Last post of my four-part Popfest adventure special. Hope it was a bit interesting.

So what did I do throughout the Sunday of Popfest? I remember waking up very tired but not too late. The plan was meeting around 2pm the guys from Wallflower at the Ethiopian restaurant, Ghenet, that is a couple of blocks away from Littlefield, the venue for the day. This has kind of become a tradition for me, I always have lunch here before heading to the Popfest. Love, love, love Ethiopian food. No surprise that the Wallflower guys also loved it even though it was a novelty for them eating with their hands, picking the meat and vegetables with the injera.

I think we arrived a bit early to Littlefield anyways. Think we were too hungry and ate so fast. So we hanged, very tired and quietly, in the front area of the venue. Then it started to rain. Lucky we were to be inside. Kind of annoyed that I had forgotten my umbrella. I usually check the weather forecast before leaving home, but I didn’t that day.

Friends started arriving and with the help of Chris Jigsaw some Cloudberry records were set up in the merch table.

The first band was Sapphire Mansions. I’m not into them, but my good friend Hampus is drumming for them now. It made me happy to get to see him again. He is a busy father now. My excitement was waiting for Cold Beat. I had discovered this band some months ago and really liked their tunes. I had already bought all their releases beforehand too.

The San Francisco band was really thrilling, great guitar pop. I expected a hipster kind of look, but they seemed down to Earth, a bit of a miss match look between the members that made me like them more, they were natural you know. Pete Bee was telling me he was loving them. That he had never heard of them before. And so, many more people started bobbing their heads. “Rain”, “Mirror”, “Worms”…. simple titles for great songs. The set felt so short, but it was so good. They were to play some more dates after Popfest. I wanted to go, but for a reason or another, I ended up missing them. Hope they come back to NYC again.

Next up was another band that I was looking forward so very much: Starry Eyed Cadet. Their songs on bandcamp, if you haven’t heard them yet, are true pop candy. And with that strength they introduced their classy and elegant sound to Popfesters. I think this was the best gig for any up and coming band that came to Popfest. They are a newish band and they already sound this good! I thought. Sweet vocals, and the right influences when you hear the guitars and keyboards, made this band a delicate and perfect gig. I bought their EP, on CD-R, and brought me so many good memories of the mid 2000s when every band was releasing in this format their first songs. I just felt, this is such a right band. I hope they get the attention they deserve.

Eventually on the way to the bar, after the gig, I met with one of the members, Ron. He was talking to Wallflower in Japanese! Very cool I thought. Anyhow, we talked for some good time and eventually it was time to get food! There was a new pierogi place around the venue, like three weeks. After being introduced to the whole Starry Eyed Cadet band, them, plus Wallflower, me, Victoria and my friend Alex, headed to this pierogi restaurant under the light rain.

It took a bit to get the food. The restaurant was new, and it seems they haven’t figured out so many things. They had even ran out of some of the pierogi fillings. Anyhow, the food was excellent. But it had already gotten pretty late and so we had to get going because we wanted to see, and couldn’t miss, Club 8!

Upon arriving to the venue I spot Johan from Club 8 with his girl (wife?). I said hello and told him I was very much looking forward to the gig. It was just a short introduction, but I was being very honest. I think Club 8 is my favourite band of his, and I’ve raved about them for long, even defended their last record here on the blog when so many people were bashing it (I still can’t believe people did that).

The gig was going to be perfect. The full band was ready to get everyone dancing and singing along. I was once again a pop fan. I felt like being a kid again, watching a favourite band playing so many favourite songs. Having a pop crush with Karolina was only normal I thought. Such a voice! It was probably the happiest gig for me at Popfest.

They started with “Western Hospitality”, but perhaps the coolest moment was when Johan said they were going to cover, but cover another band of his. They played “Call it Ours” by The Legends and everyone went nuts. Same happened with “Saturday Night Engine”. And I was so thrilled with “Whatever You Want”, “Cold Hearts”, “I’m Not Gonna Grow Old”…. well, all of their songs really!

I waited after the gig to get a photo with them, but well, I didn’t see them haha. I got the setlist though, and that was nice enough.

And then what always happens at the last day of Popfest. The sadness of farewell. Saying bye to so many friends that I won’t see until next Popfest, or until who knows when. That’s how it is.

Now, looking forward to Popfest 2016!

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Exuberant: filled with or characterized by a lively energy and excitement.

I have a 12″ by The Exuberants. I like it. I can’t remember why I bought it. It was many years ago. I think it was because it was released on Play Hard Records. Could that be the only reason?

The EP is called “Yeah and Yeah and Yeah and Yeah”. It was released in 1990 on the aforementioned label (DEC 3312) and included three songs:
A – Yeah and Yeah and Yeah and Yeah
B1 – Delicate Call
B2 – Have You Tried White Trousers

The engineer and producer for the record was Nick Garside. It was recorded at Out of The Blue, Manchester. All songs written by Spencer/Walker. The sleeve design was by Muffin and Peek Design. That’s all the information on the back of the dark blue flowered sleeve.

You can find this record for a good price on Discogs. I guess not many people know about it.

On Discogs I find they released a CD mini-album on Native Records. This label is pretty well known to indiepop people as they have released the Raintree Country, Treebound Story and even The Darlin Buds among others. The mini-album was titled “Led The Way” (Native 073) and seems it was going to be released also on a 12″ but only white labels seem to exist.

I haven’t heard the six songs included in this 1992 release. The tracks are:
1. Who Knows How Many Tonight
2. You Awful Thing
3. Unnatural Too
4. Led The Way
5. Honey, I Recant
6. We Were Born to Conquer

On a Facebook page called Morrissey-solo I found a post saying:
This is an answer to a post by someone asking if anyone knew anything about The Exuberants, a band Morrissey listed in his top ten bands. They were made up of Muffin Spencer, vocals; Dave Walker, guitar; Stefan Gordon, bass; Jonny Barrington, drums. They had minor success releasing a flexing disc free with debris magazine, appred on the playhard compilation hand To Mouth a single Yeah, Yeah, Yeah and Yeah and a mini lp, Led The Way. They later went on to become Brassy without Dave Walker, Stefan Gordon moved onto guitar, a new bass player, Karen Foster and went in the direction of hip hop.

From there I end up in Wikipedia, where the band Brassy has an entry. From that we know that Muffin Spencer was American, from New Hampshire actually, and that The Exuberants were all based in Manchester.

I found this article too talking about Muffin and the band Brassy.

Someone says on Youtube, on a Waltones video actually, that they remember The Exuberants as a three guys and a dog audience kind of band. Seems they never made a splash then. Shame really. I wonder what are they doing now and if they left unreleased Exuberants recordings. Now, I will get into listening to Brassy, I’m kind of curious.

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Listen
The Exuberants – Delicate Call

Here I am with the excitement of Copa America all around. Don’t know if any of you is following it, as I assume half of the indiepop crowd is into football, and then I assume less than a third of this half is into South American football, but I am. Very much so, and looking forward to the quarterfinals. My team is performing much better than expected and we’ve got a good chance to pass to semifinals this Thursday. So let’s see what happens.

I know the Podcast has been left on a side. And I’m very sorry about that. I guess it would have been wise to say that I was going to take a vacation for summer, even though I wasn’t. Anyhow, Toni has promised the May Podcast to be available today. We’ll see if that happens. If it does, I’ll get to be a bit productive this weekend and record the June episode. Again, very sorry for not having being able to get this out earlier.

On Cloudberry news, well as you know the Fibi Frap compilation is out and I’m very proud of it. Many mailorders also have them now and if you prefer you can get the CD from them. I think Japan has been the most interested in the record so far!

On more Cloudberry news, today I’ll be sharing the Color Waves A side, from their upcoming 7″. It’s called Chirology and it’s a beauty. So keep your eyes peeled. Pre-order button coming soon too.

And that’s not all. I received a nice package with Parcel Post 7″s. There are still a few left. So if anyone happens to want one, please send me an email and we will figure out how to get one to you. Until supplies last of course.

Right, so then I’m supposed to go over the Saturday of NYC Popfest. On the previous posts I’ve covered Thursday and Friday. So alright, I think we can do a Saturday review.

It will be a bit short though, sadly I missed (skipped really) the afternoon shows. After the long party on Friday I was way too tired to get to Brooklyn that early. So I decided to just get to the Knitting Factory by the time of the first gig. And so I did. It was a real shame to miss The Chandler Estate, I think it was one of the bands I was looking forward the most.

Expert Alterations were playing first. Before they started I raided the merch table. I had seen them play before and I knew what to expect. A bit shambolic and very jangly, the Baltimore band won many new fans at their gig. It’s no surprise that they have just released a new record on Slumberland, they are gaining a bigger following as every month goes on. Now, I want to listen to more new songs! They have told me on one of the podcasts were I interviewed them that they actually have a very busy year coming up, with lots of stuff to put out. Can’t wait. If you haven’t seen them, well you should. With them it feels a bit like 1987 again, even if neither them or me where around gigging at that time.

The shouts of “Saiko!” from Victoria and me announced that Wallflower were going to give one of the best gigs during Popfest. The Japanese band who were perhaps one of the least known for the American fans immediately convinced everyone that they were just fantastic. No surprise they sold out all their merch! They brought CDs, 7″s, tote bags, and even a tape that was at that point exclusive for Popfest. Everything was sold out. Their shoegazy-pop sound had everyone tapping their feet, and when Eri started singing the Wake’s “Pale Spectre”, everyone was in awe. At least that’s how I felt it. I was in awe. If you understand Japanese Wallflower has written a diary of their time in NYC. You can also use Google Translate, and you’ll get the gist of it. They seem very thankful for having being part of Popfest, I think we should all be grateful of them coming here.

Then happiness came to me. A band I always longed to see was finally making it to the stage. Brideshead. The German band with the countless of extremely catchy songs and wise lyrics. A band that had played NYC back in the late 90s. A band that I believe barely plays live these days. They started with the classic “Same Story Different Day”, and finished with the super favourite song of mine “Shortsightedness”. I admit I’m not that familiar with their newer songs, but I did get their album they just released on Shelflife. I hope then I can catch up! After the show I was happy to take a photo with Martin, the vocalist of Brideshead. That was really cool. I jumped and sang out loud, it was so much fun.

I think I went for dinner after Brideshead. I can’t remember much where now, but I think I wasn’t around for half of Veronica Lake’s gig. I know Wallflower went for pizza. What did I go for? I can’t recall! I was told Michael from My Favorite had joined Veronica Lake for a song. I missed that. I’m very sad I missed that. I caught some of their songs, and they were really nice of course, I always liked Veronica Lake. But at this time things seem blurry to me!

I do remember being at some point while Spook School were setting up that I was talking with Daniel from So Tough and his friend Sandra (I believe was her name) on the front room of the venue. Having a nice chat and catching up a bit since I haven’t seen him in years. But everything is pretty blurry until the Darling Buds came on stage.

That was such a gig. They played all their classics and I was like a little kid having so much fun with a new toy. It was just wonderful to sing along their songs. Andrea threw flowers to the crowd, my friend Victoria still has one (looks pretty dead, but I guess it’s a cool souvenir. Then I remember a pink balloon that was being passed from side to side, left to right, front and back, in the crowd. I was just so happy, until of course someone took all the setlists and I couldn’t get one for myself! Well, I did take a photo with Andrea, and that was definitely one of the best moments of Popfest for me. I’m very happy that Maz booked them, The Darling Buds had been playing again for some years and no indiepop festival had booked them since. I was really surprised by this. So I’m very thankful! It was such a fun gig!

And then the dancing. Slow motion choreography with the Wallflower gang and more. Until very late. It wasn’t packed, but there was a good dancing crowd. Pete, Amanda, Christen, Jackie, Alex, and more. It was a good end of the night. And even better when Maz offered a ride back to Queens.

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“Stayed up all night listening “Storyteller”” ….

I was today searching online for some 7″s I’ve been looking for. And I found out that The Moonlings’ “Coming True” 7″ is not even listed on Discogs. Now, how do I go about finding a copy for me?

I thought about asking Jenny and Leonard who I once interviewed about Bella Vista, a band closely related to The Moonlings. But I saw that I was deleted from his Facebook friends. I felt a bit odd to go and ask. I know some people like “trimming” their friends list, deleting those who they don’t actually talk to. I don’t do that. I don’t understand what difference it really makes. Or perhaps they just don’t like the label or the blog, or me? Who knows… well, so who were The Moonlings?

They only did that one release as far as I know. It was released on the “Turn Up the Treble” label. The songs included were “Coming True”, “Doesn’t Matter If I Miss the Train” and “Half the Time”.

But it was thanks to a song that appeared on a compilation that I fell in love with their music. The song is called “Let’s Sell All Our Records and Move Somewhere Else”.  This song appears on the A side, as the second song on a compilation 7″ on the Japanese label Motorway (MOTOR 010D). It was released in 1997 and the other songs included were #Poundsign#’s “Chicken Soup”, Rizzo’s “Apple Pancakes” and Juniper’s “I Just Wanted You to Know”.

From the interview to Bella Vista I was talking about there are some important details from The Moonlings, the pre-Pipas band that Mark Powell was involved with:

Jenny: The Moonlings were Mark Powell, Lara Cohen, Leonard, and me. Mark had a few songs that the Moonlings didn’t do, for reasons I no longer remember. Our friend Josh Feldman invited him up to Connecticut to play them at a show with Josh’s band, the Best Wishes, and our friend Ian Schlein’s band, Musical Chairs. Mark was trying to avoid being onstage alone, so he invited us to play with him, even though this meant he’d have to teach me how to play guitar note by note. And so Bella Vista was born.

Leonard: It wasn’t really a name change. Although the Moonlings and Bella Vista shared three members, they were different bands that existed at roughly the same time. The Moonlings began in the summer of 1996 for the purpose of playing Mark and Lara’s songs. Jenny and I didn’t write anything whatsoever in that band. Bella Vista began in the spring of 1997 for the purpose of playing that one show, at a sort of gallery/performance space/bookstore. But it continued because Lara was away at college, Mark had songs that didn’t fit into the Moonlings repertoire, Jenny began to write her own songs, and we were offered a few other opportunities to play out, as well as some to make records. I got to write a bass part or two, even though I didn’t even own a bass.

We know that the label “Turn Up the Treble” who put out the 7″ was run by Josh from The Best Wishes (who do deserve a post on the blog). It seems there were only 300 copies made.

This was perfect bedroom kind of jangly pop, could have fitted perfectly on labels like Pillarbox Red, Heaven, Woosh, with a sound not many American bands used to make. It also reminds me of Nixon, and that is always a really good thing!

I keep googling and find out that there was a short tour to the midwest and DC were The Moonlings went with the Musical Chairs, The Best Wishes and Bella Vista in 1997.

Don’t know how long the band was around. Or if they recorded any other songs. This is more or less all I could find online. Would be cool if anyone can fill in the blanks. And if anyone has a spare copy please let me know!

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Listen
The Moonlings – Let’s Sell All Our Records and Move Somewhere Else

Popfest Friday started with me meeting the Wallflower gang and Victoria in Williamsburg. We were supposed to have Peruvian food at Chimu but it was closed. Odd, seems the restaurant now closes Fridays and Saturdays. Strange days to close really. So change of plans, we went to Caracas for some arepas. We were happy to enjoy some Peruvian beer there plus a great lunch special for $9. An arepa of your choice and a salad. This was the moment when I learned the Japanese word “saiko”, which means awesome. During the whole meal, the band was saying “saiko” non-stop.

Afterwards we went on a record store adventure. We started at Rough Trade, then we headed to Academy Records and lastly to that store of the hipster label that doesn’t need any promo here. All in all I didn’t find any good records. Everything was crap or overpriced. The rest of our gang didn’t find much either. The best moment of all this walking from Williamsburg all the way to Greenpoint, was the postcard photo the Wallflowers took with Manhattan on the back at the Bushwick Inlet Park.

We arrived a bit late for the showing of the Sarah documentary at Knitting Factory. But there seemed to be a problem. The blu-ray disc wasn’t playing. The room was almost full, no spaces for sitting down, and everyone was waiting for a solution. A lot of people were trying to help, which shows how supportive is the indiepop crowd. I thought of a friend that lives around the corner, but he doesn’t even own a TV. Happily Videology, a bar that was a 10 minute walk, offered to show the movie for Popfest.

I guess the movie deserves a proper review so I’ll leave that for another occasion. I think that’s pretty fair.

After the show, it was time to go to Cameo for the Popfest gigs. There I had a sandwich, ate it fast, and got ready to catch the second band of the night, Jessica and the Fletchers.

You can think I’m biased as they are my friends, but their show was a fresh breeze of indiepop. Fast, upbeat, catchy, and with a lot of attitude. Kudos to Toni, the keyboardist, for his “Toni Poni” DIY t-shirt. Some of their songs, when released properly, like “Amelia (Te Queremos Igual)” or the sublime “Air Balloon Road” could be classics of this indiepop period. Still a very young band with lots of room to grow, they got indiepop flowing in their veins. They feel it, and they have fun playing it. I think everyone had a very good time with band.

I know, Pale Lights played first, and I did my best to catch them. I did catch their two last songs. The thing was that this sandwich I ordered at Cameo took forever to come! At some point I thought I was going to make it as they brought me a sandwich almost 5 minutes after ordering. As I was eating some of the fries the waiter told me he made a mistake and took the sandwich away from me to another table! Oh well… But you know, I’ve raved about Pale Lights so many times in the blog, definitely one of the best bands in NYC, and the little I could catch was as good as always with the inclusion of Kyle this time around instead of Andy.

Third band was The Catenary Wires. Obviously seeing Amelia is always a treat. Some people think this new project is boring. I heard that a bit. I’ve been listening to the album, and I can’t agree with anyone saying that. The thing is, it is different to what we are used to. We are used to the upbeatness of Talulah Gosh, Heavenly, Tender Trap, Marine Research, etc. I know, it may be hard for some to adjust. I won’t say they are my favourite band of the ones she has been involved but I still find it very enjoyable, with good lyrics and well crafted pop songs.

Fourth time I see Papa Topo, and the second time I was seeing them in a week. Of course the surprise factor wasn’t there at Popfest, especially when they played the cover of the Spice Girls. A band that plays a lot of influences, but of course, I always look forward to their biggest hits, “La Chica Vampira” and “Oso Panda”. It was so much fun, I could see people jumping around, and they even brought some Spanish speaking music fans that weren’t part of the indiepop scene. This I thought was cool. Though one of them was telling me to start “rock en español” club night and play some Argentinean hard rock at it. I don’t understand how some people could put in the same bag Papa Topo with say Sumo or something like that.

The two last bands are legendary bands. #Poundsign# and The Loft. In due honesty I’m more of a fan of #Poundsign# than The Loft. From The Loft I love two or three songs. The rest are fine, but don’t think they are as brilliant as “Up the Hill and Down the Slope“. But, that didn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy the whole show. It was really good, powerful even! I bought a t-shirt. A very nice t-shirt actually! Now, next year please bring The Caretaker Race, from the bands that sprung off The Loft, that is my favourite. I would LOVE that.

Brooklyn Vegan posted a photo of me with a drumstick while #Poundsign# was playing. That was a gift from Papa Topo’s drummer, the Jankely. Bit embarrassed of that photo. In any case, I was just so happy listening to so many tunes that I’ve always loved. It was a treat to see a reunited #Poundsign#. I had already the Wavelength record on vinyl, but as they were selling it on CD, I also bought it.

After all the bands there was some good dancing at Mondo. Maz played a bunch of classic tunes and I danced until very late, it was almost 4am when we left the venue. It was a goodbye though. All Jessica and The Fletchers and Papa Topos were leaving on Saturday. It was a sad goodbye, I had enjoyed a whole week in their good company.

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A sleeve that looks like The Pale Fountains. It was 1982 when Pulsebeat Records released the “Farewell to the Playground EP” (cine 001) by The Cinematics.

A four song 7″ with two songs on each side. “Puffa Train” and “Don’t Mention Love” on the A side, while “All it Means” and “Learning to Say Goodbye” on the B side.

This is pre-indiepop indiepop and for those who are not very aware of who The Cinematics were, well, it has two illustrious members of the indiepop hall of fame: Gregory Webster and Tim Vass. You know, those two from the Razorcuts, or the Forever People, or bands like Red Chair Fadeaway or Sportique.

This is a very rare record. I don’t own it sadly, and the median price on Discogs is a bit too high I think. On the credits of this record we find that Colin Rodgers played drums, lyrics and music on the B side by Tim Vass, music on the A side by Gregory Webster and trumpet by John Goodwin.

This song also would appear later in the Messthetics compilations, perhaps making the record much more sought after than before. On the Messthetics liner notes we get to know that the band was based in Luton.
Luton  is a large town in Bedfordshire, England, 30 miles (50 km) north of London. Luton Town F.C. have had several spells in the top flight of the English league and won the Football League Cup in 1988. They have played at Kenilworth Road since 1905.London Luton Airport opened in 1938; in the Second World War, it was a Royal Air Force base.The University of Bedfordshire is based in the town. The town was for many years famous for hat-making, and was also home to a large Vauxhall Motors factory; the head office of Vauxhall Motors is still situated in the town. Car production at the plant began in 1905 and continued until 2002; commercial vehicle production remains.

Also I like this line that sums up more or less the sound of the band:
“Puffa Train” from their 1982 single shows Gregory Webster and Tim Vass’ evolution from TV Personalities DIY to breathy twee-pop well underway”

I would guess 500 copies of this record were made. I don’t know sadly much more of the Cinematics. Would be great to learn if they recorded any other songs, or if they participated in compilations. Also we know what happened to two of their members, but was Colin Rodgers involved in any other indiepop bands? Was Pulsebeat Records a name for self-releasing? Anyone know anything else about them? Maybe you were at one of their gigs?

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Listen
The Cinematics – Puffa Train

I know, I know. I said I was going to write about NYC Popfest this week. It’s Friday, and to be honest I thought about skipping this week and not posting at all. I have been feeling sick since Monday, and only today I feel a bit better. So no, definitely not in the mood. I’ve been listening to music to a much lower volume than I’m used to. That must mean something, I think.

I guess I could resume my Thursday Popfest experience in this post. In due honesty I didn’t see any bands the first day of Popfest. I wanted to see the first two, Souvenir Stand and Roman a Clef. Sadly there was some breaking news, I had to do some locator map just before my shift was about to end, and well, I ended up arriving when the second band was finishing their set. The rest of the bands on Thursday weren’t really my cup of tea so I mostly mingled with friends in the first floor of the Cake Shop. In a way that was a reasonable thing to do. People in the know are aware that the Cake Shop becomes a sauna when it’s packed.

Perhaps the biggest highlight of Thursday Popfest was going for some pastrami sandwiches with Aitor and Toni to Katz Deli. Aitor was really into having pastrami. He had the last time he was in NYC with his other band, Univers, and was craving for a proper sandwich. Katz being around the corner of the Cake Shop, and even though it’s overpriced and kind of a tourist trap, offers really good pastrami sandwiches, among the best in the city perhaps. So it was no surprise that he loved it. And Toni, who wasn’t planning on ordering anything, ate a whole sandwich as well. It was delicious.

Another big highlight of Thursday was meeting at last with the great Wallflower from Japan. They were so great to hang out with during the whole Popfest. But it was here at Cake Shop that we met and had some beers and planned on meeting for lunch on Friday.

Then of course seeing friends again one more time. It was so cool to see both Horowitz, Pete and Ian, back in NYC. And also meeting Heinz from Germany, in his first time ever in America! That was super cool! Also Amanda from Sweden, who I saw last time at Indietracks like two years ago, and José from Chicago, that comes every single year just for the indiepop!

It was mostly chatting and catching up. And drinking Genessee, cheap $4 beer. Actually the bar tender thought I was someone else. She insisted that I worked as a bar tender somewhere else. I insisted that it wasn’t me. But she was incredulous. It’s odd, at first I thought she was remembering me because I’ve been so many times at Cake Shop, but then it was clear that she really thought she had met me before somewhere else and I had been a bar tender at some bar in Brooklyn. Damn. I can’t even mix a drink!!

So that was my Thursday at Popfest. Not very eventful, but I really enjoyed it. As it always happens to me at Indietracks first day, Friday, I ended up using this day to catch up with old and new friends. So sorry to disappoint you if you expected me to tell you how amazing some of these bands sounded!! BUT! I will promise to go over the Friday show next week!

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“If You Found Some “Distorted Space” On This Records. Please Don’t Mind. Your Ears Working Normal!! ”

That’s the message on the one and only 7″ the Groovy Metal Babies released back in 1995. The Japanese band put this record out on the German label Little Teddy Recordings (LiTe730) and included 4 fantastic raw but cute fuzzy pop songs. On the A side we find “She Does Not” and “My Secondhand Sweetheart” and on the B side we find “Never” and “In No Time”. Curious enough the 7″ is titled after the B side. It’s called the Never EP.

You are in luck, I just checked Discogs, and you can find for very good prices this record!

Anyhow, there are some credits to Seiko Ishiguro and Tsuyoshi, as well as vocals for Ayako for the song “In No Time”.

The sound of the band is a mix between Shonen Knife and the bands of the great Yoshino Momoko. It’s very “anorak” sounding!

Online it seems the band is mostly known as a pre-Jenka band. I know, we Westerners don’t know much about Jenka, but this girl has released a bunch of records! According to Last.fm:
JENKA is a female singer-songwriter from Japan who writes pop songs with a variety of influences from other genres. She sings primarily in English. Jenka debuted in 1995 with the album “Sweet Grape Sugar Beats”, which gained considerable positive attention both in Japan and abroad. She soon joined with a Swedish producer to create further albums. Her most recent was released in 2001 and titled Home Is Where The Heart Is.

Well, that is the Seiko from the credits. And she was part of Groovy Metal Babies. But it’s under Jenka that she got to release a bunch of records. 3 albums and at least 3 EPs according to Discogs. I found one of the songs on Youtube called “Muddy Muddy Murmur” and it’s really nice. It has that Swedish sound of the mid nineties.

A change of style indeed, but totally understandable. This is indiepop as well! But anyhow, today we are covering the Groovy Metal Babies. Oh! I like the band name quite a lot too!

On a Japanese website it says that the Groovy Metal Babies were just active for about only three months before Jenka. Very short stint, perhaps they only did these 4 songs, recorded them and call it a day. Perhaps it was just a fun project between two friends. I don’t know. I wonder though if they recorded any other songs. And also what happened to Tsuyoshi? If he still continued making music?

Does anyone know anything about this cool sounding band?

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Listen
Groovy Metal Babies – She Does Not

Well Popfest is over and I have to say that I’m very tired. I’m getting old, that’s clear. Nonetheless I had a very good time with old and new friends. And the bands were really great too. But I can’t review Popfest yet, I need some time to get in the right mood and recover some energy. So bear with me.

There are some important news to go over. First let me tell you that I’m very sorry that the May podcast hasn’t been published yet. I know we are already in June, but with everything that has been going on there hasn’t been any enough time to get it done. But I promise it will be out soon. This weekend I will start recording the June episode.

Most importantly though is that the Fibi Frap compilation arrived home. The release date is June 10th but all pre-orders have been shipped and any orders will be shipped immediately. Very happy with the sixth release of the Cloudberry Cake Kitchen series.

The bad news though is that the postage prices at USPS have risen. Almost a dollar for international orders. It’s really a shame. This hurts everyone. I will keep the same prices of all our releases for the time being. But the next releases will have to cost a dollar more. That’s how it’s going to be sadly.

Then there’s some good news from our friends at Firestation Records. I don’t know much of the details but 4 new albums have been announced: The Train Set, The Siddeleys, The Reflection A.O.B. and The Bridge. Super cool news! Not to miss any of them.

Then Shelflife has also some great releases, The Treasures of Mexico and the new Brideshead album. Seems this is going to be a very good summer for indiepop.

But before I close this post, thanks so much to Maz for organizing a great NYC Popfest.

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Today I want to head to Belgium. To the early 90s.

There has been some very good Belgium bands, good pop bands, but they’ve been a few. Here’s one that perhaps you haven’t been aware of.

Peter & The Lions have been Peter Léonard’s band. It was in 1991 when they released their first single, the great “Bye For Now”. A nice slice of jangle. On the B side of this 7″ released by Rainland Records (RL 009) was the song “Have You Ever…”. For this record Peter had the help of Jose Perez on bass and Yves Baibay on drums. The lyrics were written by Patrice Macar and Peter, the record was engineered by Yves Delannoy, mastered by Jérome Sandron and produced by Michel Van Achter. Peter was on vocals, guitar, keyboard, drum programming and even percussion.

On the back sleeve of the record we find that there was help from the Ministery of French Community in Belgium. I would guess it was some money for the label. I’m not familiar at all with Rainland, some of the releases are by bands I’ve never heard about like Tom Wolf, Owen Curtiz or Asoha. All their releases were out in the first half of the nineties.

Actually their next release after the Peter & The Lions single was the debut album of the band. It was also released in 1991 and had the title of “New Days” (RL 010). This record included only 9 songs: “Sixteen and Uncertain”, “Bye For Now”, “How You Manage”, “When Days Are Soft and Long”, “It’s a New Day”, “The Picture-Book”, “The Unreal Minute”, “The Land of Angry Men”, “Open Air Song”.  I don’t own it sadly, or ever listened to it, so couldn’t say who is credited in it. There’s one copy available at Discogs at the moment, but well, I find it a bit too pricey for me!

My next stop is Youtube. There are some videos dating from 2012 where Peter plays some songs from his double album “Postcards from Home”. It’s a bit different in sound to the earlier single, and you can actually listen to this album here. Also in this bandcamp of his there’s another album dating from 2007 called “Crossing the Strings”. You can check this one here.

We get to know some curious facts. We know that Peter is based in Liege and that he has been involved in other bands like “Where’s China?” (a post-new wave band), “Glassnotes” (a blend of rock, funk and jazz), and “Sing Sing” (an a capella quartet in french with a touch of ironic wit). Also the only person we see again from the early releases being credited is Michel Van Achter doing the mixes and the masters. These two albums were released by the label Home Records from Belgium.

On RateYourMusic we find mention of other releases by the band. We see a 1994 album called “Lost Paradise Songs” and a 2002 album called “Hold On”. From the 1994 album I could find two songs on a Myspace by Patrick Schouters (who I guess played in the band then). The songs are “Spotlights Burning” and “Fire and Water”. From the 2002 album I could find no information. I’d assume these records were mostly distributed in Belgium.

That’s more or less all I could find especially as there is an author out there called Peter Leonard as well. He is an American author of crime novels. Maybe some of you can help me know more about them! I would especially like to listen to their first album, and perhaps if anyone have spares of their first releases, well, would love to trade or something! Oh! And of course, as it seems the discography is a bit obscure, are we missing anything?

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Listen
Peter & Lions – Bye For Now

Short post this week as we have NYC Popfest just around the corner and even tomorrow we have a gig with The Prams, Papa Topo, Jessica & The Fletchers and Gingerlys. So pretty busy with all these things, count also that I’ve been a tour guide the past weekend.

I know the podcast hasn’t been published and we really wanted to do so before Popfest. We’ll see if tomorrow morning we can make it. It has been hectic. But after this month things should go back to their normal flow.

This week then I have a curious question for all of you, about what do you think about this song. It’s not indiepop, but it’s pop and it’s independent. The thing is, and you’ll notice, that this song reminds me way too much to another song released 11 years after. A song that was to become a big hit.

From Wikipedia we know that:
English Evenings were a British new wave duo that released one album in 1985 entitled After Dark. Before English Evenings, Lee Walsh was a member of the band Sly Fox, whose name later changed to One Adult. After the band broke up and with its members going their separate ways, Walsh secured a record deal under the name of English Evenings, together with bandmate Graham Lee. They released only one album in 1985, on the UK independent label Safari Records. Although their producer was the famous audio engineer and producer Phil Harding, they did not meet with much success.After disbanding, Graham Lee and Lee Walsh went on to later produce a football song for Leeds United in 1990, entitled “We Are Leeds”.

Most of their records were released on Safari Records, like the singles “English Evenings” (1983), “Touch” (1983), “Tear You Down” (1984), “I Will Return” (1985). But I’m mostly curious about their last single, the one released in 1986 on GFM Records (catalog GFM 106) called “Those Brilliant Teens”, a song about teenage suicide. That’s the the A side, whereas the B side was “The Other Side”.

So here’s the thing. The song is way too similar to Pulp’s “Common People”. And I’ve been curious about this similarity for a week now, since I heard this song for the first time. I really don’t know what to think, but I really doubt it’s just a coincidence. I’ve been googling around if any other person has written or wondered about it. There are, but a few. On Youtube there’s a comment.  On Rateyourmusic.com there’s also someone calling it a proto “Common People”. But that’s it. There’s nothing more. And I find this pretty odd.

You can also listen to a demo version of this song on Youtube.

I wonder, what do you think about this? Coincidence or not? Or maybe I’m missing something in the story that I have no clue?

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Listen
English Evenings – Those Brilliant Teens

Since the last post things have been very quiet. I asked for new band recommendations and I got none. Ha ha.

Podcast is still in the works. I hope that this week it gets published. Aside from that here at the label I’m just waiting for the Fibi Frap release and the 7″s that have been already announced on the website. I updated the site with some more info about these upcoming releases. That’s more or less what’s going on. As soon as I have news I’ll make sure to let you know.

As it gets closer, I feel a bit sad that I won’t be going to Indietracks. I know I’ve been critical, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like going there. Maybe I’ll return next year. I also noticed that there is going to be a Manchester Popfest in August. It’s going to be happening on the 15th and 16th of that month at two venues, the Kraak Gallery and the Islington Mill. I haven’t been to any but the lineup seems pretty interesting. There’s a bunch of bands I don’t know, so perhaps I should take a look? The prices for the festival are very reasonable, 13.50 pounds per day or 22.50 pounds for both days. It’s a good deal indeed. They will also be screening the Sarah Records documentary (I’m looking forward to watching it at NYC Popfest), they’ll have zines and djs as well. Seems like a good time to me! It’s really great that other cities are embracing the Popfest idea.

About these unknown bands to me, well, let’s check them out? That could make a good post, right?

I’m starting with Slowcoaches, who seem to be headlining one of the days. This is not indiepop per se, it’s a punk band and I actually like it. I usually don’t enjoy much of the punk being made these days, but this one is pretty good, they have a great sense of melody without losing their rawness. Quite a surprise. I’m 100% more into this sound, this mash-up of indiepop with punk, than when they bring me these folky-hippie-pop stuff. This is much more interesting. Definitely a band to keep an eye.

Keel Her is another new band for me. There’s so many releases on their Bandcamp.  Again a much punkier approach to pop here. Sometimes this reminds me to the early 80s, a bit of Modettes, Slits, Kleenex. Not bad. Some other times I hear the sound of Brooklyn, of the new generation of hipster bands and I’m not 100% convinced. There are a bunch of releases as I said, but only a handful of songs to actually listen. I can’t make up my mind, but I think I’d be curious to watch them if I was going to Manchester Popfest.

So far Pega Monstro is my favorite new band at Manchester Popfest. What a nice discovery. Indiepop from Portugal! Haven’t heard any indiepop from Portugal since Safety Matches! I just love how Portuguese blends with the distortion, the bass, with the crazy drumming. Punky indiepop. And of course, extra bonus points to Manchester for booking a band from a country that doesn’t get much attention at indiepop festivals.

Seeds of Doubt is yet another new band for me. I’m surprised by this, see, that’s why I was asking for new band recommendations. Not the kind of indiepop that drives me crazy, more angular than jangly generally, but when they go jangly, they have top songs like “Shelf Life” that has that classic indiepop feel. Looking forward to check the bunch of releases at their bandcamp site later today.

The Scottish band Spinning Coin seem to have a following and they are releasing a tape soon. First time I hear about them, and I feel the blog post is getting longer than I expected. There are many more bands for me to cover, so perhaps I should stop here with this band and next week continue with the rest. From Spinning Coin, I can’t say much, I have only heard the one song called “Pimp” and I’m not sold. A bit too cavernous and rocky for me. I will keep investigating.

And of course, I’ve added links to all of these bands for you to check out. You know it can happen that you like them much more than I do, or the total opposite too. So check them out. It’s always a nice thing to do, spending countless hours listening to new music. And thanks for that to Manchester Popfest for offering a totally new group of bands! That’s is exactly what Popfests are all about, introducing and supporting up and coming bands!

Oh! And before I forget, you should all listen to Roger Gunnarsson’s new project Leaderboard new song: Noble Heart. I know it’s not indiepop, but he is a genius.

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Lately I feel that Ireland is a country most of us indiepop, neo-aco, C86, or whatever name you want to call us, collectors and lovers, haven’t really explored much. Perhaps it’s not a bad idea to dig deep there, especially if when you do you find bands like Scale the Heights!

According to the Irish Rock website, Scale the Heights were an energetic guitar band (no synths) compared in the press to The Smiths and Housemartins, with American influences, including some ‘cowpunk’ influences though perhaps that would now be called ‘Americana’. Recorded a well received demo in 1988 and won the Carling/Hot Press  Award for best unsigned act the same year, the prize being a one-off single deal with WEA. Still active in 1990. Liam Kirkpatrick and Paul McAllister currently (2011) record as Latecomers.

From that site we also find that they were from Maynooth, Kildare.
Maynooth is a university town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to Maynooth University (also known as The National University of Ireland Maynooth) part of the National University of Ireland, a Pontifical University and Ireland’s main Roman Catholic seminary, St Patrick’s College. Maynooth is also the seat of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference and holds the headquarters of Ireland’s largest development charity, Trócaire.

Okay that makes sense, university town and bands usually go hand in hand. We also get to know that the band started around 1987 and the members were David O’Driscoll on vocals, Tony Doherty on guitar, Liam Kirkpatrick on bass and Paul McAllister on drums.

It was the next year, in 1988, that they start selling a demo tape with the songs “Where Will We Be”, “Goodbye to All That” and “Two Wives”. It is the second song that I’m guessing made Warner Records sign them.

Yes, WEA was to release a 7″ record the next year. In 1989 we find on the A side “Goodbye To All That” (recorded December 1988 at Lansdowne Studios) and on the B side the song “So Soon” (recorded November 1987 at Lab Studios). The first song was engineered and produced by Chris O’Brien with assistant engineer Robbie Adams. The second song was engineered by Eoghan McCarron.

I haven’t found this record yet. Doesn’t seem to be listed on Discogs and haven’t seen it on eBay. This is quite strange as the record was put out by WEA so it’s kind of obvious to assume that a bunch of copies were pressed. Perhaps there’s little interest or knowledge. But if anyone has a spare copy or know where I can get one, please help this man in need!

The only other place I found some information about the band was on the superb Fanning Sessions blog. From there we learn that: On 01/05/1989 they recorded a Fanning session featuring tracks ‘Cold’, ‘Happy Ever After’, ‘One Step Away’ and ‘Go Hang Yourself’.

They also have some reviews from that time:

They featured in a number of Hot Press end of year critics roundups, here’s what Damian Corless wrote:
“Band Of The Year, however, without a shadow of a doubt, were Kildare’s Carling/Hot Press winners, Scale The Heights, who combine an incendiary live attack with some of the finest songs ever written in the history of the planet – I kid you not” HotPress Critics Roundup 1988

“On the home front there was nothing to equal the thrill of Scale The Heights’ live attack.” HotPress Critics Roundup 1989

Also on that post on the Fanning Sessions blog you can listen to more songs by Scale the Heights like “1938”, “Proud of You”, “Down the Hill” or “Blindman’s Clothes”. My favorite of them all is the single. That’s the song you can’t and shall not miss is the fabulous “Goodbye to All That”, a true indiepop gem!  My second favourite is “Down the Hill” for sure. It comes packaged in chiming jangly guitars.

Anyways, that’s more or less all I could dig from this obscure Irish band. But perhaps someone out there, perhaps you, could help me fill in the blanks, what happened to this band? Have you heard the other songs on the demo? Did they record anything else? What are they doing now? So many questions that would love to see answered!

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Listen
Scale the Heighs – Goodbye To All That

Still suffering the pains of allergy here. How are you all enjoying this year’s spring? Hope that much better than me!

Last weekend I finished recording the May edition of the Cloudberry podcast and the files are already in Toni’s magic hands for them to be equalized and all those things that sound people know how to do. So it sounds better, and so all these files are pasted together. This month’s podcast is a celebration of NYC Popfest. That’s the theme for the month. On top of it all, I interview Masami from the Japanese band Wallflower who will be playing their first show in the U.S. during the festival.

On other news, I want to point you all to pre-order the reissue of Easter & the Totem’s “The Sum is Greater Than Its Parts” on Sol Re Sol Records. It’s on LP and it includes the artwork and the songs from this classic album! I don’t want you to miss this. I was lucky to score the original one when in Toronto many years ago thanks to the awesome friend that is Jessel! But those who don’t own it, or just want an extra copy, you can just grab it for a very good price, $13 plus shipping here. If you remember, the band has also been featured on the blog when I interviewed Mike Berry, one of the members.

The other good news is that last week Pale Spectres sent me some mixes for the 4 songs that will appear on the awaited 7″. They sound fabulous really, and these were not even the finished mixes! So it seems that pretty soon the songs will be ready and finally we’ll be releasing them. The songs are: “Bicycles”, “D(r)iving”, “Didn’t Know Where To Go” and “Goodbye”. I think a lot of people have been waiting for such news!

Also I would keep your eyes peeled on Pale Spectres’ Thomas’ new solo project, “Tomiji”. It sounds super!

In the meantime, here I am waiting for the Fibi Frap CDs, waiting for NYC Popfest, and taking it easy. Nevertheless I do have a question for all of you, are there any great new releases that you’d recommend me? I kind of feel I’ve been buying too many records, but all of them from many years ago! And second question, are there any cool indiepop bands in Sweden these days? It feels it’s all so quiet there! Which is quite a surprise!

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This week I’ll recommend you a very nice record that you should be able to track down easily. It’s obscure yes, but it doesn’t seem that rare online. Discogs at the moment has copies at very reasonable prices.

The year was 1986. The band was called After This and the label Operation Afterglow. This label was actually a sub-label of Les Disques du Crépuscule. A sub-label that the Belgian label had set up in the UK after the demise of Operation Twilight (yet another sub-label). It was short-lived but released not only this record. Anna Domino, Paul Haig, Winston Tong and Front 242 were part of it as well.

After This released only one record during their career and it was this one. On the A side the song was the precious and timeless “Fields” whereas on the B side we find “Hollow Hills”. On the cover artwork we see a photo of some zebras. The catalog number was OPA 012.

The record was released both as a 12″ and a 7″. The songs are the same really, though there’s an extended version of Fields on the 12″.

We know that both songs were written by a Richard Lowe. I don’t know much about him aside from a comment on Youtube saying that he used to manage the band Catatonia.

On the back cover, among photos of a llama, a red panda, some flamingos, and two other animals I’m not sure what their names are (one is a sort of horned antilope and the other one looks like a spotted dear) we find some more info. The design of the record was done by P. Moore, it was produced by Alan Rankine and the photos were taken by M. Baker for mugshots.

Well, well… Alan Rankine was the same Alan Rankine of the Associates. Would it be a good guess to say that After This hailed from Scotland then!?

Oh! and the back cover also has the lyrics for the A side. I can sing along then 🙂

That’s really all there is to this record. How did I discover this band? Well, I got the record from Uwe some years ago. But I knew about the songs thanks to some MP3s that used to be shared on Soulseek inside a folder called “Future Leamington Spa”. There were a bunch of bands there that I had never heard. I don’t know who compiled them. But I was always curious about them. One of them was After This.

Now, do you know anything else about them? Are there any more recordings? Would be cool to learn more what happened to them!

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Listen
After This – Fields

Finally May arrived. Arrived with allergies, spring and pollen, sure thing. But also with NYC Popfest. This year as I’m not traveling to Indietracks, this will be the main (and possibly only) indiepop event I’m going to. So that’s pretty exciting!

During the time I was in China it seems that the lineup changed a bit. I came back to see some surprises on it. I thought maybe I should go through these new additions as I did with the earlier announcements.

The biggest addition and surprise was Cold Beat from San Francisco. A friend from work recommended me this band two months ago. We were just talking about our latest purchases on Discogs. He told me he had just bought a 12″ by this band. He said that I might like it. And hell I did. I immediately bought their album and 12″ single on Discogs. I thought better buy it now before it becomes popular and pricey even though these releases were some years old. Some days later I was talking to Maz from Popfest about Popfest and even though it was already late and the lineup had just been announced that I really loved this band and I couldn’t believe it had been under everyone’s radar in indiepop, that a friend that has nothing to do with the scene had pointed them to me! Anyhow, Maz loved them but I never thought he would book them!! Of course this makes me terribly happy, I will get a chance to see them. Named after a The Sound song, this is a very cool sounding band, fronted by Hannah Lew from Grass Widow (who I was never a fan go figure) and all their records have been self-released on their own Crime on the Moon. If you haven’t heard them yet check this video for the song “Out of Time“.

The Holiday Crowd will be coming back. It seems Palms on Fire didn’t get their visas sorted. No surprise, that’s always a pain for bands that need one. Especially indiepop bands that have little means. This is a pretty good replacement though as The Holiday Crowd is one of the best indiepop bands around for sure. My only complain of course is that they have already played Popfest and I love seeing new bands always. That doesn’t mean I won’t enjoy their show. Last time I saw them they were just astounding, great sound and a fantastic frontman. So if they repeat just 20% of that show, I’ll be more than happy. I actually thought they weren’t playing anymore as they had been so silent for the past few years. This is definitely good news, perhaps there’s a new release in the horizon?

Pete Astor will be playing the free show on Saturday. Makes sense. He is coming with The Loft and it’s definitely a good idea to see him playing solo. I did once as I have mentioned before in another post at the Lexington in London. He is really good playing his songs acoustically, it’s really cozy, and the stories in between songs are ace. I think this will be the sleeper hit for the Popfest. A treat that I hope not many miss (Saturday afternoon show is by far the least popular Popfest slot).

So those are the three additions for this year’s festival. But I haven’t talked about the DJs, have I?

I’m not sure who is DJing between bands on Friday or Sunday. Does anyone know? On Friday there’s a Cameo DJ party. As always Maz is the go to DJ if you wanna dance to some classic and new indiepop tunes. On Saturday the treat will be seeing Daniel Novakovic from So Tough So Cute DJ at the Knitting Factory. I look forward to this, as one of the best indiepop dance nights I’ve ever danced to was in London Popfest when Daniel literally had the dancefloor on fire.

What else is there to know? I don’t know. Perhaps restaurants around the venues that I recommend? haha. Maybe.

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I was remembering today the band Hartfield from Japan. I don’t think there was any reason in particular. I just remembered that I really liked their album and I wondered what happened to them. I never knew much about them to start. I thought it was just a boy and a girl but it seems there was a bit more to the story.

When they played live they did have a full band, but Hartfield was really just Takateru Kagawa and Yukari Tanaka. First question then, were they a couple?

My introduction to them came with the 2003 album released by Clairerecords (fern 048) and also by Vinyl Junkie (VJR 010) called “True Color, True Lie”. Okay, the proper version is that of the Japanese label, who licensed it to the Florida one. The album included 13 fabulous swirling dreampop songs mastered by Tomonobu Hara and mixed by Scott Cortez (from Astrobrite). The photography for the sleeve came thanks of Aya Watanabe, Naru & Hartfield.  The US version of the album included “Wonderful Word” and “Free Again”, two songs that weren’t on the Japanese version of the album.

I was in love with a song on it called “Girl Like You”. I thought it was a masterpiece.

I didn’t follow them then. Today I find out they released another record, a mini-album. It was called L.I.B.R.A. and was only released in Japan by Vinyl Junkie (VJR 015). It came out in 2004 and included 6 songs including a remix of “Girl Like You” by Pia Fraus. Included in the CD were two promo videos for the songs “Today Forever” and “She Knows“. The support members for this record were Tatsuhiro Miura on drums and Takeshi Komine on bass. The mix for the record was done by Pia Fraus. Seems that the title of the album means “Leave it Before Ruins Again”. Right?

Now, it seems they had a following in South Korea. In 2005 Pastel Music releases in that country a two CD compilation (!!) aptly titled  “True Color, True Lie + L.I.B.R.A. & MORE”. In it all songs they released are included but also we get some remixes by Astrobrite of “Strangers When We Meet” and “16 Lover’s Rain”, an acoustic version of “My Christiana” and a cover of “Never Ending Story” (!). Someone on Discogs has commented that “This release comes in two separate jewel cases with separate catalog numbers. True Color True Lie has an exclusive insert in Korean about the band. ” But I can’t be sure at all. I have never seen this release but I will try to track it down! Seems like something I really need!

Now we do a bit of backtracking to 2001. That’s the first time Hartfield appears to be released. They contribute the song “Girl Like You” to a compilation called “Seven Winters” released by G.A.C. records in Japan. It’s a shoegazy records with shoegazy bands. Then their second compilation appearance that I know of is in 2003 when they contribute “(The Stars Will Shine Above All Of) The Streets (Alternate Mix)” to the “Pacific Union” compilation. Again a very shoegazy record with bands like Airiel, Pia Fraus or Monster Movie (and our favourite indiepop band Silver Screen).

The last time we hear from them was in 2006. On a compilation called “Never Lose That Feeling Volume Two” released by Club AC30 (AC303032) they contribute the song “Soon”, which is a cover of My Bloody Valentine.

Online I try to dig more information about them. I find a cool review of their first ever solo gig in Japan, at a venue called The Shelter. You can read about it here. That was 2004.

Then there’s a review page for their album. There are two English reviews and one in Italian. I mean, if you already know that you have to check it out because I’m recommending them to you, maybe these other reviewers will convince you. So try it.

And last but not least there’s a bio on last.fm. From it we learn some important facts:
– They released three cassette singles by independence production and sold all 1,000 copies of them at independent record stores in and around Tokyo. Hartfield was later signed to Vinyl Junkie Recordings. They participated in a promotional compilation CD Way of a Ray which was released from VINYL JUNKIE Recordings.

–In 2006 they toured the east coast of the US with Chicago’s Airiel, playing with such artists as A Place To Bury Strangers, Alcian Blue, Stellarscope, along with playing at the Pop Noise Festival in Philadelphia.

-Upon returning to Japan, Hartfield was looking for a new label to support their future albums and tours. As fans awaited the next release by Hartfield, no news surfaced, and the future of the band went on hiatus. It is unconfirmed whether or not Hartfield will create a new record. Their website www.hartfieldweb.com, is no longer up, leading many to speculate that the band has possibly broken up.

And that my friends, is where I lose their trail. There’s barely anything written online. Perhaps there is in Japanese? But that I couldn’t tell sadly. I wonder what happened to the members? If they recorded more songs? And if so, if they will ever release them? Are they still playing music under another name? Why the silence? I really liked this band.

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Listen
Girl Like You

Hello Popkids! Another week, and just a month away for NYC Popfest!

What should we cover on the blog this week aside from our obscure band? As I was saying last week, there’s this horror feeling that I’ve been out of the loop for the past month when it comes to indiepop! Maybe some of you have ideas of interesting topics to analyze or cover? If so, would love to hear from you.

On Cloudberry news I can now tell you that today I mailed the Fibi Frap master to the pressing plant. So, hopefully it will be released within a month. After that I will release a new 7″ by a band between Europe and North America. Between Glasgow and Buffalo, NY. Who are they? Well, the are called The Color Waves. And this is their Facebook page.

I won’t give away yet all the surprises that we have in store but I can tell you that the songs on the record are called “Chirology” and “Rose”. Both of them are lush and beautiful and at the moment they are being mixed by Cristóbal from The Royal Landscaping Society. The artwork was done by the great French illustrator Catherine Cordasco. In the next few weeks we’ll update the website with information about the record and pre-order buttons. I think for everyone that loves the sounds of Harper Lee, Brighter, The Marine Time Keepers and even The Royal Landscaping Society, this record would be just up your alley. This is for the classy, elegant and nostalgic popkids like you!

The other project we have started working on the past month is the next Cloudberry Cake Kitchen release. We are at the moment gathering photos and flyers for it. The songs will be mastered pretty soon too. Who is this mysterious band? Well, can’t say much right now, but it’s a band that’s been interviewed in the blog before. And it’s from the UK! As I said, all these surprises, all these secret projects I’m working on, I’ll be letting everyone know in the next weeks and months. I think all in all there will be a bunch of great releases this year. I’m very proud of what Cloudberry is doing this 2015 and it’s all really thanks to all of you, because of your support by buying our records!

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Typhoon Saturday. I first heard about them on the Shelflife blog many years ago. The other day at work, for some reason, I remembered them. I showed them to a friend after he asked me about bands from that period. I do own two of their three 7″s but it’s been a while since I played them.

I think of all of them, the song that Ed posted, “What Do I Do?”, is my favourite. It’s such a great burst of pop. So catchy and so clever with it’s boy-girl vocals. But what happened to them? Well, actually there’s a lot of interesting information online!

First stop is the Shelflife blog obviously. What does Ed tells us?
I don’t know much about Sheffield’s Typhoon Saturday, but I love this track! They seemed to release just three 7″ singles and then broke up. Members like drummer Anthony “Tich” Critchlow went on to form Living in a Box (remember them?) and guitarist Nick Robinson went on to most notably They Must be Russians, Comsat Angels, and a bunch of solo projects (he’s also a practitioner of origami according to wikipedia).

Of course this story has a Liverpool connection… This single was produced by Steve Lindsay (bassist in Deaf School, Big in Japan (for 4 months), The Planets, etc.). I read that Typhoon Saturday pretty much hated his production of the song, but the label, Polydor, and their manager didn’t give them any other option but to release it as is. Yeah, it is a bit 80s “over produced,” but I still think it’s great.

Cool thing is there’s a comment on this same post by Nick Robinson. He says that the demos they made in Sheffield had so much power, which were lost on the official release.

Then we check their discography:
What Do I Do / Fascination – 1982 – Polydor POSP413
Another Flight / Let’s All Dance – 1982 – Polydor POSP442
I have Love / Social Insecurity – 1982 – Polydor POSP501

Not much to say about these records aside that it would be a good idea for you to get them! I’m missing “Another Flight”, maybe I should try to get it this week! Also something to mention is the artwork. I really like it. It’s pretty simple, kind of pop art, always with a smart color palette. Umbrellas, drinks and a paper plane illustrate the covers.

Next up there’s Nick Robinson’s blog. I hope he doesn’t mind if I reproduce some of his comments about his records. About “What Do I Do?” he says:
Yes, my first proper crack at pop stardom. Recorded at the Producers Workshop, London in ’82, produced by Steve Lindsay (who had his own failed career with The Planets”). I remember the toilet in the studio had “Captain Beakey” wallpaper, since that classic was recorded there. Needless to say, we merrily defaced as we sat there.
The recording process itself was a huge disappointment, since Lindsey exercised his control and we were told to basically “shut up and do as we’re told”, by our manager Frank Silver. The end result was 500 miles away from the exciting demo we’d cut in good old Alan & Oz’ Input Studios (long since demolished) back home in Sheffield, being limp-wristed and light-weight.
It got plenty of airplay on local radio and a full page advert in Melody Maker, then promptly stiffed. The B side was much closer to my musical sensibilities, being darker and swathed in echoed guitar. We recorded the follow-up single “Another Fight” at the same sessions.

About “Another Flight” he also has something to say:
Recorded at the same time as our first single, this too suffered from appalling production. So much so, we decided to call in singer Elaine’s boyfriend Kevin Bacon from the Comsat Angels to record and produce a completely new version at Fairview Studios just outside Hull. We thought our version was clearly superior, but the manager, smiled, agreed then released the shite version. We should have noted his intent when he told us he made more money from his car park than from his bands.
I’d worked out a nice double tracked melody for the solo, but the producer thought otherwise and moved it to lie underneath the last verse. Arse! To achieve a thunderous percussive sound on the B side, he had our drummer sat down slapping his thighs. It got a couple of good reviews, then died the death. As the immortal Les so succinctly put it, “Shit business, this”.

And about their last record, “I Have Love”:
This was our final incarnation, with Tich Critchlow on drums. He moved on to form Living In A Box and showed us all how to make money…
The recording sessions of my last 45 with this band covered the full range from ecstatic to miserable. We were sent first to Chipping Norton studios, to lay down the backing tracks. As it turned out, the cordon bleu cook, the barrels of Hook Norton beer and the racks of porn videos in our individual cottages took their toll. After the allotted week, we’d got the drums recorded and that was all. We’d also jammed to the B side song in order to get the drum tracks for that.
On to Britannia Row to add the rest of the tracks. Took on and lost a game of snooker with Nick Mason (Floydian co-owner of the studio) Producer Carey Taylor (who went on to work with KD Lang, George Harrison & others – he’s now a millionaire) was a bohemian type who had the idea of turning us into a smart, funky outfit, so out went the distorted guitars I loved so much, in came Nile Rodgers styles. A highlight was the hiring of Raf “Baker Street” Ravenscroft to do some brass stabs and a solo (“this song doesn’t suit a guitar solo Nick”). I also laid down some piano, before succumbing to a nasty virus & heading home whilst the others sat in on the mixing.
So, I get my cassette through the post and Lo! the piano parts had been redone by the guy from Darts. The B side, which we’d all forgotten about, was all beautifully produced drums, with us banging away over the top of it, thinking we were doing guide instruments for overdubbing later. Come the guitar solo, instead of the awesome noise-fest I’d planned, there was… nothing, just strumming away on rhythm. Jeez. They’d also vari-speeded it up a semi-tone, rendering Elaine’s vocals a tad more Mickey Mouse than we cared for. It bombed.
Shortly afterwards, I was relieved of my duties in the band, the best reason they could come up with was the width of my lapels, which clearly indicated I was out of touch. I should have quit long before it came to this, but you should try walking out on a band with a Polydor deal. They recorded a 4th single, pre-announced in the local paper as “having NO guitar anywhere!” but Polydor saw sense, pulled the plug and it was never released. Tragedy.

And that’s quite a lot isn’t it? Usually we don’t find much more about these cool obscure bands in general. But still there are many questions to be answered. For example, what about those demos Nick mentions on Ed’s blog? Were they lost? I would love to hearing them. Or what about the 4th single they recorded? Are there any other recordings? And then of course would be great to hear if they played many gigs, or how was their relationship with Polydor? And so on! Do any of you remember them?

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Listen
Typhoon Saturday – What Do I Do?