the song “Checoslovaquia” and its video is my introduction to this Spanish band formed by Marta Sancho and Servet Domínguez from Madrid. The song, a bit more darker than the video, is a terrific 80s postpunk/guitarpop/new wave track, influenced by legendary Spanish band Décima Víctima. I don’t know much more about this song, their only release on Bandcamp, a self-titled EP dates from 2016 and doesn’t include this song.

Ping Pong Club: the Bandung dreampop band is back with a new digital single called “Skylight”, and what beauty it is! Formed by Muhammad Rizky and Hariz Lasa, the duo have been released in the past another brilliant track called “Venetian Blinds”. It is definitely a band to keep an eye, especially after they have signed to a Japanese label called Aesthetic City Records. Hopefully a proper record is in the way?

Reverse Play: C86 Re(dis)covered: the news of the week was the release of this digital compilation by the Amsterdam based label Fadeawayradiate Records. 15 contemporary bands have covered classic songs from the c86 period and it is really really good. I think most if not all versions are winners. Among the bands included we see our friends of Okama Flannel Boy covering BMX Bandits’ “Groovy Good Luck Friend”. Then there are some brilliant bands like The Catherines, The Death of Pop, Pia Fraus, Dayflower, Softer Still (who I like a lot even though they have a manager), or Distant Creatures. Now, why not release this on CD?

Rainsticks: checking out this Nashville, Tennessee, band that has just released a digital album called “Elkmont” which is a collection of 11 sunny pop tunes. The band is formed by Asher Horton with Ben Parks, Alex Benick and Rodrigo Avendaño and this is their second release after 2015s “Mystery Bones”. A very nice and feel-good effort here!

The Catherines: lastly, as it is becoming usual, I recommend the latest by the Hamburg band. Their newest song is not the one on the C86 compilation but one called “How Come You Think Everybody Likes You?” and it is available to stream at their Bandcamp. Once again music and words by Heiko, while in the recording Sandra joins him for some great vocal harmonies!

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When I wrote years ago, in 2011 I think, about The Jerks on the blog I hoped to get in touch with them. Some people left some comments, maybe they were band members, but they never replied my messages.

One of those comments said that a rumoured Jerks full album was to be released last year. Well, they were included in the “Manchester North of England” compilation that Cherry Red released. It would have been a good time to release this album with a renewed interest in them. But there was an important detail on my blog post that deserved further investigation. That of Rubber Orange, the band that came after The Jerks.

So let’s pick it from where I left it last time:

The Jerks – Oldham band. Line-up: John Reed – Vocals, Guitar, Lee ‘Drany’ Dransfield – Guitar, Warren Wrigley – Bass, David ‘Dids’ Gill – Keyboards, Andy Price – Drums. Before Andy Price joined the ubiquitous Chris Goodwin played drums for them for some time. Several demo tapes recorded at The Mill by Clint Boon. ‘Waterskin’ released on the compilation tape ‘Kite’ and ‘Didn’t Quite Make It’ released on the Bop/Joe Bloggs compilation Hit The North. After John Reed left Lee Severin from Too Much Texas replaced him and they replaced their set, soon afterwards changing their name to Rubber Orange.

A quick search for Rubber Orange and I stumble upon their myspace. A nice discovery! I’m enjoying their songs. 

So the band was mostly the Jerks, meaning Lee ‘Drany’ Dransfield (guitars), Andy Price (drums), Warren Wrigley (bass), David ‘Dids’ Gill (keyboards) with the addition of Lee Severin (vocals) who came from Too Much Texas. That would be then the lineup of Rubber Orange. And speaking of Drany Dransfield, it is important to mention too that in my previous post I shared a myspace too.

Of course none of these Myspaces work. It is awful really what happened with that social network. To think at some point it was so popular and very convenient for all of us music lovers. But at least thanks to the Myspace we know the band recorded many songs: “Shining Path”, “Invisible Friend”, “Magnetized”, “Shut Down the World”, “Manmade” and “Alone Together”. And according to this Myspace the band was based in Rochdale.

Rochdale is a town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines on the River Roch, 8.5 km northwest of Oldham and 15.8 km northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, which had a population of 211,699 in 2011. Historically part of Lancashire, Rochdale’s recorded history begins with an entry in the Domesday Book of 1086 under “Recedham Manor”. The ancient parish of Rochdale was a division of the hundred of Salford and one of the largest ecclesiastical parishes in England, comprising several townships. By 1251, Rochdale had become important enough to have been granted a Royal charter. Rochdale flourished into a centre of northern England’s woollen trade, and by the early 18th century was described as being “remarkable for many wealthy merchants”. Rochdale seems to be named from its position on the River Roch but is recorded as Recedham in the Domesday Book. The name is derived from Old English reced meaning “hall”, and ham, a “homestead”. Over time, the name changed to Rachedale and eventually Rochdale.

But unlike The Jerks, Rubber Orange did release a record, a 12″ EP. It was self-titled, “Rubber Orange EP”, and it came out in 1991 on the Zest Communications label (ZERO 2). Discogs doesn’t list any records under this label, might it be a self-release? What confuses me is that it seems to be the second release in the catalog, what was the first one?

There were four songs on the yellow and blue sleeve record. On the A side there was “Sun Shines Down On You” and “Shining Path” while the B side had “Shut Down the World” and “N.E. Groove”. The producer was Paul Sampson from The Primitives. It was recorded in September 91 at the Cabin studios in Coventry.

The Manchester Digital Music Archive has a bio and a couple of photos of the band. The photos show the band playing at the Hurricane Club. The bio mentions that the band toured extensively in the early 90s. That Lee Severin wasn’t from Manchester but a Londoner. That Zest Communications was their own label and that it didn’t get favorable reviews on the NME until it was reassessed when it was discovered that the critic, Barbara Ellen, had played the record at the wrong speed. It then says that the band split in the mid 90s with Severing going on to form Jubilee who signed to Silvertone Records. The remaining band members continued making music at least until he late 90s.

Until the late 90s? In which bands?

Another detail I could find on the web was that the band supported several big indie names like Inspiral Carpets, The La’s, The Soup Dragons, The Primitives, Northside, The Mock Turtles, Steve Diggle’s FOC and more.

Then I find perhaps more of a curiosity perhaps, I found a video of a band called The McRackins playing the song “This Jokes On You” live at Burnley Mechanics in 1991 with guest bass player Warren Wrigley of Rubber Orange. Check it out, it is rather good!

And that’s about all there is written about them on the web. Not much more. Would be great to get in touch with the band members, I have so many questions about Rubber Orange, and also about The Jerks!!

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Listen
Rubber Orange – Sun Shines Down on You