I suppose the big news for this week was the announcement of a new box set featuring indiepop bands called “C89” to be released on Cherry Red. As much as one can dislike that label, as I’ve said before, it is a good thing for more people to be introduced to the sounds of indiepop. Especially it is nice to see many bands that have been featured on the blog.

Of course one would love these boxsets to have more unreleased tracks, or rare ones. But we all understand that it is kind of a “Greatest Hits” kind of set. Also we wish there was more info on the bands on the booklet, not just a few lines. And even more so that bands were contacted and asked to be part of these compilations. I know of many that have been included without being asked. Maybe they ask the labels that released them, I don’t know, but the truth is that many of the bands own the recordings and not the labels.

The 3 CD set will be out on July 27th.

Anyways, here is the tracklist for this compilation:

DISC ONE:
1. COME IN COME OUT –The La’s
2. TOM VERLAINE – The Family Cat
3. WHICH WAY SHOULD I JUMP – Milltown Brothers
4. NOTHING – The Telescopes
5. INSIDE OUT – Brighter
6. LIONS – New Fast Automatic Daffodils
7. LET IT HAPPEN – Red Chair Fadeaway
8. DO IT AGAIN – Korova Milk Bar
9. ADAM’S SONG – The Sun And The Moon
10. WHITE PEARL – Bobby Scarlet
11. IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY – The Ogdens
12. FREEDOM TRIP – The Seers
13. THAT’S WHERE CAROLINE LIVES – The Candy Darlings
14. BREAK THE STRAIN – The Rainkings
15. CONFIDENCE – Po!
16. SAD ANNE – The Bardots
17. SUN AND MOON – The Onset
18. DAYS IN THE SUN – The Ammonites
19. CAPTAIN ELASTIC – Rorschach
20. ANOTHER FRIENDLY FACE – How Many Beans Make Five
21. COMMONPLACE – Hey Paulette
22. THAT’S MY GIRL – Jane Pow
23. CHEATIN’ MY HEART – Kit
24. SHERIFF FATMAN – Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine

DISC TWO:
1. GOING DOWN – The Stone Roses
2. WAITING FOR THE WINTER – The Popguns
3. WICKER MAN – The Mock Turtles
4. WHAT WILL WE DO NEXT? – The Orchids
5. MY LOVE IS LIKE A GIFT YOU CAN’T RETURN – The Man From Delmonte
6. GREEN SEA BLUE – The Revolving Paint Dream
7. I KNOW SOMEONE WHO KNOWS SOMEONE WHO KNOWS ALAN McGEE QUITE WELL – The Pooh Sticks
8. JUST GOOD FRIENDS – Bridewell Taxis
9. YOU SHOULD ALL BE MURDERED – Another Sunny Day
10. DOCTOR GOOD AND HIS INCREDIBLE LIFE SAVING SOAP – The Driscolls
11. HOW CAN YOU SAY YOU REALLY FEEL?- The Charlottes
12. SWIMMING IN THE HEART OF JANE – Treebound Story
13. FINGERDIPS – The Prayers
14. DOLE BOYS ON FUTONS – The Snapdragons
15. ONE THING – Barbel
16. BRIAR ROSE – Choo Choo Train
17. SKYRIDER – Holidaymakers
18. IT’S UP TO YOU – Fallover 24 (previously unissued)
19. BISCUITS IN A TIN – Thrilled Skinny
20. A MILLION MILES – Brian
21. PLASTIC BAG FROM TESCOS – The Wilderness Children
22. 10,000 MILES – The Moss Poles (previously unissued)
23. FISHERMAN’S FRIEND – The Haywains
24. BOMBS AWAY ON HARPURHEY – King Of The Slums

DISC THREE:
1. PICKING UP THE BITTER LITTLE PIECES – The Claim
2. SWALLOW – A Riot Of Colour
3. FRIENDS – Daisycutters
4. TONY HADLEY – Peruvian Hipsters
5. THIS BIG LOVE – The Cherry Orchard
6. WELCOME – Ambitious Beggars
7. THOMAS WOLFE – The DaVincis
8. BIG CAR – Avo-8
9. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN TOWN – The Becketts
10. BUBBLE BUS – Sunflowers
11. PASSION – The Magnificent Lkage
12. TELL ME NOW – Strawberry Story
13. WHEREVER I GO (DEMO)- Newsflash
14. ALL YOU EVER SAY – The Mayfields
15. BURN YOUR BOOKS & JOIN MY LIFE – The Ruth Ellis Swing Band
16. YOUR LOVE IS… – Christine’s Cat
17. SAY WHAT YOU FEEL – Said Liquidator
18. ANNABEL LEE – Jane From Occupied Europe
19. SUN STILL SHINES – Big Red Bus
20. THE COLDEST WATER – Men Of Westenesse
21. MR. WATT SAID – The Church Grims
22. PULL THE PLUG – Jactars
23. SURFING DAYS – Me And Dean Martin
24. SEVEN RED APPLES – The Rain

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What would I do without the Heinz’s Youtube account. I keep discovering bands thanks to it. Archaic Smile is the latest, and now I’m hoping to find their one and only release on Blackbean and Placenta Tape Club.

The very old, or old-fashioned, smile. That is what the unusual name of the band means. And they hailed from Japan. I wonder how come their first and only release was on a US label instead of a Japanese one. Perhaps there are some releases in Japan that are not listed on Discogs. I’ll need to investigate.

What we do know is that “In This Night, The Red Guitar Whispers”, a 7 song mini-album, came out in 1999 on the Blackbean and Placenta Tape Club (BBPTC  148). The songs on it were “Behind Your Eyes”, “Square Love”, “She and I”, “The Under Water Life for a Rainy Day”, “Mica”, “It Makes Me Blind” and “The Boy”. So far, I’ve only heard two of the songs, so can’t wait to listen to the rest. Hopefully I can find a copy of the CD sometime soon.

On the credits I notice that the band was formed by:
Yuichi Abe: acoustic guitar, guitar, bass, drums, programming and vocals
Osamu Sakai: acoustic guitar, guitar, bass, drums and vocals
Kumiko Kikuchi: organ, keyboards, vocals

The lyrics are credited like this: Yuichi Abe penned 1,2 and 3. Osamu wrote 3 and 6, while Kumiko had 4 and 5.

It seems the CD was very DIY. It came on a fold over construction paper sleeve. Maybe even in different colors.

Aside from this release there are 3 compilation appearances listed with songs that weren’t included in the album. On “Pop Japanese Style!” released by Flavour of Sound Ltd (TFCC 87589) in 1998 the band appears with the song “And Birds Are Singing”. On this CD compilation I see some names I know like Corniche Camomile or Naivepop or Petitfool but most of the bands don’t ring a bell to me. I should explore, maybe I find some great indiepop songs here!

On the compilation “Blackbean and Placenta CD Compilation #4, Autumn 2000” (BBPTC 144), released by this label in 2000 the band contributes the song “I Don’t Know What You Meant To Say”. This looks like a fine compilation indeed with Nixon, Rabbit in Red, Didi and Dexter, Boyish Charms and more.

Their song “A Young Is… (We Respect Your Style, Softies)” appears on the Hong Kong compilation “Shining Sun” on Sofa Records (Sofa 2) from 2001. This CD comp came with a 44 page fanzine, so I’m supposing that in that zine there was more information about the band? Maybe someone has it and can confirm my suspicions? This compilation paints a good picture of those years with classic bands like Fosca, Goldstoned, Jumprope and more.

There is actually something else listed. And that is a VHS titled “Black Bean & Placenta Video Comp Volume 2”. On it there was a video of the band’s song “Square Love”. Sadly I couldn’t find it on Youtube. I would love to watch this video!

About other music involvements, I noticed that Yuichi Abe wrote the song “Weekend’s Daydream” that was included in Three Berry Icecream’s “Rain Drops” mini-album from 2006. It also seems that around the early 2000s he played some gigs by himself, solo. I could find a gig at Shelter in Shimokitazawa in Tokyo with Three Berry Icecream, Common Bill and Elikabass (June 5 2000). Nothing else. By him or the other two members of Archaic Smile.

And is it is the case with many Japanese bands, perhaps because most of its story is written with different characters on the web, it is impossible to find any information on the web. I wonder in which other bands they had been involved, before or after. Where are they now? Why no more releases? How did they release a record in the US? And how come they didn’t release anything on a Japanese label? Many questions, and no answers on the web. Hopefully our Japanese friends can help!

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Listen
Archaic Smile – It Makes Me Blind