Poppyhead is a form of carving of the end of a bench or a choir stall. Its name is unrelated to the poppy flower. It is derived, by way of Old French, from the Latin word puppis, which means the poop or the figurehead of a ship. In its simplest, and its most usual form, it has the appearance of a stylised fleur-de-lys. In some cases, it consists of a much more intricate carving; for example in Holy Trinity Church, Blythburgh, some of the poppyheads represent the seven deadly sins.

Back from a nice weekend in San Diego and waiting for me 500 vinyl records for Alpaca Sports. The only missing piece now are the inserts and they will be arriving on Friday. Pre-orders then will start shipping on Saturday. I love when we make it on time, before the release date deadline. But it won’t stop there, there’s more work to do as we have Flowers coming out on February 20th.

I took the red eye flight on Monday night, arriving at 6:20am yesterday. 2 hours of sleep at home. And then to work, on the coldest day of the winter so far. Today is as cold though and for the first time I use a huge puffy jacket to work. Looking good doesn’t matter anymore when it is this cold. It was a very long day yesterday, but quite rewarding as I met Ed for dinner in K-Town. He brought me the latest Shelflife releases which was a surprise. There is one 7″ that everybody should get this year, and that’s the Goodly Thousands one that he just put out. It’s beautiful. I joked about “stealing” him this band. It’s that good. While you are at it, do get Nalda’s new album and the Pia Fraus compilation.

In San Diego I didn’t step into any record store. Actually it was an indiepop-less weekend. I didn’t even bring music with me. I stuck to doing the touristy stuff. Seeing the sights. Enjoying the beautiful weather and with stoic discipline having only Mexican food for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

$44 to get into the zoo seemed a bit over the top. The world renowned San Diego Zoo. But I’m not much into saving money when I’m on a trip. I always convince myself saying “once in a lifetime”. So in there I went and saw for the first time panda bears, red pandas, koalas, okapis, and komodo dragons. I had a really good time watching at the apes and monkeys as well. Since I was a kid they were my favourite with their silly occurrences.

Another fun thing was taking a cruise into the Pacific Ocean for whale watching. Sadly the cruises don’t get too close to the whales so bringing binoculars would have been a great idea. But I didn’t know. I thought the whales were going to be jumping next to the boat. Nonetheless it was fun and I saw plenty of whales spouting and diving, bringing their huge tales out of the water. Best of all of this 3 hour tour was that they served very cheap beer on board.

True was that there was cheap beer everywhere. So unlike here in New York. We even crashed into an art gallery opening where there were two kegs of beer. And it wasn’t cheep beer, it was some San Diego microbrewery brand. It was good. Even in the zoo beer was at reasonable price.

Huevos rancheros for breakfast. Lobster enchiladas. Swordfish tacos. Shrimp burritos. Machaca. Chiles toreados. And so on. Everything served with rice and beans. And tortillas. Everyday it was a feast of Mexican food. And again it was cheap. I always ended up ordering so much food because I thought a $6 dollar portion wasn’t going to be enough for me. So I ordered more food. Always. I must have gained weight this weekend. Happily I don’t have a scale at home. So I won’t worry.

On my last day in San Diego I went all the way to Cabrillo National Monument, which is the northern tip of the bay, it looks like a huge elephant trunk that embraces San Diego and the Coronado island. Up there you get some amazing views of the city. You can also see Mexico on the horizon. It was really pretty up there, next to an old lighthouse. There’s also a path there to some tidal pools where you can spot different species of sea-life like anemones and colorful crabs. Next stop was San Diego’s old town, that I would guess is not really that old as it looks kind of fake, like some those “countries” in Disney’s Epcot Center. Still it was really pretty and picturesque. Mexican-style town. The Old West.

Upon coming back, going through all my emails, Uwe reminds me of The Poppyheads. And whatever happened to them?

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For a Sarah Records band there is very little on the web about The Poppyheads. It’s true that it is one of the most sought-after 7″s released by the Bristol label and it was an early release on the label. Perhaps that’s why. I don’t own a copy sadly, and perhaps never will as I don’t feel like investing over 80 pounds for a 7″. Unless I win the lottery that is.

Maybe back in the day they did appear in many fanzines. I don’t think I own any that have an article on them but maybe some of you do? If so, maybe there are interviews and rare photos of the band? These days no one writes about them, and not even those download blogs are offering any of their releases.

They had two releases. One on Sarah as many of you know, and a flexi on the pre-Sarah label Sha La La that Matt Haynes also ran. The sound had changed in between releases. From the ramshackle beauty of the flexi to a more Pastels-kind of sound on the Cremation Town 7″.

As I said the flexi came first, in 1987, and came along the Are You Scared to be Happy fanzine. It was the sixth issue of the zine. I do own the flexi, not the zine sadly. Hard to buy them in bundles these days. The flexi is titled “Postcard for Flossy” and has a fun artwork in yellow and blue with small profile pictures of each of the band members. It was catalog number Ba Ba Ba-Ba Ba 004 and had four songs on it’s one and only side, “Sun Shines Forever “, “Changes Yesterday”, “First Thing” and On And On”. On the back cover there are some credits: “Rob played twelve-string guitar, Del shook the tambourine and sang too, Andrew played bass, David sang and played guitar and Nigel hit the drums”.

In April 1988 Sarah 006 was out. It was the Poppyheads new 7″ and had three songs, two on the A side and one on the B Side. The songs were “Cremation Town”, “Pictures You Weave” and “Dreamabout”. It is one of the most beautiful 7″s ever released in indiepop history. The cover and the back cover have monotone pictures in green taken by an enigmatic Melissa. These songs were recorded at The Facility 31st January 1988 and it came with a black and white poster of the band. Now the credits in this release are more descriptive:
– Bass – Andrew Zurek
-Drums – Nigel Blackwood
-Keyboards – Del Davies
-Producer – Chris Martin
-Written-By, Guitar, Vocals – Rob Young
-Written-By, Vocals, Guitar – David Barbenel

The beautiful, my favourite song of them, “Dreamabout” also would appear on two Sarah Records compilations, on Shadow Factory and Air Balloon Road as well.

Among some tidbits that I found online about the band there is the fact that they were from Cambridge and that Rob Young is a music author, journalist and current editor-at-large of The Wire, a British based experimental music magazine.  Young has contributed to various publications including The Guardian, Gramophone, The Independent On Sunday, Uncut, Frieze and Jazz Times. Actually if you follow this link you can read some of his articles.

He has published a bunch of books already too:
-Undercurrents: The Hidden Wiring of Modern Music (Editor, 2002: ISBN 0-8264-6450-5)
-Warp – Labels Unlimited (Black Dog Publishing, 2005: ISBN 1-904772-32-3)
-Rough Trade – Labels Unlimited (Black Dog Publishing, 2006: ISBN 1-904772-47-1)
-The Wire Primers Book (Editor, published by Verso, October 2009)

There’s also a story involving him, Factory Records and the fantastic Stockholm Monsters. As a youngster, Young allegedly wrote to Factory Records, looking to procure a copy of Stockholm Monsters’ latest release for a review in his fanzine, Tony France; the return letter was a rather succinct: “Fuck off and buy their records.”

About the other band members I couldn’t find any information. There’s a cello player called David Barbenel though who was playing for the Alan Tyler & The Lost Sons Of Littlefield. Could it be him? There’s a slight possibility as there are some members in this band that used to be in The Rockingbirds who were kind of close to the indiepop scene back in the early nineties releasing some records in Clawfist Records.

And that’s about it. I’ve heard there are tapes with more songs by The Poppyheads but never had the chance to hear to them. I wonder how many songs were actually recorded. Will they ever release a retrospective like their other Sarah Records peers did? I do know Firestation is interested and that would be a great thing for indiepop fans! If anyone has any memories, or any anecdotes or anything at all, please share! I really would like to know more about The Poppyheads, their legacy is little, but it’s really precious!

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Listen
The Poppyheads – Dreamabout

Thanks so much to Jim Bishop for this interview! K-State was always a mystery to me until earlier this week I found two of their songs on Jim’s Youtube channel. Upon listening to “Lies” I was reminded why I searched for them in the first place, because they were making great jangly pop in those late 80s! As many obscure bands of the period there is not much written about them on the internet, but it’s time for that to change. Now sit back and discover K-State!

++ Hi Jim! Thanks a lot for for being up for this interview. As you might know there’s absolutely no information about K-State on the internet. Why do you think was that? Were you THAT obscure back in the day?

Good question. I’m surprised there’s absolutely nothing at all except for the posts I’ve put up on YouTube. In a way I was seeing if someone from the band would get in contact. At least you contacted me ABOUT the band so it does work ! But why nothing else..? Maybe.

1) The band was very popular locally in suburban North West London – Harrow, Wembley – but that’s still quite provincial. It’s away from the main live scene, so there’s no record of the band playing at well known venues like Dingwalls or The Dublin Castle. The Roxborough in Harrow for example was well known and popular but not on the live radar so far as London was concerned. Probably the nearest was The Clarendon, in Hammersmith.

2) As a wider answer, the unsigned bands from the eighties and nineties fall into a kind of internet black hole. Budget filming methods barely existed, so decent footage is thin on the ground and very basic quality by today’s standards. So material to put on YouTube is limited. Let alone posting the gig onto your Facebook page the day after. And audio-wise, If you weren’t signed it cost quite a lot of money to go into a recording studio then press the record yourself, so there were only a couple of ‘proper’ recordings made. I’ve posted one track from each vinyl record.

3) Time-wise most people of our era will have got on with their lives & copies of everything may have been lost in the intervening years with moving house, etc. I for one can’t find the early recordings made before I joined, I’m hoping someone somewhere has them.

++ You were telling me that you joined the band when they were already going, right? When did the band start and when did you join? And how did you know them?

I’d say they got going in 81/82. I met them in 83, and we became friends & me a fan.

I played in a guest spot on the first record in 86, and was asked to join after that.

Because I wasn’t there when they formed I’ll do my best to remember what the story was.

The 2 guitar players & bassist were – I think – all at the same school in Wembley, north west London. They definitely all lived in the same area. But the drummer went to school in Acton, where I lived. I was in a band myself and 3 of my band were at this school too, so the two bands were introduced to each other through that. We were playing in a similar style.

As a bizarre side-story, 3 members of The Who went to the same Acton school as the K-State drummer, whereas The Who’s drummer went to the same Wembley school as the other 3 members of K-State ! Also, I think three members of each band had learned to play the trumpet as well. Strange.

++ Talking of “them”, who were K-State and what instruments did each one of you played?

Original line-up:

Richard Elderfield – lead vocals, guitar, principal songwriter.
Graham Hodson – Rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Wade Chandler – Bass
Robert Weaver – Drums
Rachel Weaver – saxaphone (from 85)
Jim Bishop – Keyboards, some guitar, backing vocals (from 86)

++ Any clues why they named the band K-State?

Yes. Good answer, this, which is important for a band name. Robert’s Dad Bernie was a retired sound technician who’d worked for The Rank Organisation. As a result he somehow had access to the closed-down Kilburn State ballroom, which I understand was still being used as a BBC soundstage then (the guys told me there was a piano crashed halfway through the actual stage stuck there permanently.) Bernie managed to get the band in there to rehearse and even make some straight-to-tape recordings, which were really good quality. Anyway, someone was cleverly inspired to shorten Kilburn State to K-State. And there you have it. Some more educated scientific folk used to guess that it was referring to the k-state of an electron !

Because the building is listed they’ve kept it intact and you can still see it clearly from the tube with the huge letters ‘State’ on the top, so on the rare occasions I travel out that way it brings a smile to my face as it reminds me of the story. Not a bad landmark to choose ! It became a bingo hall afterwards, it’s even on Wiki – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilburn_State

++ And, yes, very important question. Whereabouts in the UK were you based? And what were the places in your town that you usually like hanging out at?

Nearly everyone lived in Wembley, or nearby. A pretty unremarkable part of London – except for having the most famous stadium in the world. At the time, especially after Live Aid in 85, lots more gigs went on there & the guys lived so close they could hear them from their houses – U2, Simple Minds, etc. I lived in Acton/Ealing, which is a couple of miles the other side of a huge hill & a big main road out of London from Wembley. Nice looking place, but hardly any live music.

++ What about gigs? Did K-State gig much? Any favourite gigs that you remember?

They/we did a regular gig at a pub originally called The Chequered Flag, in North Wembley. That was the ‘home gig’ if you like. Pretty much all the fans would turn up to those & they were good nights.  There are 3 videotaped shows from there, very basic quality. The pub changed its name to The Dog & Duck (yuck).

(The promoters who put that night on were big Gary Numan fans so how K-State ended up playing at those nights is still a bit weird. Apparently they put on a regular Numan disco & the man himself would turn up.)

The Roxborough in Harrow was good in an old-fashioned rowdy beer-drenched boozer sense; downstairs at The Clarendon and most other places like it you felt a bit more pressure. It was right at the height of pay-to-play so the pressure was on to get as many of your mates down to the gig to impress the promoters.

But the first K-State gig I went to (this is before I joined of course) left me speechless. I had no idea what I was in for – they blew the roof off. It was in one of those social clubs which have almost all disappeared now, North Harrow something-or-other.

++ Any other bands from that period that you liked and would recommend?

I’d gotten into the mod scene without becoming a full-on mod, so I used to see The Truth, The Prisoners, Making Time, The Moment, The Rage, The Way Out, to name a few. But that scene was short-lived and eventually splintered, the main result being Acid Jazz. I liked to see rhythm’n’blues bands, preferably with pub rock legends like Gypie Mayo or Mick Green. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There were a load of bands I liked at the time. I could go on and on and that’s not even asking everyone else in the band.

++ So, from what I gather, there were two releases, a 12″ and a 7″. Is that right? Or was there anything else? Compilation appearances perhaps?

That’s it I’m afraid, both self-made. No record label so no real release as such. Just sold at gigs.

++ The 12″ that had “Promise” in it came in 1986 and it was self-released by the band. What other songs were in this release?  And did your own label had a name?

The A-side was We’ll Find A Way (which Richard sometimes called We’ll Find THE Way, he kept switching.) The other track was Endless Struggle. No label.

++ Then, in 1987 there was the “Lies” 7″. I’ve only heard the A-side for this one. The B-side being “The Connoisseur”. But “Lies” to me sounds a bit different than the previous release, it’s just pure jangle bliss! Who would you say were the influences of K-State? And do you happen to know the story behind this song?

First and foremost, we had all met because we loved The Jam, but sadly they split up just as we’d started.

I was surprised when Richard brought Lies in, it’s so different from anything else he came up with. They way he sings it sounds like he really means what he’s singing, but I have no idea what influenced it. I can say for sure that we all knew the writing was on the wall for angry-young-men-doing-power-pop, which was the thing we’d been into. Once Paul Weller ditched The Jam and stopped being the king of making sharp aggressive music, there was no-one to take his place and tastes shifted away from it, as they always do.

Indie bands were getting more exposure & heading for mainstream popularity, especially The Cure and The Smiths; The Fall started to sound more chart-friendly, That Petrol Emotion were on the rise, Roddy Frame hit with Aztec Camera. So we had to change & although there were a few directions we could’ve gone, the popular thing at the time – and you have to remember all bands wanted to sign a record contract – was slick-sounding white soul, like The Blow Monkeys or Swing Out Sister. If you remember the late eighties you’ll know what I mean. And Richard was going for something like that that still suited the band. He did great I think.

I’ll get around to putting The Connoisseur up. It was a very popular live favourite, the K-State theme song for a while. It’s the first one to add saxophone & go for a smoother sound, but really catchy too.

++ On the sleeve artwork for this 7″ there are some portrait drawings. Who are they?

That’s us, as sketched by a friend of the band, from photos taken at the recording session.

++ By any chance do you know how many copies were pressed of these records? Perhaps it’s because they are not very well known, but I don’t think I’ve even seen them pop on eBay!

My best memory is that there were 200 of the 12” and 500 of the 7”. I know for a fact that 50 of the 7” got totalled because like a prat I drove away from the pressing plant with one box still on the roof of my car! Oops. I seem to remember we put the sleeves together Buzzcocks-style, sitting round with scissors and glue.

++ And what happened between the 7″ and the time you left the band? Are there any recordings from that period?

We did tape some rehearsals – which as I said unfortunately I’ve lost – but no more studio stuff. We were doing a good job forging ahead trying a new direction, but everything seems to have its own lifespan and I’d say ours had run its course.

++ When did the band split? And what happened after? Were you guys still involved with music?

I went travelling at the end of 88 and although I contacted the guys when I got back I really lost proper touch with them not long after; the band came to a halt in 89 and I think everybody splintered a little, as happens. People wanted to start families, spend more time doing other things. Being in a band can be very time absorbing. But I’ve been banging away ever since! I tried to stop when I was going through a hard time in the nineties, but it keeps drawing me back like a siren. I play in a band called, would you believe, King Salami and The Cumberland Three, which has a decent fanbase on the independent garage punk scene. I’m also in a 60’s all-male dance troupe called The Action Men; it’s easier to just watch the YouTube clips than explain. I’ve been in quite a few other band along the way, most recently Luxury Condo.

I record my own stuff under the name The Sayme, a lot of which I’ve put up on Soundcloud under the name Clark Commando (I’ve ended up with pseudonyms all over the place). In fact I pressed a 7” single in 2006 of a song I originally wrote for K-State, with new title & lyrics, called Ebabe. I was hoping to hawk it to Ebay to see if they’d use it in an ad, but that company are impenetrable! I thought of flogging some t-shirts with the ebabe logo on, but that seemed like too much hassle. And I could’ve gotten sued into poverty.

++ You were telling me you haven’t heard from the other band members since then. That’s a long time! Is there anything you’d like to say to them?

Hey ! How’s it going?! Let’s meet up…

I hope everyone’s doing well. We were good friends and a good band, and as you go on through life you realise just how much good fortune it takes to make those things work. I’m sure at least a couple of them are still in touch with each other.

++ And what would you say was your biggest highlight as part of K-State?

Musically, the Lies single sounded great to me, a real epic. I confess I’ve been naughty and put the alternate mix on YouTube with everything on it, that’s the one I love.

Live, the first time I saw the band play – they opened with Heatwave and I couldn’t believe how powerful, tight and sharp they were. Then the first time I played live I got a cheer when my name was mentioned. Typical show-off you see.

Socially we had some great laughs, especially with our drummer Robert, he’s such a character. Lots of growing up lads stuff that would make us wince now, but really funny at the time. But when we recorded Lies we went up to a studio in the middle of nowhere, literally a converted farmhouse. We stayed at a local pub and the landlord took the rare chance (for him) to stay up drinking with us. It was very messy.

I got into Super-8 film; mainly collecting though I tried to make films as well to use as backdrops for gigs. Wasn’t really good at it though.But I now have an unrivaled Super-8 collection, mainly because there’s no rivalry in it.

I took up scuba diving which I’d wanted to do since I was a kid. I love it but time and money make it a rare treat these days.

I’m a general wildlife enthusiast, though I don’t think of it as a hobby as such.

Cristóbal sends me a message, “have you seen the Twee.net results?”. It’s last Monday and I’m waiting for a friend to have early lunch. Korea Town. 12pm. Just an hour before work. I haven’t seen the poll results. I don’t expect any blatant cheating as Series Two did many years ago, but I expect some dubious labels to show up. It’s part of the game. Anyways, it’s never more than 30 or so people that bother to vote. But my reasoning being that these are the 30 people that are really into indiepop, that do care to express their mind.

Upon devouring my soup with noodles and sliced ribeye, and having a nice time with my friend who just moved to New York from Miami to work at the NY Times, I walked the 5 long blocks that separate the K-Town and it’s fun karaokes and AP’s building in a non-descriptive street. First thing to do when waking up the computer, check the Twee.net poll.

I admit I wasn’t surprised to see Cloudberry getting just the exhilarating amount of 2 votes. If one was by Cristóbal, then there is one more fan in the whole world. Many thanks to that one person who voted for me. Matinée won the category with 8 votes.

The blog did win, or to be exact, tied with three other blogs on the first place on the category Best Blog about Indiepop. We got three votes as A Layer of Chips, Indefinitely Blue and Frigopop also did. Cheers for that. Quite an accomplishment. If I remember correctly the blog also did very well in the 2012 poll.

On the best band category it was lovely to see Alpaca Sports on the 3rd place with 5 votes. Alpaca Sports is our next release. And actually the sleeves for the upcoming 7″ single arrived this weekend. Now just waiting for the vinyls! Another Cloudberry-related band, The Garlands, came in 7th place. The winner of this category was no other than Allo Darlin.

For “Best Song”, it was great to see “Helen of Troy” by Pale Spectres on 4th place. Twig also had a song called “Helen of Troy” on the 3″ mini CD. Pale Spectres, who appeared on the CD of our last fanzine, will appear in an interview on the next fanzine now. And we are planning a 7″ release for this year. Crossing fingers. Again Allo Darlin wins this category.

The Garlands snatched a third place as “Best Album”. I would have loved to release this album of course. I voted for it as well. Once again Allo Darlin wins this category.

In “Best New Band”, Alpaca Sports win with flying colors. A well deserved first place with 8 votes. Pale Spectres, with 5 votes, came 4th. The surprise is Charlie Big Time, who are by no means a new band, as we released a 3″ CD in 2007, and later another song on the second Cloudberry fanzine in 2008. But this time they appear in this category as the 5th place.

“Best gig”? Allo Darlin keeps on winning. But second place is the Close Lobsters and their Madrid Popfest gig. I don’t understand how this gig didn’t win first place as it was so special. It was just legendary. Sorry Allo Darlin, you might have more fans willing to vote than The Close Lobsters, but their gig deserved first place. And the second place, if we are just fair and square, should have been The Aislers Set at the Chickfactor show in New York. Sadly it seems it was just me who thought this way as that gig only got one vote.

“Best Indiepop site” goes to Frigopop. I wonder what’s the difference between indiepop blog and indiepop site as these days it seems they are both the same.

“Best paper fanzine”. Oh here I’m actually so disappointed. The fanzine I make with so much love didn’t get even a single vote. Oddly enough the last fanzine sold out in just weeks. In previous years we always won this category. It was our stronghold. This year, no votes. But our fanzines sell faster. Go figure.

“Best mailorder” goes to Pebble Records. Second place for Jigsaw and third place, and please don’t get scared by this answer, “Bandcamp”. Yes you read that right. BANDCAMP. I can only ask, what is wrong with people??

Something I do miss from previous years of the Twee.net poll is the ability to check individual votes. That’s no longer the case, and now all votes are secret.

What does this all mean for Cloudberry, most probably it states the fact that we are not very well known. That even though we can be very productive our lack of “big bands” leaves us in the outskirts of the indiepop scene. That may raise the question, do we even want to be a bigger label? Certainly the answer is no, we are happy with how we work and what we do. I like the pace of Cloudberry. Will it be possible to keep doing the same and at some point gain more recognition? That’s something, entering in 2013 to our 6th year, I’d like to see. Perhaps the next Twee.net poll will answer those questions.

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Today I have a very obscure band. One that there’s almost zero information about online. It is true that they have a discogs entry and their two songs are on Youtube, but any sort of descriptive information about them is non-existent on the web. I heard about them, just by the name, from Stephan, a friend and a follower of the blog (who I owe some MP3 rips. Will do this week! Promise!). I eventually found the 7″ for cheap on eBay. Like for 3 dollars if I remember correctly, plus shipping. So I assume it’s easy to find for all of you treasure hunters.

picture (n.)  “drawing, painting,” from Latin pictura “painting,” from pictus, pp. of pingere “to make pictures, to paint, to embroider,”

innocence (n.) “freedom from guilt,” from O.Fr. inocence “innocence, purity, chastity” (12c.), from L. innocentia, from innocens “harmless, blameless” (see innocent). Meaning “lacking in guile or artifice” is from late 14c.

Two words from latin origin put together, Pictures of Innocence is the obscure band of the week.

The blue monotone cover sleeve has a picture of what I would guess a Chinese man, an elder man, smoking some sort of pipe. He is wearing shades. His hands are bony. And there’s smoke all around. On the right bottom corner the name of the band and the name of the A-side, “No-one Crying”.

This A-side is the best song of the 7″. A mix of synths and electric guitars, very much the style of pre-indiepop times. This is from 1983 and you can already sense where jangly pop was heading towards to in the British isles. The pop sensibilities of later C86 bands are here, but of course, it’s a bit different. It’s a different period altogether. But it’s great too as any pop lover would attest.

The record was released by Little Prince records, this release being the first reference of the catalog. This makes me deduce that this was a self-released record and the band ran the label. On one of the 7″ labels, you know the center part of the record, there’s a drawing of the Little Prince, who I assume most of the readers of the blog have read?

The B-side is “Love & War”. This song is a bit more synth-pop driven, more early 80s sound, with what I guess is a saxophone (?) too. It’s not as catchy as the A-side, but still it’s quite enjoyable. On this track the vocals are very late 80s indiepop I think. I’m brainstorming right now, thinking which band the vocals reminds me of, but I can’t just figure out, though I feel I have the name of the band on the tip of my tongue.

But as I said, about the band there’s nothing at all to uncover. We don’t know the band members’ names. Or if they had any releases. Or where in the UK were they from. And that’s if they are from the UK! If they played any gigs? If they were part of any scene? If they recorded any more songs? If they were involved with other bands? All questions are unanswered but hopefully not for long. Maybe some of you can help?

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Listen
Pictures of Innocence – No-one Crying

Sonia is a feminine given name in many areas of the world including the West, Russia, Iran, Pakistan and India. The name is derived from “Sophia”, a Greek name meaning wisdom. Sonia and its variant spellings Sonja and Sonya are Russian variations on Sophia. The name was popularised by a 1917 bestselling novel, Sonia by Stephen McKenna.  In Hindi, the name means ‘golden’, derived from सोना sonā ‘gold’, from Sanskrit सुवर्ण suvarṇa (su- ‘good’ + varṇa ‘color’).  Sonya and its variations are occasionally found as surnames in England and the American eastern seaboard.

Of course, the Sonya I remember, the Sonya I know, is Sonya Blade from the Mortal Kombat games…

Can’t say yet that it’s been a great start of the year. Today I waited forever for the internet guy to come home and do a brand new installation. He never showed up. Had to call and reschedule with the company. They say they can’t track him down, that I could only wait or reschedule. Even though I paid already, Time Warner seems to feel they are entitled to treat their customers like this. As they have my money, now I can only play by their rules. Even the operator, this woman called Tiffany, said that I have to have a positive attitude, that I can’t be thinking they won’t call me on Thursday, the new date when the technician is supposed to come. How dare her tell me that when I’ve been waiting for a phone call for four hours. But what was I going to do? fight?

On Saturday, another argument at the post office. I’m sending a new parcel to Jigsaw Records, full of replacements. The woman asks me if I want to do Media Mail. I say no. I explain to her that I sent Media Mail last time and my 4 lbs parcel arrived as a 1.2 lbs parcel. That most of the stuff went missing. She must be quite slow because she asked me where is the rest of the stuff. I said, probably at some postman’s house. Perhaps I should have been more polite, as it wasn’t her fault really, but it pissed me. It was a big parcel, with lots of records and most especially some sold out fanzines which I really don’t have anymore to replace. In the end I paid 3 times more for shipping, I sent it as Parcel Post.

And another package I sent back in October went missing. It makes me wonder, because the United States Postal Service is raising the prices on January 27th, if they plan to keep being so clumsy and losing people’s packages. Sadly this new raise of prices will affect Cloudberry prices. I will appreciate everyone’s understanding.

Of course, it’s not that terrible, there are plenty of different scenarios that can be worst than this early 2013 start. But you know, I was very positive and thinking it will be a smooth year. The last couple of months of 2012 haven’t been that easy. So it’s definitely a bit of a letdown. But, and there’s a big but, my traveling adventures are just around the corner and they will lift my spirits. Definitely.

In two weekends I’m heading to San Diego, just as a tourist, with a heavy agenda in sightseeing. Looking forward especially to the famous San Diego Zoo. I’ve never been a fan of pets, but I love animals and their little story, their background, what they eat, where they live and one or two curiosities about them. You know, like how many hearts a squid has? That kind of thing. Also I love spotting animals that come from Peru. It’s a bit random, but it makes me proud when for example I see a bunch of llamas. Which reminded me of that one time, when in a high school field trip, one llama decided to spit, on a perfect parabola, a big clot onto one of the hip classmates eye. Those were the days.

And speaking to “the days”, then of course there is my trip to Europe in March. Not many news on that front aside that I bought my Madrid Popfest ticket yesterday. Still waiting for the remaining announcements as I believe there are two or three bands left to be added to the bill.

In general, that should be a fantastic birthday trip. The first time I try to celebrate my birthday properly. I’ve always liked it to have a quiet day, even I preferred going to work every Ides of March. The only time I recall having an out of the ordinary birthday was probably when I turned six years old. My dad took me to the racetrack. And we bet on the horses. I bet on number six for obvious reasons. And “Karateka”, that was the name of the horse, won with honors. With the money won, we went to the market and spend it in new G.I. Joes.

The past couple of days I’ve been doing something I love though, I’ve been reordering my whole 7″ vinyl record collection. In alphabetical order. It’s taking me hours and hours and I’m still not done. I bought these special boxes for 45s they sell at Bags Unlimited. They are quite nice, and most importantly, you can stack them. This is perfect for me, because I need more space in my spare room. I hope to fit at some point my sofa bed and also a twin size inflatable mattress. Always thinking in my guests comfort. Anyhow, I also bought these separators and I noticed I wasted one in letter “O”. So little indiepop bands that start with the letter O. I should have combined it with the letter N as I did Q with R. In any case, I have many more hours of ordering them. And in the not so distant future some CD furniture will be arriving home too and then it will be the turn of the CDs.

And after a very odd weekend at karaokes, lunching Trinidad and Tobago’s cuisine, devouring delicious roti and shark sandwiches, and later drinking Miller High Life at Mondo while I danced to The Primitives on my own, I rested. I played some computer games and found out that there’s a new Sim City coming out soon. And that’s quite exciting. Oh and that there’s a new movie coming up, “Before Midnight”, that I’m also looking forward as I enjoyed the prequels very much. Now, the question is, are there any indiepop albums coming up that I should be on the lookout? If so, enlighten me. I find myself so out of the loop these days.

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I keep going through the amazing CD that Rupert from A Turntable Revolution gave me months ago. As some of you might be aware a bunch of the latest posts on the blog are covering bands that appear on this CD he kindly made for me. Perhaps next week I’ll investigate about some band not featured here as I have got a couple of requests (oddly enough!). But for now, let me stick to it as only by blogging I do end up finding and taming this curiosity of mine.

Track number 16 on this nameless white CD-R. On the tracklist, black ink and handwritten, it says ‘Splash with Sonya – Surf Song’. To my surprise this song has been already uploaded to Youtube. The comments there don’t say much, someone remembers the good times when the band was around, another remembers that they were around the same time as the Shop Assistants, Soup Dragons and more. The only clue and potential information is in the description of the video: “Coventry indie band from the late 1980’s”

Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 12th largest UK city overall. It is also the second largest city in the West Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 318,600 at the 2011 UK census. Coventry was the world’s first twin city when it formed a twinning relationship with the Russian city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) during World War II. The relationship developed through ordinary people in Coventry who wanted to show their support for the Soviet Red Army during the Battle of Stalingrad.

When I think of Coventry, I always think of The Primitives. I’ve never been there mind you.

As far as I could figure out, there was only one release by Splash with Sonya. It was a 12″ released by Gemma GR Records in 1990 (catalog GR 100) and included the songs “Surf Song”, “Talk To Much”, “Once In A Lifetime (Again)” and “Watchtower”. I’ve only listened to the opening track. If anyone could help me listen the rest of the EP, that’d be very nice!

The band was formed by Niall Carson, Jamie Deas and Simon Wagstaff. It seems they were from an area called Stoke Park, and from what I found online, after the little success of Splash with Sonya they started a covers band in 1992, actually a Beatles tribute band. And they called themselves The Swains. You can read their story here.

About the name of the band, according to The Swains official page, Splash with Sonya  was “a name culled from the title of a film surely no-one would want to see.”

The only other mention I found was actually about Marion, Simon’s mother. It’s a bit odd, but perhaps it would end up as a clue to know whatever happened to the band. It seems she moved to a place called Criccieth where she takes care of her garden and of course her son, who happened to be the drummer of Splash with Sonya visits her often.

From my deductive powers, if Simon was the drummer, Niall must have been the vocalist and guitarist and Jamie the bassist.

And that’s all about I could find about them. It seems that their records don’t show up much on eBay, but then I can’t say I have been following and searching for them for a long time. I’ve only discovered them through this CD. So if anyone has any more information about them, please share! And if anyone has a spare copy of the record that would be happy to part with, please consider me!

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Listen
Splash with Sonya – Surf Song

A razor is a bladed tool primarily used in the removal of unwanted body hair through the act of shaving. Kinds of razors include straight razors, disposable razors and electric razors.  While the razor has been in existence since before the Bronze Age (the oldest razor like-object was discovered in 18,000 B.C.), its modern counterpart was invented in the 18th century, and the 1930s saw the invention of electric razors. In the 21st century, the safety razor – electric or not – is most commonly used by both men and women, but other kinds still exist.

2013. First day. The boys posting Another Sunny Day’s “New Year Honours” on facebook, me uploading Holiday’s “New Year’s Anything” and the girls loving Camera Obscura’s “Happy New Year”. Seems like any other New Year day to me.

I’m at work and I’ve been dealing all day long with the “fiscal cliff” story. I guess one should be glad to know that the people in Washington DC are working hard during holidays. No time for them to party. Well, and no time for me to party either. Democrats and Republicans have agreed on a deal. Now the it’s on the House’s hands. But I’m out of here soon and they seem to be busier passing a bill for hurricane Sandy.

Upon arriving home I will prepare the paperwork for the Flowers 7″ and mail the masters to the pressing plant tomorrow. I’m also sending the masters of an unknown Peruvian band to the pressing plant, Eva & John is their name and we are making a flexi. Not part of the Cloudberry catalog mind you, but it will be under the Plastilina umbrella. I’m very excited about this lot, especially as three of them are long time friends of mine. Two of them friends from my youth in Miami, that for one or another reason had to go back to Lima. We even had a band, the three of us, but that’s a story not worthy to be told.

The name Eva & John is a pun. It’s a mocking of Eva Ayllón, one of Peru leading songstresses along with Susana Baca and Tania Libertad. Her thing is Afro-Peruvian music. I remember still the day I saw, to my surprise, posters of her in Stockholm.  So she might be a bit known to those who like exotic kind of sounds. Of course, she is no Yma Súmac, but, in Peru she is revered. I can’t deny that I have sometimes found myself singing some of her lines while having a shower. I guess those songs are engrained in us, like a razor blade, since we are little.

The songs are “César Gutiérrez” and “Ciempiés”. There’s only one side to the flexi. A white flexi, which I hope to carry some copies for the curious. I don’t know if many Cloudberry fans will be interested in it even though this is a ridiculously good record. It’s pure pop, with great lyrics, catchy hooks, that remind anyone of the Spanish 80s, the so called La Movida, and also to later sounds of Los Punsetes, Bananas or TCR. Of course the idiosyncrasy is different, this is made in Peru, and so their fabulous name-dropping, a la Television Personalities, in the opening track will sound alien to many. But to me, it feels like home. These songs make me revisit my home city from far away.

The songs have been mixed  and mastered with fantastic results by my good friend Cris from Sundae. He understood the sound the band was looking for and made these songs sound as they should. I’m terribly happy about this, and I’m even considering starting a small series of flexis for Peruvian indiepop bands. See, the thing about them is that they record some demos and then they disband. They make one or two fantastic songs and that’s it. Then nobody hears about them anymore. Because no one cares. But maybe I care, and perhaps with Eva & John it all works out, and this flexi, perhaps the first flexi to ever be sold in Peru, proves to be successful. And if that’s the case, it would make sense to keep going!

This of course makes me start the year with a high note. On top of that, I’ve finally purchased my ticket from Stockholm to Tallinn. That’s good news. And maybe I could take the ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki one day. I will have to check that. If that doesn’t work out, it’s ok, I’m already doing lots during that trip. Also this weekend I’m going to try to choose with some friends where to go for President’s Day weekend in February. The cheapest options are Charlotte and Myrtle Beach. Under $200. Never been there. I might as well just go and see. There’s good BBQ in the Carolinas, right?

Oh, and last but not least, I’ve purchased new shelves for my books and CDs, and special boxes for my 7″s. Exciting times ahead, reordering everything that’s been piling in alphabetical order. I’ve even bought some separators! The only thing I don’t look forward to, is assembling these of course!

So short and sweet post to start the year, moving to the super obscure band of the week, “This Change is Everything”.

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The enigmatic This Change is Everything bears already a very mysterious name. Wonder what they meant by it. The only one song I know from them is “Razor Blades”, and I know it, once again, thanks to Rupert from, a Turntable Revolution, and the magical CD he burned for me.

What do I know about this song that sounds a bit (or a lot) to This Charming Man by The Smiths? I know nothing. I know it’s great and addictive. That it has some great guitars. And some fine lyrics too. That it makes me curious to know if the band recorded any other songs at all. I don’t even know what years were they active.

What I do know is that this song was the opening song of the B side of an LP compilation called “First Wave: A Compilation LP Of Young Independent Bands” released by GI Records from Oxford. This is the same label that in 1989 released the compilation “Expose It” that included New English and that we’ve mentioned in the blog before. The only conclusion I have from these little hints is that “First Wave” was released in 1989 or before.

On “First Wave” I find myself clueless. The only band I recognize is All Over the Place. The rest, I don’t know. The other bands included are The Vulcans, Passion of Ice, The Price, Airlane, The Innocents, The Trees, The Raindogs, The Chain and The No No’s.

The only other small clue, is on the back cover of this compilation, which sadly I don’t have, but I found a picture on Discogs. There’s an address for the band. They were based in London. In the South West, close to Southfields station. I’ve never been there. Not yet.

And that’s all I could find about this very elusive band. Do you know anything else about them?

Happy new year to every one that comes and read my little blog. All the best wishes for this 2013. Hopefully there’s lots of great indiepop coming our way this year!

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Listen
This Change is Everything – Razor Blades

comfort (v.) late 13c., conforten “to cheer up, console,” from Old French conforter “to comfort, to solace; to help, strengthen,” from Late Latin confortare “to strengthen much” (used in Vulgate), from Latin com-, intensive prefix (see com-), + fortis “strong” (see fort). Related: Comforted; comforting.

With the year winding down, and at the doors of spending my first Christmas in New York, I reckon it’s been a good year overall. There’s the comfort of knowing that things were finished on deadline, that the label was productive enough and that perhaps we’ve become a little more known around pop fans. Every year that’s the idea, not to make more sales, but to expand the fan base. Proselytism they say.

This is not reflected in year end lists surprisingly. Those music tastemakers have always ignored the real indiepop, the true and not hypocrite. So that’s no surprise. And I’m not being bitter or just saying. In a way I feel refreshed to that Cloudberry lives under the radar, because there will never be any intention to please anyone’s taste buds but mine. And if that sounds selfish, well, then be it. Though my goal is to share the music I discover and I love. So, think of the latter, and if you love any music, please share it with me too OR start a label. Let’s keep on building together a better indiepop scene!

Christmas alone always leave me a bit shaken. I don’t know why. I can act a bit tough on the outside, but there’s that wee melancholy assaulting me. And it’s been years like this, since I don’t travel to see my whole family. And perhaps this is the real selfish in me, because I spent my year’s vacation allotment traveling to see indiepop bands, castles and friends, instead of my family. Out of guilt, or most probably, due to my own gain, I decided to work during Christmas. And New Years. That way I’ll have three days off to use on my vacation to Europe in March. Speaking of which I need to renew my passport.

I heard from my Finnish friend in Estonia today too. She’s up for having me some days in Tallinn. So I have to add that to my itinerary. My busy itinerary. I don’t want to check for plane tickets today. I checked some weeks ago and the return ticket from Stockholm to Estonia’s capital was 90 dollars. Hope it’s around the same. I’ll book the ticket after Christmas. I don’t know, but I don’t feel this ticket will be a proper Christmas gift to myself. But then I wonder, what can I buy myself? More records? I barely have space now. I’m actually thinking of buying some furniture. Some shelves for my CDs. If only there was furniture that was especially made to shelf 7″ records…

So today everyone is mellow. And as I said, I’m feeling it too. I have this stupid wish of hearing from A. Though that would probably be for the worst. Haven’t heard from her for a month now. That’s how the world goes. That’s what my beloved McCarthy used to sing in that pop hymn that is “Boy Meets Girl (So What)”. There are so many shades to life. If I was going to understand one, I wish it was this one.

I haven’t been doing much indiepop shopping as of late either. I haven’t added many new items to my eBay saved search. And I have kind of lost the track of the new bands that are coming up. Kind of I have all I need with the new bands I discovered in the last few months and that I want to release next year. So if anyone has any tips for any new releases that I SHOULD get…

I hope I’m not sounding like a sad puppy of some sort. I’m actually pretty excited, it’s just you know, looking back at the year that’s going away. It was a fabulous year, with ups and downs, but so thrilling, with so many new experiences. I had a fabulous time abroad, going three times to Europe. I didn’t have that much dancing this year though. I’ve had better dancing years I think. I think maybe better concerts too in the past. Though The Aislers Set in New York were monumental. Or The Close Lobsters in Madrid! Ah! That was truly something, something marvelous, not to be repeated. So yes, pretty damn good. And New York has treated me very well aside from a couple of hurricane and train scares. My only regret this year is the one that got away of course. But couldn’t have done much either way.

Back to my own comfort. Back to finishing the year with high hopes and high spirits. 2013 is already shaping up with true excitement, there’s San Diego in a month and Europe in three months. I just need to figure out what to do in February, where to go?!

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I’m revisiting the amazing CD Rupert gave me at Indietracks. Ah! Those three magical days in July, where vegetarian curry is lunch and dinner, when my boots were muddy muddy muddy and I couldn’t let her hand go. Rupert was kind enough to burn me this CD, which I think I’ve told you all about it before when I covered the Meltations on the blog. Now I’m going to cover, if this can be considered covering, the second band to appear on the CD, Cold Comfort. As Rupert told me, not being selfish at all, that he hoped that I could shed new light on these old forgotten bands. That’s what it is all about.

Sadly, I’ve seen while googling about Cold Comfort that the tracks are on Youtube uploaded by Mr Takashi who is very zealous about his rips (or mp3s or something else that I have no clue about). Yes, the same Japanese fan that accused the blog for not giving him “credit” of discovering a band. I guess stranger things have happened in the world and something as silly and ridicule shouldn’t be even discussed here. But well, the say football is the most important of the least important things. Probably indiepop comes in second so, it’s always an interesting discussing. Anyhow, on his Youtube uploads now he writes “cut off to protect from the US label”. Amazing. I can’t believe how sad someone can be to think this way. Can he consider the fact that there are more people in the wold that own these records? And you don’t need to spent hundreds of pounds on them. You just need to look in the right places. So get off your cloud sir.

Having said that, it’s true, I don’t own the record. The one and only 12″ the band released. Thanks to Rupert I heard the opening track “Really Really Don’t Mind” and thanks to the From a Nothern Place blog I heard the last song “S.A.W.S”.  This one has trumpets!! Indiepop with trumpets, that’s what it is all about don’t you agree? So if you want to listen to that one do head to that blog and check it out there.

I don’t think the record has popped up on eBay too often. Seems pretty rare. The artwork for the cover shows 5 times the same photo of an old lady on some sort of grid being the last item a photo of sliced carrots. The record was released in 1990 by Reasonably Serious Records being the first reference in their catalog and I would guess the only one. I’ll put my hands on fire and say this was a self-release.

On the A side we find “Really Really Don’t Mind”, a true indiepop scorcher, and “Don’t Want to Know”. On the B side we have “Blue Skies in the Rain” and “S.A.W.S.”. I haven’t heard any of the second songs of each of the sides. Not yet still. So if anyone want to share those, I’d love to hear them!

The band comprised of Giles Evans on lead vocals and trumpet, Jay Baughan on lead guitar and harmonica, Andy Foster on rhythm guitar and vocals, Andy Garlick on bass guitar and Matt Saunders on drums. The EP was produced by Dave Morris, engineered by Mark Tempest and recorded at Workshop Studio. All songs were writing by Andy Foster.

And here is the curious bit, one that I’ve been trying to follow the thread as a true detective. So on the Thank Yous part of the record there are thanks to Bobbin, George Fardon, Brian, Tatty, Emma, Lib, Giles B, Dave Guillame and PSY. On Twitter I find a Estelle Evans, perhaps related to Giles Evans in some way, and she asks Simon Pegg, yup the actor of many many movies, if he is the PSY that is being thanked on the sleeve. There is no reply from Simon Pegg, at least not publicly, to this question. But during those same dates, on Simon’s twitter account, he recommends the bandcamp of an Andy Sonar, his mate. I connect the dots and I think that maybe, but just maybe, this Andy Sonar is Andy Foster? Could it be?

But I can’t say. That’s where the I stop following the thread. Well, that’s where the thread stops. And that’s all I could gather about this mysterious group. Questions abound. From the basic background of the band, like, where were they from in the UK? Or why just one record? If they had any more songs? Etc. etc. etc. Any chance anyone can fill in the blanks?

And until next week. Today, have a merry merry christmas!

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Listen
Cold Comfort – Really Really Don’t Mind

Kate is a feminine given name. It is sometimes a short form of Katherine, which is Greek meaning pure, blessed, virginal and popularity.

Indiepop nights are an uncommon sight in New York City, so initiatives like Kip and Maria’s “Rough Smooch” are very welcome in town. Three bands and two DJs playing indiepop tunes at Legion Bar in Brooklyn was the perfect excuse to go out on a Sunday night. A cold, bleak and wet Sunday night. And even though it’s never ideal to go out on a day prior to a workday I think the turnout was more than good.

I want to say it was a success but of course, I don’t handle the numbers of how much beer was consumed. I assume that’s how it would be qualified if successful or not because it was a free cover show. But if I can throw some numbers, just a wild guess on the attendance, I’d say around 60-70 people came to the show. For a first night, for an event that was only promoted through facebook and twitter  and because of the dreary weather, it was great. I reckon that the amount of people yesterday was the perfect number. I say that because the back room, where bands play, was properly packed while bands were on.

I expected to see more familiar faces of the NYC indiepop scene, not that it exists but there are people who do like this music. Aside from the omnipresent Maz from Mondo and NYC Popfest, and Michael Grace, from My Favorite and The Secret History, there was no one else. I wonder where was everyone else. It is at nights like these, at events like these, when people have to come together and support. So these can keep going. I was glad though that there were new faces, new people, that enjoyed the gig very much. There was dancing, and there was even some sing-a-long. But I cannot be cynical and not be disappointed by those who didn’t show up but do expect being supported when they play or organize something.

The venue was new to me. Someone around said that it was a failing bar. I couldn’t tell. It was spacious and as I mentioned before, it had a back room that was perfect for bands. The beer selection and the prices were fine too. The brick walls were cozy, and there was even a small little fireplace. A side door for a small little fenced area on the street for smokers to go, and one unassuming bathroom were among the comforts of the bar. And of course it had it’s hipster tattooed bar tenders but it’s Brooklyn, can’t expect the bookish kind in this area.

Music was good throughout the night. From Kip’s laptop both DJs entertained  us the whole evening while Beetlejuice was being screened on top of them on a projector screen. A young Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis and Joan Cusack were invited to our party as well. Indiepop staples as Black Tambourine, The Clean, The Wake, The Field Mice and so on were heard and you could see people giggling, commenting and feeling secretly partners in crime of the whole indiepop thing. It was a happy crowd.

I was surprised by the first band, Grand Resort. A four-piece of Dominican expats in NY making proper jangle-pop that reminded me of The Bodines. Even more surprising to know that they have never heard the band. They were familiar though with the Sarah stable and The Close Lobsters who the vocalist told me was his favourite band. They also must like The Stone Roses as they covered their classic “I Wanna Be Adored” with a pretty faithful rendition.

The other two bands were “Kissing is a Crime” and “The Hairs” and they drew a bigger crowd. I mingled and socialized while they were playing so I can’t give a full account. My jangly purism made me skip the second band, Kissing is a Crime and well, I just stayed in the front room gossiping about indiepop, learning who is coming to NYC Popfest, and having Hoegaarden pints with old and new friends.

Will this event happen again? That’s the question I’d love both of the organizers to answer. They did say that they would love to repeat but not too often. As often as once a month would be ideal. But of course it all depends on the venue. They are the ones who decide always. If you are profitable or not. I’m going to be crossing my fingers for this to keep going and hopefully at last a pure indiepop party can happen in New York. It was proved yesterday that, for a small venue, there’s enough people interested and supportive of our beloved music.

Thanks Kip and Maria for a fun night!

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Continuing with this excitement I have about this trip to Stockholm in March, and now that I have finally booked plane tickets from Madrid to Sweden’s capital, I want to bring back the good memory I have from Stockholmer duo Don’t Be Kate!

I had my doubts when I first emailed them back in 2007. I wanted a label of just jangly guitars but they made the sweetest, the catchiest, the best electropop I had heard in years. My preference and my love for electric guitars is no news, but I have loved and enjoy electronic sounds as any other kid that spent their teenage years in the 90s. Though not always picky, carrying a big baggage of guilty pleasures, I loved tons of europop and ended up re-discovering italo disco years later after being terribly curious after Nixon’s “What My Italo Disco Collection Sounds Like” song. Don’t Be Kate! were in the category of electronic pop I loved. And I would have crushed the Cloudberry motto and belief of an only guitar label just for them. But it didn’t happen.

At some point I also considered that it would be a good release for Plastilina, the other label I was involved at the time. An EP would be perfect. To discuss the topics we were in touch on MSN Messenger. I think I haven’t opened that program since those days! I used to talk with Karin, after contacting them on Myspace expressing my interest in releasing them. They were keen on it but we still had to reach a deal. My main worry was that their songs, the beautiful songs I wanted to release, the ones that were on their Myspace (those being “Good Times Leave”, “7 Months Still Running”, “Passport”, “Cul de Sac” and “Dance Kate”), were lost after a computer failure. They didn’t have the masters. Just the MP3s. Just the same quality as the Myspace stream. I said I wouldn’t mind. I loved these songs so very much. But that wasn’t their idea. They were going to record an EP, some new songs and they were going to get a class producer for it. And I think, if my memory doesn’t fail, the most tricky issue. I was just starting the labels and money was short, not that it’s abundant now mind you, but affording a class producer was going to be impossible. But they really wanted. They aimed high, and why not, their music was pure quality and bliss.

Of course all these decisions and how things worked out weren’t how we all expected to be. I would have loved to own their EP. Even if I haven’t released it. I wouldn’t have minded. But it should have been out. I don’t know if it was ever recorded. I think the girls were students at that time and I assume it might have been a bit difficult to self-release. Why nobody else picked them up? It startles me. Though by doing a bit of research for this post I barely found any mentions in the blogosphere, I guess, they weren’t much known, not a household name in the indiepop crowd. And shame on you all, because you were missing one of the most talented bands of that time. Listening to their songs, especially my favourites “7 Months Later Still Running” and “Cul de Sac”, I feel always the urge to put them out. And I’ve tried! I wrote them this year, but sadly I never heard back from them.

Don’t Be Kate! were Karin Forsberg and Nahla.  They sang in English but Karin also had her own project were she sang in Swedish. It was great as well. They had a blog for a bit, but after three entries they stopped updating it. There were never much news about them. I think some of my Hamburg friends got to see them live once as Hit the North booked them once. The clinical ear of Jens never fails and he always booked the best new bands from Scandinavia for the pleasure of the port at the river Elbe. That was late in 2008. Even later that year, at Stampen! a club in the city centre of Stockholm they also played a gig.

The only other gig I’m aware they played was at Volga, a club at the Hötorget stop of the tunnelbana, in 2007. I wonder if these were the only three appearances of the band.

What happened after?

It seems our story gets blurry, we lose track of Nahla, and we follow Karin become part of a DJ duo called Indikaar. The other girl in this duo is Ida Larsson and it’s said they are based both in Nykoping and Stockholm. They played 90s music. Don’t know if they are still going, their facebook page dates of 2010 and their last DJ gig of September 2011. They seemed to have DJed many times around Nörrköping at this point.

I want to say Karin studied music business but can’t be 100% sure. Her name appears linked to a company called Oh! Productions which organized gigs and festivals in Sweden. Seems she had been representing a band called Musikkollektivet. The last update from Oh! Productions dates from 2010.

Today I believe she works at Spotify in Stockholm. It’s good to know she was always involved with music, though I wish, and not secretly, that she makes music once again. And why not, bring back those fabulous Don’t be Kate! songs!

If anyone knows about their whereabouts, whatever happened to that EP they were recording, or if they played more gigs, or anything else, anecdotes or happy memories, please share. I go back to their songs so often, that learning just a bit more about them would make my day.

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Listen
Don’t Be Kate! – 7 Months Later Still Running

It’s a week of news here at Cloudberry HQ. And it makes sense to be it that way before the holidays. Holidays that I will spend working in NYC. I already spent all my vacation time for this year in rather a great way. So no complains. I’ll be a bit like Santa, packing orders and posting parcels. And as pressing plants will be closed, we can’t really come up with much news aside perhaps of some new projects we’ll embark on. But let’s get the ball rolling.

First things first. The Nixon 7″ is out at last! It came out yesterday, Monday the 10th. And all orders have started shipping. Bear in mind that as this is holiday season it may take a wee long for them to arrive at home, especially if you live abroad. The 7″ as I said before includes four songs running at 33rpm and it’s the same old Nixon we always loved. There are no surprises and Nixon didn’t try to reinvent himself. It’s indeed one of the proudest moments for me here at Cloudberry as I’ve been a fan of Nixon for more than 10 years now. And finally, after so many years there are four brand new songs out there that sadly seem to be his farewell to indiepop under that moniker. Of course we can all cross fingers for that not to happen, but we’ll see. The 7″ also includes a lyrics sheet for you all to sing along. Pretty important.

We’ve set the release date for yet another Swedish act. A 3 song 7″ by Göteborg’s Alpaca Sports will be released in February 10th. This one will probably start shipping before that date but we wanted to keep it safe due to the holiday season that may delay the production of the vinyl record. There’s a lot of expectation for this release and pre-orders show that. This is Alpaca Sports’ 3rd single and it continues that same line of fabulous jangly naive indiepop that has been charming everyone everywhere. And because of this, they’ve been hitting the road playing already many countries and will soon get on playing Popfests in Spain and somewhere very near to me. The artwork for this new Alpaca Sports single comes thanks to Ray Kimura who they’ve been working closely since day 1. Ray had already collaborated with us at Cloudberry with the sleeve artwork for the Cassolette 7″ roughly one year ago.  Also, in Japan, a mini-album will be released early in January. So yes, Alpaca Sports are hot. And they are making videos and videos for their songs. And so, tomorrow we’ll debut a new video. So keep your eyes peeled.

Third point. Tripping the Light Fantastic. You can pre-order the 7″ now. I estimate it will be out sometime in February. If you haven’t listened to the A side “Heavy Heart” head to the Cloudberry site and do that. You are going to love it.

More news? You bet. I’m starting to work on the 8th fanzine. After the success of the last fanzine, which sold out in just a couple of weeks, I’m beginning to plan it. Who to interview? What color should the zine be? Which songs should be featured? If you have any suggestions please let me know. I’d love to print it by the end of March or early April. Wishful thinking perhaps.

And the last piece of news that I want to announce, and perhaps it may be the bomb for many, at least it’s for me, it’s that we have started working on a new Cloudberry Cake Kitchen release. On this 4th volume of our beloved series we’ll be showcasing the indiepop genius of The Rileys!! More on this front soon!

And a bit more of personal news I managed to book yesterday plane tickets to Madrid. Yes, I’m heading again to Madrid Popfest for a weekend of indiepop, friends, fantastic food and the best dancefloors an indiepop festival has to offer these days. As I’ve said before, Madrid Popfest organization is inspiring to me, so I’m glad to attend once more this event and even though it will probably be much different as the first time,  think the quality of bands, and the friends I’ll get to see again, will probably make up for the ones that won’t be there. I am sure it’s going to be a magic weekend.

As soon as that weekend ends I’ll be taking a plane to Stockholm. Why? I’m going to celebrate my party there. At this point planning a nice party. I’m just thrilled by this. I’ve never been big in celebrating my birthday but I thought, before I’m 30, I should do something exciting. And so here I am. Traveling all over the place and hoping to have a party with all the good friends in that indiepop city that is Stockholm. I hope and wish I can book a band, but if not a good dancefloor with my friend Emelie DJing will be enough for a good night. I wonder if you can BYOB in Stockholm though? That’d be perfect! It’s so expensive to go out there!

AND, if everything goes as planned I’ll be spending some days too in Tallinn. Because I’ve been meaning and wanting to go there for a long time. Because I like medieval towns, buildings, castles, and that sort of thing. It should be glorious!

Because I’m thinking about this birthday of mine in Stockholm, let’s rescue an obscure band from that same city from the mid 2000s: Your Place or Mine.

I think the first time I heard their songs were during the times when a bunch of soulseekers moved from the Twee Folks room to DC++ another P2P program. Andreas Olsson was running the room there and had been inviting us all who loved the good music. I’m sure it was him that went crazy about the band. I can’t recall if he blogged about them on the blog all users of the room shared. I think the blog was called “Twee Pop Love”. It must have been either 2004 or 2005. I knew Andreas wanted to start a label. Only 7″s he said. And the first band he was going to release were Zipper. And the second, and my memory shouldn’t fail, was to be Your Place or Mine. He absolutely adored the band. And so did I. I thought they were fantastic. I thought I was never going to see them play live though. And at that time my label dreams were so far in the future. I was studying and needed to pay for school. I didn’t have any loans.

They had two CDRs. None of those I ended up owning. And I doubt I will ever. Those little things back then were so rare, so scarce. So today it might be just impossible. I think they were made on demand too. At least, that’s how I would have done it if I had a band. The first CDR was called “Demo 1” and included the songs: “Hard Liquor”, “Another Lover of a Demo Group”, “Oh, How I Spend My Days” and “All our Instruments are Borrowed”.

The second CDR was the “Atta Boy EP”. A name that of course reminded me of the Heavenly “Atta Girl” 7″. The songs on this release were “In 25 Years Don’t Exist”, “Kill Me” , “Heut Ist Mein Tag”, “She Said (Pt1)” and “Atta Boy”.

“Heut Ist Mein Tag” of course was a Blümchen cover. It gives me goosebumps to see South Beach, my previous neighborhood, on that video!

The songs were immediate, powerful, pop with punk sensibilities, tweepunk if you want. Fast, exciting, like a straight jab to your face. They were catchy as hell. The guitars could remind you of Free Loan Investments perhaps, the instrumentation, with trumpets and trombones, make you think of Love is All maybe, but in the end, they were original, very original. They were one of a kind and I always felt it was a shame that no proper release of them ever materialized. And yes, they should have been bigger. Perhaps if they had been around 2 years earlier or 2 years after they had fared a bit better luck. It’s just that during those mid-2000s indiepop was such a quiet scene.

After the Blümchen connection, well I thought they named the band because of a Vengaboys song called “Your Place or Mine“. I don’t hide my liking for either Blümchen or Vengaboys. I do enjoy this kind of music. Good pop is good pop.

The first gig ever by Your Place or Mine seems to have been in Lund at the Beat Goes On festival organized by Maja Eriksson and Fredrika Thelandersson. From what I’ve read the whole festival wasn’t that successful. But the band was happy and proud of their performance and the response of the crowd.

I remember the band having a very kitsch kind of website. One of those domains that ended with .tk that were really popular back then. Do you remember them? The website sadly doesn’t exist anymore.

The band started with Jakob Elmgren (guitars) and Per Holmquist (drums) after, on the way home, both took the underground after a fun club night. Some days later they asked Jana Johansson if she wanted to join and play bass. Soon after they would recruit Matilda Kihlberg to sing for them after meeting her at the “Your Hair is Too Long and Your Face is Too Small” club.  And they were set.

From an old little article on Louder than Bombs, it seems the name of the band comes from a previous song name of “Another Lover of a Demo Pop Group”. The previous name of this song was “Your Place or Mine”.

On an interview when asked what the band thought about the comparisons with Talulah Gosh and Fat Tulips they well answered that they would like to be compared with The Siddeleys. And that they usually just sound like “paff paff paff paff GADUGGA DUGGA!”

During that first CDR, “Demo 1”, they had received help from members of Corduroy Utd. Sam Carlshamre played trombone and Sandra Valencia played trumpet. Justus Birch also from Corduroy Utd. helped them produce the CD. I feel the first two might have joined the band at some point? But perhaps I’m wrong.

I spent so many evenings at the small convenience store I used to work in South Beach playing their songs while beach-goers made my life miserable by complaining about the ridiculous prices we had. But well, what can you expect from a store a block away from one of the most famous beaches in the US? Playing these songs alleviated the pain of those days, they always brought a smile to me. Today revisiting them, I feel the same enthusiasm, the same awe, the same smile as soon “Another Lover of a Demo Pop Group” starts playing at my work computer. And planning my trip to Stockholm, with this music on the background, even if it’s month away, brings a true excitement!

And that was it. Then there was silence. Whatever happened to this fantastic band? Did they record any more songs? I thought they were recording an album at some point. I tried, when I was working on compiling the first Starke Adolf CD, to contact Mathilda but with no luck. Nowadays it would be great if I could get in touch to showcase them on the Sound of Starke Adolf Vol.2 and see what they are up to. I’m pretty curious.

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Listen
Your Place or Mine – Another Lover of a Demo Pop Group

Some time ago I wrote a small piece about an obscure 80s Swedish band from Karlstad called Victorian Tin. Happily Christian Gustafsson from the band got in touch not so long ago and was kind enough to do this interview and that way tell us more about Victorian Tin and learn their story! He shared with me 27 (!) Victorian Tin songs, and plenty of them are real jangle gems. Wonder why they only released one tape during their time. For those who understand Swedish here is a newspaper clipping that you might enjoy as well. And now, sit back, read, and enjoy!

++ Hi Christian! First of all thanks for getting in touch! Whereabouts in Sweden are you? Still in Karlstad? And are you still making music?

After a year studying, in Stockholm, I moved back to Karlstad and have lived here since. I still make music but not as much as I used to. I’m involved in my friend’s band The Wonder Boys. Event hough I’m not a real member of the group I write quite a lot of music for them. Both songs I really like myself, but also songs “on demand” that I imagine the singer David would like. But occasionally I manage to write songs that neither of us like 😉
Erik (the voice of Victorian Tin) has moved many times and we don’t see each other that often any more. The last time he moved back to Karlstad, we formed ephemeron. Then he moved again and we meet maybe once a year. At the moment we have just started working on a new fantastic ephemeron song called “And the story goes”. I really love that song even though it’s not finished yet.

++ So tell me about Victorian Tin? Was it just you by yourself? And had you been involved in bands before?

I was in a band with my cousin, called Recidius Catonium. We played quite dark and gloomy stuff influenced by The Sisters Of Mercy, Clan of Xymox etc. One day I wrote a song that was very different. Too different to be a Recidius Catonium song. I thought about recording it myself, but as I can’t sing I asked my friend Erik (who I knew had started writing songs and played guitar) if he would help me out with it. He wrote the lyrics and sang on the song that we called “1986” (I think we recorded it in 1989). We thought the song was so good that we decided to start a band together. And that was the birth of “Scapegoat Palace”. We wrote and recorded new songs practically everyday in the year to come. Sometime later we wrote a song called Septemberia, and we asked a friend of Eriks, named Lina, to sing backing vocals. Again we thought we had moved to something new that deserved a new bandname. So we asked Lina to join us as a member and we renamed “Scapegoat Palace” to “Victorian Tin”. We dreamed about playing live and recruited a guitarist in Ola Frödin. Ola wrote the song “In my rainy weather” for us, but left the band quite soon. Eriks friend Johan Skugge then joined us instead and was with us until the breakup.

++ Was Victorian Tin a bedroom band? Did you ever play live?

We were indeed a bedroom band. Writing, playing and recording everything in my bedroom on my 4-track cassette porta studio. Unfortunately we never managed to play live.

++ Where does the name Victorian Tin comes from?

In the end of the eighties, one of my favourite bands were “All About Eve”. In the song “December”, Julianne sings “-There’s a victorian tin, I keep my memories in”. I thought it sounded like a good bandname. (Maybe I was wrong… 😉

++ And what would you say were the main influences of the band?

Hard to tell… But I remember we listened to “The Church”, “Cocteau Twins”, New Order and “All About Eve” a lot.

++ You only released that one tape on Everlasting Records. How did this deal happened? Did you ever meet them in England?

We all were music-addicts in those days, and found an English mailorder company where we ordered records from, not available in Sweden. In one of their catalogues they said they were starting a recordlabel and wanted new bands. We sent them a couple of songs which they liked and they asked us to send them our favourite songs for them to release on cassette.
We never met them, or talked to them. All conversation was by mail.

++ You were telling me there’s a very funny story behind this tape? Care telling it? 🙂

They asked us to compile our favourite songs for the cassette release and I think we sent them 10 songs. Snow violet heaven, Septemberia, Kitten song etc. We sent the tape in a letter and the post took nearly two weeks to arrive in England in those days. During the wait for the cassette to arrive we made them another tape with some other songs we thought they should hear. After a while we received a letter from them asking where the cassette was. A couple of days later we received another letter saying, “nevermind the last letter, the cassette has arrived now”. We waited for some very long weeks until the pressed cassette with cover arrived in our mailbox from Everlasting. We opened the package and realized that they had pressed the wrong cassette!!! It was the second cassette with “the rest of the songs we wanted them to hear” that had been pressed and released!!! The right cassette with our favourite songs, Snow violet heaven etc must have disappeared in the mail somewhere between Sweden and England! They didn’t know that we had sent them two cassettes, so of course, when the second cassette arrived, they thought it was the one we wanted to release. We were devastated. Imagine that your band was finally going to release something on a real recordlabel, and then the wrong songs is released. It took quite some time for us to get over that.

++ And from the 7 songs included on the tape, which would be your favourite? And why?

Silvery mouths, no doubt. We have been talking about re-recording our favourite Scapegoat Palace/Victorian Tin songs and Silvery Mouths is one of the songs that both myself and Erik like very much. I love the long intro (even though my “mandoline” playing is horrible), the melody, and the stolen drumbeat from The Cures fantastic song “Sinking”.

++ Mine is “The Days of Youth”. Mind telling the story behind this song?

I honestly don’t know much about it.  It’s all Eriks song, but I know that he wrote it in 1987 when he was “Exchange student” in Georgia, USA. My guess it’s about loneliness, far away from home, but I have to ask Erik before you quote me on that.

++ And are there any more songs from Victorian Tin that weren’t included on this tape? And did you ever participated on compilations or this tape is really your full discography?

There are lots of songs that’s not on the tape. Many, in my opinion better songs. Snow violet heaven that I mentioned before, Valentine Voices is a favourite, Kitten song, The Inconvenient Season and Salient which is a strange song that I like anyway. We wanted to make a song like Simple Minds would have done on “New Gold Dream”, but even though we failed that task, it ended up in a strange but interesting song I think.

++ When and why did you decide it was time to call it quits with Victorian Tin?

I’m not sure, but I think it was 1993. We grew apart musically. Erik and the “new” guitarist Johan started writing songs together and to be honest, I didn’t like them all that much so I quit. Typically enough, Everlasting was preparing a new cd compilation and wanted Victorian Tin to contribute to. But Erik & Johan formed a new band called “Phone a fish” and contributed with a song called “Sex”. I Formed a new band called “Emelies Garden” and contributed with the song “The shore”. But I don’t think the compilation cd was finished before Everlasting too called the quits.

++ After this band you were involved in many different bands. If you can, can you name each one of them and give a little description of them?

–Searching For Beatrice. A band which we had parallel with Victorian Tin. It was Erik on voice and guitar, myself on bass & drumprogramming and our friend Stefan on keyboards. A more synth oriented sound influenced by New Order, Depeche Mode, Clan of Xymox etc. We are still close friends, the three of us, and meet once in a while to record new songs.
–Emelies Garden. My first band after Victorian Tin. Myself on guitar, various female vocalists, Olof Hertting on bass, and Åsa Lundgren on keyboards. I wanted us to sound like All About Eve…We failed, but I still like the songs “The shore” and “This Summer Place”.
–Attic Drive/Springlee. When we recorded the Emelies Garden song “This summer place”, Olofs friend Carl helped us with guitar. After Emelies Garden I joined Carl in forming the band Attic Drive together with drummer Jakob and guitarist Mikael. This was the first band I played live with. 1996 I changed from bass to guitar. We got a new bassplayer named Ulf and the old guitarist quit. We changed name to “Springlee” and did a couple of gigs. We were big fans of guitarbased music like Suede, Pulp, Popsicle.
–Recidius Catonium. My cousin Anders and myself played music influenced på The Sisters Of Mercy, New Order, Fields Of The Nephilim, Clan Of Xymox among others. Anders was with us in Emelies Garden for a while, while Olof was abroad for a couple of months.
–Baren Med Vin & Josefin. I was in love with a girl called Hanna and wrote her a song which I gave her on a cassette. The song was dark, slow and in my opinion quite beautiful. The night after I gave her the tape, I had a dream that her father had listened to the song and thought it was “too fucking depressive”. So when I woke up I wrote her a new happy song on my mandolin instead. I played the song for my cousin Anders who wrote some crazy lyrics to it about a cowboy who lost his leg in a war. We decided it was time to start a band. We asked my friend from school Henric to join on guitar, Olof (from Emelies Garden) on bass, Anders on vocals, myself on mandolin. Later on David (The Wonder Boys) joined on saxophone, Åsa Lundgren (Emelies Garden) played Trombone, Åsa Bjureus (who had made the Victorian Tin logo on the cassette) played the flute. Mine and Henrics friend from school, Patrik Strand joined us on bass for the very last gig (when Olof once again was abroad). We were influenced by Irish folk music and especially The Pogues and Swedish versions like Persons Pack and Traste Lindens Kvintett. It was a lot of fun…but we were not good in any way. We did sound terrible! 😀
–Popetree. Erik and Stefan from Searching For Beatrice moved from Karlstad to Gothenburg and started a new band called Popetree. They had a drummer named Bengt and a bassplayer I don’t know the name of. The bassplayer left and they phoned me asking if I could play bass for a couple of gigs. We played a gig in Gothenburg (which was filmed) and one gig in Karlstad. We also recorded 4 songs in a studio in Gothenburg.
– In Losters Blue. Anders & myself played keyboard and my girlfriend of the time being, Karin sang on a couple of songs under the name In Losters Blue. The only band I’ve played in that only used keyboards.
–The Wonder Boys. David from Baren Med Vin & Josefin started a band together with another guy named Christian (Kastén in lastname) when he moved to Lund in the south of Sweden. They played mostly on acoustic guitars and David also played saxophone. When David was turning 30 I recorded an instrumental version of one of their songs called “Bad Luck Charm”, with drums and heavy guitarsound. David liked the version, recorded vocals on it and from that day I have written quite a lot of songs for them. Listen to “A Gift I Never Had”, “If We Get Through This”, “A Bat In The House (featuring my wife on backingvocals!), and “The Girl From Tory Story” from http://www.thewonderboys.se. Songs I wrote the music to which I really like.

Well that’s all I think…

++ Seems there was an interview with you on a zine called “Billig Underhållning”. Do you remember anything about that? And how do you remember the Swedish scene during those years? Were there any other bands or at least like-minded fans of jangle pop?

There was a guy in Stockholm writing a blog, and like yourself he had heard “The Days Of Youth” and liked it. He did a short interview for a fanzine, but I don’t think it was ever released. There was a very good band from Karlstad in the end of the eighties called “All That Jazz”. The backing vocalist Mari sang on the recording of the Emelies Garden song “The Shore” meant for the Everlasting compilation. We liked them very much but apart from them I can’t remember any other band from Karlstad influenced by “English-guitarpop-music”.

++ Also I wonder, was there no interest of other labels to release your songs? I find it very strange that there are no more releases!

We sent our demo to both Swedish and English record labels but apart from Everlasting, no one was interested. Our dream was to be signed by 4AD. We were huge fans of many of their bands, Cocteau Twins, Clan Of Xymox, This Mortal Coil etc. They also had very good taste in artwork, that we liked. But sadly, they were not interested in our music.

++ And when you are not making music, what other hobbies do you have?

As a family-father the time for hobbies is quite minimal nowadays, but one thing I can practice is photography. I love taking pictures.

++ One last question, tell me about Karlstad! What are your favourite spots there? To sightsee, to eat, to drink? Even to record shop?!

Karlstad is a small town with a population of 90 000. The river Klarälven flows through the city and I think it’s a quite beautiful and nice town. Favourite spots…hmm…I love walking by the river in summertime. You can eat good food in “Munken”, the restaurant is quite beautiful as well. The building was built in 1700 century, with valves and was back then some kind of tomb/grave (I don’t know how to explain in English). There was a cemetery nearby back then, and the building that nowadays is a restaurant was used for storing coffins. A nice place to sit and eat, don´t you think? 😉 The days of record shopping is sadly over in Karlstad. In the eighties and nineties we had a great record store called “Riff Raff”. Much independent music and rare bootlegs. They were even a recordlabel and released their own band “Hollywood Indians”. One of my first jobs was at Åhléns record store, by the way!

++ Thanks again a lot! Anything else you’d like to add?

Now it’s time for you to tell your story, and let me know when and how you found out about Victorian Tin! And thank you very much for showing interest in our music! 😀

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Listen
Victorian Tin – Snow Violet Heaven

Funambule (French for Funambulist) from the Latin funambulus  (funis ‘rope’ + ambulare ‘walk’).

I’m a bit mixed up in my head since yesterday. Friends of mine would joke and say I’ve been like that since forever and especially since my heart made that sound Harper Lee sang about. Like every week I was going to write a blog post, and I was in the diatribe between a diary of the days I spent in Scotland two weeks ago and a list of the things I dislike and everyone loves.

I wanted to go over the great Aislers Set gig at Mono, seeing all the Glasgow jet-set all at once and being a bit starstruck, Wyatt pulling dead-on puns and jokes in between songs, and having to take the last train when the dance floor was going nuts on a Monday night. Unbelievable. I wanted to dedicate a few lines to the record shopping at Elvis Shakespeare, to the new Occasional Flickers Giorgos kindly let me listen at his place, to the Cullen Skink I tried for the first time, to Edinburgh and it’s wet weather, to Inverness and it’s gray bleakness, and to the Megabus ride between these two cities. I wanted to get everyone jealous of the sunny and bright afternoon at Loch Ness, with a wonderful rainbow arching over it’s shores and it’s dark, almost black, waters; or of the boat ride over the loch with Rod Stewart’s songs on the background, and later exploring the ruins of Urquhart castle.

But yesterday I was riding the Q train that struck a man on the 49th street station here in New York. We stopped all of a sudden. My car was still on the tunnel when suddenly the driver asked us all to move towards the front of the train and exit. There had been an accident.

And about my list, who cares if I dislike Wes Anderson or David Lynch really. If they bore me to death with all their cliquey and forced dialogues and scenes. So at this point, I feel I better stick to news and music for now. Feelings, and my small personal vignettes, although appreciated by many, seem tiny and unimportant. Also while in UK I learned how many people resent them, and take them as bashing sometimes, as full criticism. Seems that some can’t differentiate a personal blog (THIS ONE) and a music review blog. I don’t review new bands, only obscure older bands, because they are not part of the scene anymore. But I think I’m entitled to like or dislike bands and if I’m writing about a festival or a gig and there are bands that I think are not good, why can’t I say that? Me as a fan, attending a gig, I think I have all the rights to say what I think. Still people don’t agree.

So better, not even do lists. In any case I must be terrible at that. I can’t do a top 5 bands list that looks the same when everytime I’m asked to. It’s always different with the only similarity that McCarthy is on position number 1. I can’t do year end lists though I force myself to fill in the blanks of the Twee.net year end poll. I think I’m more keen to polls than to lists. Answering questions is easier than filling an open page.

When I got down of the train there was a big group of people halfway down the train. Well, halfway half of the train. The other half was still in the darkness of the tunnel. This crowd was taking pictures, photos. I didn’t realize that until I was close to them. I thought taking the 47th street exit which was further down instead of the 49th street exit. The reason. It was closer to work. Why was I being so practical. All day yesterday I had been practical. I never use an alarm to wake up. And I did. I went early to the laundry. I felt productive. And top of it all, I decided to leave to work earlier. If I had been my usual self, procrastinating a bit, I would have probably avoided the shock.

I managed some “moral” victories while in London. Some things went my way instead of the way of others (those others that I happen not to like). All thanks to randomness, to luck. It’s not usually like that, if there’s something I’ve learned from life, it’s that everything requires effort, planning and determination. And I’m happy with that. I enjoy that sort of control. But for a change, it felt great not to have to move a finger for getting away with it.

Yes. I don’t love everyone. But I’m not dehumanized or a misanthrope. I love life, I celebrate it. It’s just that I’m not in the same wavelength as some other people. But in any case, I can’t believe no one helped the guy that was trying to get back up to the platform. Instead they took photos. Instead they are being published as front pages in the newspaper. I would have run and helped. How wouldn’t I? Sure I know that people react differently. But there are moments that you have to take action. In cases like this,  it doesn’t matter if you don’t like this person, you have to save even your worst enemy, your nemesis, or whatever you call it. There is no victory when one dies. There’s none.

It’s been the closest I’ve seen death. I felt my feet heavier. I left the station, in a mix of shock, fright, and numbness. I don’t know if it matters, but I feel a bit ridiculous still thinking of some girl when really, there are more important things. I’m very sorry for what happened yesterday.  I read that the widow had a fight with the victim before he left home. There won’t be any reconciliation. That is a heavy weight, an anvil of guilt to carry for the rest of life too. I can’t understand who would ever push anyone to death. It’s beyond words.

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Hopefully next week there’s a happier post on my part. But let’s move to what people come here for, the weekly band, for the obscure, for the unknown, for the mysterious. That sounded quite esoteric. Perhaps I should change the blog background to black.

Fear: From Middle English feer, fere, fer, from Old English fǣr, ġefǣr (“calamity, sudden danger, peril, sudden attack, terrible sight”), from Proto-Germanic *fēran (“danger”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to attempt, try, research, risk”). Cognate with Dutch gevaar (“danger, risk, peril”), German Gefahr (“danger, risk, hazard”), Swedish fara (“danger, risk, peril”), Latin perīculum (“danger, risk, trial”). Albanian frikë (“fear,danger”) and Romanian frǐca (“fear”) are also cognates, although probably influenced by an early Germanic variant.

Perform: From Middle English performen, parfournen (“to perform”), from Anglo-Norman performer, parfourmer, alteration of Old French parfornir, parfurnir (“to complete, accomplish, perform”), from par- + fornir, furnir (“to accomplish, furnish”), from Frankish *frumjan (“to accomplish, furnish”), from Proto-Germanic *frumjanan, *framjanan (“to further, promote, accomplish, furnish, carry out”), from Proto-Indo-European *promo- (“in front, forth”), *per- (“forward, out”). Cognate with Old High German frummen (“to do, execute, accomplish, provide”), Old Saxon frummian (“to perform, promote”), Old English fremman (“to perform, execute, carry out, accomplish”).

Yes, I love linguistics. Thought you knew by now.

Early in January 2011 I discovered this band. Can’t remember how though. But it was definitely through their fabulous single “Funambule”. I immediately got in touch with Pascal Carreau from the band and send him interview questions which I sadly never received answers for. What I did receive was a bunch of MP3s, all songs from their two CDs. Still, “Funambule” reigns supreme for me.

At that point Pascal told me that he was involved in another band, Strange Pepper, which you can check out their website here. He told me that he probably had extra copies of the 7″ at his parents house but that there were no more copies of the CDs at all. Happily I snatched a copy of the 7″ a couple of weeks ago on eBay.

The 7″ includes “Funambule” on the A side and “The Rope Dancer” on the flipside. The latter being an English version of the superior original song.

The Fear Performance was born in Caen in 1984. The year I was born. There were three founding members, Thierry Thomas (bass), Dominic Bélier (drum machine and keyboards) and Pascal Carreau (guitar and vocals). But soon Thierry would leave the band to form Bruges La Mort and was replaced by Michel Carreau. He was the brother of Pascal of course. And to keep it more in family, Giles Carreau would join to play drums. And to complete the band Laurent Piquot would also join on guitars.

The very first mentions of the name of Caen are found in different acts of the dukes of Normandy : Cadon 1021/1025, Cadumus 1025, Cathim 1026/1027. Year 1070 of the Parker manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle refers to Caen as Kadum. Despite a lack of sources as to the origin of the settlements, the name Caen would seem to be of Gaulish origin, from the words catu-, referring to military activities and magos, field, hence meaning “manoeuvre field” or “battlefield”

The artwork for the single was great, black and white, the band logo with a car. It’s really cool and classy. It was done by Philippe Jaffre. It’s no surprise that they would reuse it later for one of their posthumous CDs. Because there were two. The first one, with this artwork, called “Indifférent’ and the second one, “My Dreams and Your Shadows”. Surprisingly all of their songs are in English! Not in French. Nonetheless they are pretty good. You can check the tracklist for these CDs here.

And of course this is their old site where you can read a bit in both English and French and see some pictures. Oh! If you want to listen more songs, there’s a myspace as well.

It’s a bit odd to find such great French bands, playing guitar pop and being so unknown. It’s very odd that they don’t have a Discogs entry for example. But anyhow, please enjoy “Funambule”! And if you have any memories or anecdotes or anything you’d like to share about The Fear Performance, please do!

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Listen
The Fear Performance – Funambule