(DGC Records, 1996 [unreleased] / Zero Hour Records [U.S.], Cortex [Australia], 1998)
I wrote most of this in September, during California Month, so I couldn't post it then. I recently revived and expanded it, and then yesterday I learned the astounding news that the Swervies will be playing on the Jimmy Fallon show tonight. Yes, go back and read that sentence again. A cult band from England that hasn't recorded any new music in ~15 years will be playing on the Jimmy Fallon show tonight. Unfortunately, the Swervies live up to the "shoegaze" stereotype of being quite uncharismatic live (ever since losing charismatic bassist Adi Vines in the early 90s), so I'd recommend closing your eyes and turning up the volume. They truly are all talent and no image; Adam Franklin even shaved his trademark dreads.
Yes, this was recorded in 1996, for Geffen / DGC Records, and a promo CD was sent out in '97. But li'l Dave Geffen dropped the band and the album was shelved and the promos were probably ordered destroyed. It ultimately came out on indie Zero Hour in early '98, with a different mix of "These Times". (Those who have heard both versions say the original DGC mix of that song was superior.) Just another installment in of the Swervies' legendary record label-related woes...
"Architecture, nature, alcohol / Space travel, rock and roll." Any questions? "I'm dreaming number 99 / Get me to the world on time." This is the song that should've finally catapulted them to arena headlining status, after deafening audiences in arenas for the previous 7 or so years as the opening act for alterna-stars like Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Monster Magnet, and the Smashing Pumpkins. (I should've gone to the Pumpkins show in late '93; Swervedriver and Shudder To Think, two bands I had never even heard of at that time, were the opening acts). The very Beatles/Oasis-esque "These Times" also had major chart potential, obviously.
Here is the back cover of the super-rare '97 DGC promo CD; even the photo itself is so rare that hardly anyone has ever seen it:
1998 Zero Hour promo CD single (edited down by 2 minutes) showing the band's new "satellite" logo
The opening surf rock lick is mighty nice, but I wish it had continued throughout the song. Dick Dale would be proud. Adam had learned to sing by this album, bringing a lot more nuance and tenderness to his delivery, and this song is a great example of it. This album, also titled 99th Dream, is generally viewed as being the least great of their four LPs, but it has some impressive moments. I personally rank it ahead of Ejector Seat Reservation, but way behind the essential one-two punch of Mezcal Head and Raise.
My obsession with Swervedriver began when I read about Mezcal Head in Alternative Press in '95, then listened to it in '96 at Plan 9 in Richmond, VA, then finally bought it in '97 at the Mushroom in NOLA. Then I saw them in March '98 opening for Hum, which was an incredible show of course, and still one of the loudest and most amazing I've ever seen. Then I got their debut album Raise late that year, an album that, like Mezcal Head, is simply chock-full of songs that should've stormed the airwaves. The band broke up the following year, making the upcoming millennium look even more grim. In early 2003 I won a lot of four Swervie 12"s on eBay for a shockingly low price (I pretty much got them free and just had to pay shipping), and then gradually acquired most of their singles. For example, I have "Never Lose That Feeling" on 7", 12", white-sleeve promo 12", and CD single. Yes, it's that mind-blowing of a song, and is probably the one song that most encapsulates everything that this site stands for:
Be sure to listen to the equally mind-blowing instrumental dub/space-rock meltdown "Never Learn" immediately after the above song finishes, since it comes right after "Never Lose That Feeling" on the EP. Trust me.
Here is an entire set they did on March 16, 1998 in Oklahoma City, which was five days after I saw them at the House Of Blues in New Orleans. I actually would recommend not watching that unless you saw them live in the '90s, because it doesn't do justice to how stunningly loud and tight they were.
Not mentioned on the ticket was an incredible local band called The Universal Chrome (formerly known as Flux), who played first
Like The Sound and The Comsat Angels in the '80s, Catherine Wheel and Plexi in the '90s, and Film School in the '00s, Swervedriver's failure to reach ultramegastardom will never cease to baffle myself and other enthusiasts of this kind of music. Luckily they became pretty big in Australia, where Stooges-influenced rock always finds eager ears.
"99th Dream" live in '98 on the Aussie Saturday morning(!) TV show Recovery; the flashing polka-dot background is apparently based on the promo CD's cover art shown above:
Logo I drew freehand in '06 in about a minute; tried to improvise some sort of vaguely "Asian" script style
Yesterday I signed onto AOL for the first time in almost 3 months. There's stuff to talk about from the past week pertaining to two concerts (Alcest, Tineke Postma), and the spring Record Raid at Tulane, but no room or desire right now.
Last night's episode of Finding Your Roots, featuring Harry Connick Jr. and Branford Marsalis, was so interesting that I was inspired to dig out my family's genealogy book. Some tidbits: There was a guy named Kermit who married a lady named Starlie Joy, and they had daughters named Starmary and Rosemary. About my great-grandfather Per, who emigrated from Sweden in 1903: "Changed surname [from Stadig to Rame, then to Ramee] in the Swedish army. Counted Eisenhower, Marshall and Patton among his pupils at the military academy in Kansas City, where he taught for 10 years after being pensioned. He was a good friend of Pres. Harry S. Truman." And "Occasionally Pop [Per] was summoned to fill in at the President's poker table." Um, what? He trained and partied with some fuckers who later helped to defeat the Nazis and hence save the world? I suddenly feel pretty lame in comparison...
Bounty penalties remove New Orleans Saints from Super Bowl contention - has an interesting comment provided by someone named Hazzard27: "It's funny how in 2009 the Saints were only fined a total of $10,000 (which was tied for 22nd in the league) and $40,000 in 2010 (18th in the league)......if there was so much cheap-shotting and intending to injure going on, it wasn't outside the rules according to the league."
Planets with similar climates: Catherine Wheel - "Black Metallic" (1991), Hum - "Little Dipper" (1995), The Bevis Frond - "Coming Round" (1992), Talk Talk - "Life's What You Make It" (1986), Plexi - "Forest Ranger" (1996).
Not much needs to be said about this song, one of the most legendary and influential ones in the history of indie / underground music. Sometimes I forget that the mission of this site was to promote shoegaze music. I figured it was about time to post a tune by one of my top-5 favorite bands, and St. Patty's Day is appropriate since MBV were from Dublin. Everyone should know by now that the band always stretched out the pure-noise middle section to ~20 mins. in concert at ear-crushing volume, which causes many a fine patron to evacuate the venue.
According to online sources, this EP was released on 8/8/88, which happens to be the day that my family moved from Olney, MD to New Orleans, and were greeted by a tropical storm. It was also the week that the Rush Limbaugh Show went nationwide, and I think I once read that Slowdive formed on this day. The cover art is pretty iconic, and many individuals will probably miss the fact that the girl is holding a knife to her throat amidst the flower stalks, which fits in with the line "You might as well commit suicide." The video helpfully flashes the phrase "Teenage Suicide" at this moment:
I bought a black t-shirt on eBay with this EP's cover on it in 2005. The guy accidentally sent me a medium, so I asked him to send me a L or XL, which he did, and even let me keep the M, which I gave to my sister. I can't find it now, otherwise I'd post a pic.
After wondering for over a decade what the lyrics were, I Googled them. Finally seeing them made me realize that Bare Minimum may have appropriated the line "insane eyes" for their hit song "Night We Streak, Divine Failure".
I made sure to consume the trinity of Guinness Draught, Murphy's Stout, and Killian's Irish Red today. I did not have cabbage because I'm not Irish. Here's video by Irish pop lady Róisín Murphy (whom I once read took 16 years of dance lessons, as you will see), one that in fact should've been a huge hit on this side of the pond:
Amber Rose displays her new "Irish" tat!!! - The hottest person I've seen in years continues to defile her body with lame ink, but she somehow gets even more attractive with each one
Currently watching: Eastbound & Down episode "Chapter 17", probably the funniest episode of any show I've ever seen. The part where Kenny crashes Shane Dog's funeral and plays Candlebox's "Far Behind" and Pearl Jam's "Alive" on a boombox (before being chased out and having his boombox destroyed) will live in infamy:
Also, I just about fell out of my chair when I heard Liquid Liquid's "Scraper" in a recent episode ("Chapter 15" or Chapter 16").
Plants I've recently potted up, which is horticultural slang for "moved into a larger pot": Dwarf Key Lime Pond Cypress Drooping She-Oak Bigflower Coreopsis Old Lady Cactus Another term meaning the same thing is "bumped." I don't use it because I find it to be lame.
Planets with similar climates: Band Of Susans - "Silver Lining" (1990), A Place To Bury Strangers - "I Lived My Life To Stand In The Shadow Of Your Heart" (2006), Swervedriver - "Son Of Mustang Ford" (1990), Magic Dirt - "Touch That Space" (1993), Poem Rocket - "Appeak To The Imagination" (2000), Ride - "Here And Now" (1990), Catherine Wheel - "God Inside My Head My Head" (1995), Sonic Youth - "The Wonder" (1988), Feverdream [Australia] - "Never Letting Go" (1995).
(Origo Sound [Norway]; All Saints Records [U.K.]; Thirsty Ear Records [U.S.], 1997 / Touch [U.K.], 2001)
Biosphere is a guy named Geir Jenssen from Tromsø, Norway. This song has several different parts, kind of like a condensed, intergalactic, ambient-ified version of Tortoise's "Djed." This song, as well as "Hyperborea," has cryptic vocal samples from the TV series Twin Peaks. Well, on this song the sample is supposedly from there, but on "Hyperborea" it definitely is. (Thanks mom for giving me the full DVD set of Twin Peaks for Xmas.) I don't know the context of the sample used in this track, but it makes me think of HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey or GERTY in the brilliant recent flick Moon. The name Biosphere, the album name, and many of the song titles show that Jenssen has a keen interest in science.
I'm not sure if this album could've been made in a warm, humid climate, since the feeling of vast coldness and ice permeates almost every fiber of its being. In fact, one track is named after a species of Arctic grass called Poa alpina. A related grass called Poa annua is an annoying weed throughout America, and I actually pulled a bunch of it today. I actually wrestled for a long time over whether to post that one or this one. It was like wrestling with a bear; to be specific, a large bear, about 6-8 feet in torso length, that has platinum claws and lots of stamina when it comes to wrestling; but I think we all know I emerged victorious.
I usually try to provide only non-remastered songs, but in this case, I'm giving the 2001 remastered version on Touch. (They prefer to be called just Touch, rather than Touch Records.) It's not like remastering has that big of an impact on ambient music, after all; I do have the original '97 mp3s as well, but on a different computer. The 2001 version was subtly retitled Substrata², and comes with a bonus CD as well as totally different cover art. I bought it used at the wonderful, kitchen-sized Skully'z Recordz in the Quarter, and according to my RYM account I bought it on June 3, 2009. I downloaded the original version some years prior. I just found out that the album was reissued yet again just last year, on LP only, with an entirely new (third) cover and a long bonus track named "Laika," on Jenssen's own label Biophon Records. So in the world of ambient music, this could safely be called an acknowledged classic. It was even bootlegged in Russia! Talk about a... COLD WAR. To inspect and peruse all the various versions, go here.
Back cover of Norwegian CD
Clear CD tray of the 2001 remaster with icy photo underlay
Also, you may remember the amazing song "Willing To Follow You Down" by Lowercase which I posted during California Month last year. TMT did an interesting article about another brilliant song from that album, "Floodlit," and its similarity to a recent song by Cloud Nothings. (And correctly traces both songs back to their Slint-y primordial ooze.)
As for Pitchfork, I've never really talked about them on here, though I think I've given them a lot of swipes here and there, such as in the Twin Sister post in January. I've gone to their site literally every weekday for over a decade, though I still refuse to ever add pitchformedia.com to my bookmarks list on any of the three computers I've had in that span. Every morning I type in "pi" in my browser window, then let it autofill the evil URL. I visit the site, check out the news section while trying to mentally filter out all the expected stories about Radiohead / White Stripes / Kanye / Neutral Milk Hotel / Arcade Fire / etc., see if any overhyped disc has been awarded the "Best New Music" tag (Pitchfork even has an adjective form of this tag that they like to throw around to such albums: "BNM'd"), then, most importantly, check the tourdates section. So there you have it. Those of you who remember the site from its early days will recount tons of witheringly funny headlines, but those went by the wayside in the early '00s once it became a money-making juggernaut that can't afford to step on anyone's toes. The main source of humor for me on the site for the last several years has been to see how many releases have been given a grade in the mid-7's. I swear to g-d, almost everything on there gets a wishy-washy 7.3 to 7.7 grade. It would take a long time to explain why this is so hilarious to me, but it goes back to the "can't afford to step on anyone's toes" thing. This is the same site that infamously gave the Flaming Lips' Zaireeka a 0.0 and then began vigorously sucking on the Lips' teat (meaning: reporting breathlessly and enthusiastically on every tiny detail of that band's career) ever since. This is the same site that does 5 reviews per weekday, 25 a week, about 100 a month, about 1200 a year, but has rarely even reviewed any of my favorite albums of the last 10-15 years. So I would have to dispute the claim that it's a site that is supposedly really tuned in to the underground.
Awkward: Coolio and son locked up in same prison
I actually used to respect Coolio despite his lame music, since he was a firefighter, and I had read that he was a Desert Storm soldier, though the latter is apparently not true. In any case, I just gleaned this horrifying factoid on Wikipedia: "While touring with hip hop duo Insane Clown Posse, Coolio received a tattoo as a [sic] homage to the group's fanbase, reading 'Jugalo Cool'. He stated that the misspelling was intentional. Coolio has performed at the Gathering of the Juggalos, and identifies as a Juggalo." You are dead in my eyes, Coolio.
Planets with similar climates: Rapoon - "A Softer Light" (1997), Seefeel - "Signals" & "Silent Pool" (1993), Scanner - "Underwater" (1995).
I got into this band a few years ago, right after they had broken up, as luck would have it. I had them confused with all the other "Bell" bands of the era (Bell Tower, Howling Bells, The Belle Stars, etc., and later the Broken Bells), so I unfortunately missed them when they played in NOLA in '08 with local Interpol acolytes The Public. This song is from their sole full-length, Foxgloves, named after the plant from which the heart drug Digitalis is made. The vocal performance is just stunning, with singer Nick Niles effortlessly assuming all sorts of voices, like a 4AD-ified version of Mike Patton. Singing along to any Bell Hollow ditty is like the Vocal Olympics, but at these Olympics, everyone wins a medal. Two members of the band were in the mid-'80s goth band The Naked And The Dead, so this is a type of music they have felt deeply for several decades, and hence they were not just some younguns trying to cash in on the post-punk revival of the '00s. Guitarist Greg Fasolino is a massive Chameleons fan, not surprisingly, and on this song he nails The Cure's loping, watery, slo-mo, reverbed, surf-rock-stuck-in-molasses Disintegration-era guitar sound.
Note: This post was originally going to be about the ultra-jangly, Smiths-esque "Copper Crayon", but I rewrote it after having a change of mind. Another stunner on this album is the acoustic, mournful "Eyes Like Planets".
From the German magazine Gothic Chronicles (issue #63), July 2006. The last sentence is all that matters to me.
A band called White Lies came along with pretty much this exact same sound but little to no discernible songwriting talent, and are now semi-huge stars touring big venues across Europe. Go figure.
Correction: My mom just hit the big 5-9, not 6-0. On the night after we went to the Pelican Club, my sister and I took her to a Mexican place called the Velvet Cactus on Harrison Ave. and had lots of tequilas at our table outside. I got her a mini jigsaw puzzle, one that is billed as the world's smallest wooden jigsaw puzzle, in fact, earlier that day in Slidell. It was made in Sweden some decades ago. I found it in an antiques store that had mainly trinkets rather than actual antiques.
I somehow made myself watch both of the Shins' songs on SNL last night. It's sort of mind-boggling that a former member of Bare Minimum made it to what could be called the top of the pop culture mountain, albeit by joining one of the suckiest, most derivative bands in history. His drumming was really the only interesting thing about the first song, and the second song was so boring that I literally can't remember a single detail about it.
If you want to be really depressed about the current state of music ("indie" or otherwise), just check out this concert listing page from exactly 20 years ago, March 11th '92. It's from the 3/14/92 issue of Melody Maker; click here to view it full size:
Toni already had her existential Robert Smith impression down to an exact science, right down to the floppy hair strands, eyeshadow, lipstick color, & head tilt
...not that I'm complaining.
I personally have no idea which of those gigs I would've gone to on that night, because I would give my left hand to go to about five of those shows. Which would you have gone to? You can see that the previous owner of this rag was so excited about that night's gig bonanza that he/she actually BLED ON IT. Or maybe the blood came later that night during a rough session of something or other, or maybe it's pomegranate sorbet, but the point is that people in England in the early '90s were spoiled beyond belief when it came to music. And all they ever really did was bicker about which band ripped off which other one, blind to their good fortune, to the point where most of these bands changed their sounds dramatically just to get some respite from the constant critical drubbings coming from all sides. Another interesting thing is that all of these shoegaze bands seemed content to play locally at this time, which was their all-time peak of commercial popularity / exposure, rather than touring to far-flung corners of the world. (Although that "Rollercoaster tour" mentioned on the front cover did criss-cross the U.S. and helped to establish shoegaze over here.) So I guess it really was as insular of a scene as people make it out to have been. And I think Bell Hollow would've fit into that scene quite effortlessly. Maybe they would've toured big theaters across the pond rather than dingy clubs over here in America.
I will not be pinkwashed: Komen's race is for money, not cure- "Susan G. Komen for the Cure is a multimillion-dollar company with assets totaling over $390 million. Only 20.9% of these funds were reportedly used in the 2009-2010 fiscal year for research 'for the cure.'"
Planets with similar climates: Kitchens Of Distinction - "Aspray" (1990), Asylum Party - "Play Alone" (1989), Pale Saints - "Thread Of Light" (1992), Echo & The Bunnymen - "The Killing Moon" (1983), Film School - "Two Kinds" (2007), National Skyline - "Air" (2000), The Comsat Angels - "Independence Day" (1980), Band Of Susans - "Blind" (1993).
I can find absolutely nothing about this band. The violin is just heart-stoppingly, soul-stirringly unforgettable, and the chiming, spidery guitars provide a sleek urgency. Peter Hook would've killed to have written the bassline that unfurls at the 1:20 and 2:05 marks. There are so many little magical moments within this song, such as the very subtle vocal harmonizing. I found this song here, at a post by someone who is an expert on this kind of music from this era and yet still knows nothing about the band. (He mentioned that their name might actually be That Furious Colour.) This is a Dave Fanning session, similar to a Peel session, meaning it was recorded live in a BBC studio and aired a few days later, but recorded by someone not named John Peel, and therefore by someone is probably not an admitted pedophile like John Peel. It was recorded on 6/30/86, in "a far-off place, an everlasting far-off time."
If anyone knows even the slightest bit about this band, please leave a note. The two other songs that TFC recorded for this session were "Torn Apart" and "Carrion," if that helps. Over here, I found that the band featured someone named Gerry O'Connor: "Gerry O'Connor's early musical influences stem from the music of Kerry and Tipperary, through the music of both his parents and grandparents. From an early age he won national awards for his virtuoso playing. In 1981 he joined the highly successful band The Wild Geese and toured Europe extensively, performing at all major international festivals. The years from 1985 to 1989 saw Gerry perform and tour with bands such as The Furious Colour, The Wilf Brothers, Moonshine and The Rocking Chairs. In 1990 Gerry recorded his first solo album entitled Time to Time which shot straight to No.1 in the Irish Roots Music Charts and was voted folk album of the year by BBC Scotland." So I guess it's a safe bet that TFC were from Ireland. I found out G.O. was also in a band called Skylark and another (a duo with his wife) called Lá Lugh. I still don't know if he sang for TFC or not. Maybe he was just a session player hired to play violin...
So I guess O'Connor is pretty well known in some circles, but I don't know why he abandoned this passionate post-punk sound.
It reminds me a lot of "Worlds Apart" by Cactus World News (which is probably in my all-time top 10), which has the refrain "Closer than I've ever been to you." CWN were from Dublin and released that song in 1986. So I don't know if one band influenced the other, or if they ever even heard of each other. So many bands had that urgent U2-ish sound at this time that it's hard to keep track of who influenced whom. This song could thus be lumped into the "Big Music" scene/phenomenon of the mid-'80s, when bands like The Alarm, Big Country, etc. tried to make big, anthemic, inspiring, urgent songs in the vein of early U2. I talked about this a lot a few months ago, but I forgot which post.
My mom hits the big 6-0 tomorrow, so we took her to a restaurant in the Quarter called Bayona tonight. It's run by semi-famous chef Susan Spicer, who, according to some article I read a while back, used to be a punk/indie rocker in the '80s; or maybe that author was just surmising that based on her tattoos and overall non-stuffy attitude. Our reservation was for four instead of five by accident, so they wouldn't seat us even though the place was nearly empty, so we went to the Pelican Club instead. It was my first time going to a restaurant in the Quarter in many years. The painter Michalopoulos' gallery is right next door to it, and one of the rooms of the P.C. is adorned only with his paintings. I got a quail with grits appetizer, duck with asparagus entrée, Newcastle ale, some red & white wine, and crème brûlée. The waiters were amazing, treating us like we were a royal family or something. So that's the first and maybe last fine dining report in Blowtorch Baby.
I took this at Delgado Community College on Jan. 27; cropped off the top line which says "Funeral Services." I guess they teach a course on this.
Darrell Issa makes life difficult for Obama - Somewhat stunning article about this slimeball congressman (former car thief, arsonist, chronic liar, etc.) who will be trying to investigating the Obama administration leading up to the election.
Planets with similar climates: Cactus World News - "Worlds Apart" (1986), The Church - "Reptile" (1987), U2 - "New Year's Day" (1982), Simple Minds - "Speed Your Love To Me" (1983), Idaho - "Pomegranate Bleeding" (1995), Glide [Australia] - "Taste Of You" (1992), The Sound - "The Fire" (1981) & "Whirlpool" (1984), The Chameleons - "Return Of The Roughnecks" (1985), The Cleaners From Venus - "Follow The Plough" (1986), The Lotus Eaters - "Set Me Apart" (1983).
I had to dish out another Bare Minimum song to show their more atmospheric, shoegazey side. This song title perfectly sums up the band's aesthetic. There are no lyrics printed in the booklet, but I think I can make a few with confidence. The lyric "Corkscrew you... I'm a shaky sugar" always gets a few laughs at cocktail parties, and the line "Yourself in season" (as in: hunting season) is a bit unnerving.
Fun Fact: This song was simply titled "Anxious Moment" on the promo CD.
As with most B-Min songs, there is not a reliable verse-chorus-verse structure, so the listener has to don the ol' thinking hat. But it never gets tedious or feels like the band is being pretentious, since there are always plenty of visceral pleasures to be unearthed as the song unfolds. This song goes through enough twists, turns and tempo changes to last most lesser bands a lifetime, and there are some baffling handclaps in the middle. Joe Plummer's drumming is spectacularly understated and jazzy. The guitar tone starting at the 4:30 mark is about as good as it gets, creamy (as guitar tone freaks would say) and lullaby-esque, yet menacing and disembodied in that way that Sonic Youth perfected circa Bad Moon Rising & EVOL before they (S.Y.) became a "rock" band. As I mentioned in the last post, Brian Speckman loved to sing about eyes, and this song was no exception. He also used a very Southern-sounding drawl in this song, which sounds quite unique compared to your standard flock of male indie rock singers. For such a creative band, this album's cover art really sucked, especially compared to their self-titled debut (which had different covers for the CD and the LP). All Music Guide gave the album a brief but glowing 4-star review: "While more refined and accessible than their self-titled debut, Bare Minimum's sophomore outing is still a dense and difficult record; Brian Speckman and Mark Pinkos – credited with left and right guitar, respectively – together create a mighty racket, with the Branca-esque dynamics of their twin attack employing intricate rhythmic patterns and thick, atonal chord structures to forge an amorphous yet strangely taut post-rock sound."
All three of Bare Minimum's Rx Remedy releases used to be on iTunes, but I guess they were yanked due to slow or nonexistent sales.
I did a "Lost Classics" article on this album in February 2003 for my old online zine, Cold Comfort. I began it by saying "This is one of those albums that lit a fire under me when I got it in early '99, and led to me inflicting this zine upon you all. And the current dearth of albums like this is the reason why I'll probably discontinue this zine in the near future. [I did.] So... how can an album from 1998 already be a 'lost classic'? Well, the sounds contained on this disc are indisputably classic, but as for the 'lost' part... let's just say this was destined to be lost before it even came out. Zero promotion, practically zero touring, zero college radio-friendly tunes." Then under the entry for "Swim In Anxious Moment" (I always did a song-by-song analysis), I said "Most horrifying guitar climax I've ever heard."
In the closing section, I said "For whatever reason, the even numbered songs on the album tend to be delicate, whereas the odd numbered ones are aggressive. (...) This is definitely not beginners' stuff. For example, the listener has to be familiar with all the Sonic Youth and Slint clichés (i.e. atypical song structure, dissonant guitar work) to appreciate how brilliantly Bare Minimum avoids them, and even obliterates them. The album was produced by Phil Ek, best known for producing all six Built To Spill albums, and albums by almost every other Northwest band, including my beloved Lync. Ek nestles this album in a womblike aura that suits the vocals and intricate guitar work perfectly. For more on why this is a lost album, aside from the extremely difficult music, let's put it this way: Rx Remedy is (was?) a tiny daughter label of Sub Pop which apparently was a clearinghouse for S.P.'s acts with little commercial potential, and Rx Remedy never even had a website. And their mail order catalog was always just a postcard sized scrap of paper included with the big Sub Pop catalogs. The interesting thing is that, since Sub Pop has been 49% owned by Atlantic Records since 1995, every Bare Minimum release was theoretically funded by profits from the likes of Stone Temple Pilots, Phil Collins and Aretha Franklin. Heads probably rolled when some Atlantic exec found out about Bare Minimum's existence. Plummer went on to join experimental Unwound side project Replikants, and I don't know the whereabouts of the rest of the group. Note: After putting this review up, I went to bed and looked through the new issue of Magnet magazine, and saw a photo of Joe Plummer as the drummer in the Black Heart Procession. So it's good to see he's found a gig (although BHP are crap compared to Bare Minimum)."
I took this pic not long before the sun went down today, hence the lusciously long shadows coming from the blades of grass:
I couldn't find that promo CD I bought in '99, unfortunately. I actually painted over the front of its paper-sleeve packaging with translucent pearlescent paint right after buying it, so it's one of a kind. It has a press photo of the band in which one member is wearing goggles like it's no big deal.
Fun Fact 2: There's only music on sides 1 to 3 of the double LP; side 4 is just smooth, blank vinyl... smooth and reflective enough to use as a mirror, in fact. I don't think I've ever seen that on any other record, though I've often seen etchings put onto sides of records where there is no music.
Fun Fact 3: You can see the series of dour little symbols on the CD, the CD jewel tray insert, and on each side of the records. The first is a butterfly, the second is an umbrella, and the other two are hard to decipher. When you open the CD booklet, it seems to be laid out so that each symbol corresponds to each band member's headshot. Maybe this was some sort of spoof of Led Zeppelin's ZOSO? Like I said before, Bare Minimum were some cryptic m.f.'s.
The most anxious moment I've ever had involving swimming was in early '94 at John Marriott's house next to UNO. He was about 5 feet tall, a new student at my high school fresh off the boat from England, and really outgoing. He and his mom had left for an errand or something while I was staying over there for the weekend one time. For some reason I decided to teach myself to do a flip off of their pool's diving board. This was in February or maybe early March, hence quite cold out, and I just stood there at the end of the board in my swimsuit for pretty much an eternity, pondering how to flip without over- or under-rotating, because I didn't want to somehow do a bad belly flop and be knocked unconscious and die while no one was there. The longer I waited, the colder it got and the more I tried to talk myself out of doing it, but I finally did the flip and that was that. I think we watched part of the movie Judgment Night that weekend but didn't like it.
Tue. Feb. 28th: I shot hoops at Ama Park and got pretty sunburned. Later I went to a show at a little place in the 9th Ward called The Mudlark Theatre. It was a Japanese guy named Tatsuya Nakatani on percussion, local cellist Helen Gillet, and local guitarist (and Anxious Sound booker) Rob Cambre on guitar. (I had seen all of them separately over the years, but this was a very intriguing three-way pileup, so I had to go check it out.) I got there late and only saw the last 5 minutes, but it was ultra-intense:
Since it was over pretty early (10:00ish), I walked around the French Quarter for a while. I saw a woman playing cello for tips on the street, and asked her if she had heard of Helen Gillet. She said yeah, and was incredulous when I showed her a video clip of what I'd just seen. "Helen Gillet played two blocks from my house and I missed it!" I ended up in a little Rouses grocery store and got some German honey, among other stuff.
Wed. 29th: Shot at the court on Annunciation Street, then went shopping on the Westbank, then played some full-court 5-on-5 at Ama Park. After the other dudes all left for the night, I played some 21 against a guy who said he was 50 and had played for the U. of Texas and then for the Cleveland Cavaliers and in several European leagues. I beat him in the first game, but he beat me easily in the second. I never got his name, but if someone knows a player who went to UT, finished college ca. '84, then later played for the Cavs, then I'd have an i.d. on him. He was 6'6", had messed up knees, and looked like Rick Fox, meaning sickeningly handsome, and looked closer to 30 than to 50. It gave me inspiration that I'll be able to play at that age or beyond, assuming I take good care of my knees.
Thur. March 1st: Went down to Houma and got two more LP shelves from Office Depot, and some clay pots at an evil store whose name I won't mention. Researched the Canadian indie blog sensation Grimes (Claire Boucher) in anticipation of seeing her live the following day, even though I didn't dig her music. It's amazing how fast she has usurped the spotlight from the likes of Lana Del Rey, St. Vincent, Liturgy, etc. Some sample reading: Is Grimes the next BIG Indie Diva, or an overhyped product of the Corrupt Indie Machine? Deconstructing: Grimes
(That Ohio kid who killed some of his classmates last week was apparently a Grimes fan and had recently posted at least one of her vids on his Facebook page.)
I should mention that she played at a local dive-y bar called The Saint last fall, opening for fellow Canadian techno-poppers Austra. It was on the same night (Nov. 4th) that I was at the Boris concert, otherwise I would've gone. I actually planned on going to both, but Boris ran long.
Fri. March 2nd: Drove into NOLA through a bad storm, put down some mulch at Barbara's herb garden, then went to the Grimes show, which was outdoors at Tulane. I only caught the last song by the opening act, shameless '80s synth-pop replicators Born Gold. For 30 entire minutes, Grimes sat on the back of the stage chatting with Born Gold. This was her sound check period, so I wondered why she didn't at least pretend to fiddle with some knobs or check some wires or whatever. All her equipment was set up before BG even played, so my point is, why not just play immediately after they finish, especially with a monster rainstorm looming? So I was a little annoyed right from the outset. Amazingly, the rain never arrived, and the front swept away the muggy 85º heat, replacing it with beautiful, breezy 70º perfection. She finally came on, played two songs solo with some technical glitches. Then Born Gold came on as her backing band for the majority of the set. It was surprisingly good, and she's pretty entertaining. She had more technical problems and exclaimed "Fuck! Fuck!" at some points, but soldiered on. After 45 mins. she finally told us that the sunlight was giving her problems, since it was making it hard for her to see all the lights on her various electronic devices, and that she hence couldn't keep playing. I only took three pics, and here are two:
She was shaking her head side to side pretty hardcore during at this moment, so I was surprised to have gotten such a nice focused shot.
Yes, that is a Bob Marley poster in the dorm window at the left; this is a college campus, 'member?
I bought two boxes of Girl Scout cookies that were being sold right behind the stage, then wandered around the campus for a bit looking for a show flyer. I was going to give one of the boxes to the Mushroom, so I started walking back towards Pocket Park, where the concert was held. I saw Claire was still there, talking with a Born Golder (Calvin) behind the stage, so I made the impromptu decision to give her a box of the cookies, and told her she did a good job despite the technical problems. I later noticed that the cookies were fittingly called Thank U Berry Munch. I probably should've shaken her hand or something, but she's so incredibly petite and skinny that I guess I subliminally thought I might injure her? Sorry for all this info on Grimes. If you get to see her or talk to her you'll find her energy contagious, and it becomes hard not to like her or her music, so I think she deserves all of the fame that's coming her way. Compare her spazzy, unpretentious nature to the cool, calculated, detached demeanor of a St. Vincent (I like SV a lot, for what it's worth), or a Lana Del Rey (no opinion yet), or a Steve Malkmus (despise him), or a Laurie Anderson (dig her), etc. Speaking of musical things that are grime-y, this show was better than the Dizzee Rascal "History Of Grime" tour that I saw in '05.
One last thing: An interview with her done in WTUL's studio right after the show.
Wow, I just realized that I have now contributed to the internet's Grimes Overkill. It's funny how things work out sometimes. I guess I'm just as fascinated by fame, hype, etc. as anyone else is. And for some reason I just love seeing electronic music live, even if an artist's studio recordings are not something I'd want to listen to very much.
To cap off an interesting Friday, the lowly (to the untrained observer) Hornets shocked the defending-champion Mavericks despite having four players, three of whom are starters, out with injuries. It's looking like a sure bet that someone will buy the team this month and thereby relieve the NBA of its ownership role involving the Hornets. (For those who don't follow basketball, here's a summary: Rather than possibly let the team relocate to Seattle or somewhere else, the NBA stepped in and bought the Hornets last year when the team couldn't find a buyer. This had never been done before in league history. The Hornets lost superstar point guard Chris Paul to the L.A. Clippers in December and immediately became one of the league's bottom-dwellers, fueling speculation that the team would move, especially since a really wealthy computer czar from Seattle wanted to buy them.)
Unfortunately, the "Bountygate" scandal involving the Saints broke this same night. The team will probably receive the biggest penalty in the history of the NFL for it. Thanks a lot, Gregg Williams.
Photo montage by Josh Helfferich of cell phones before and after the iPhone; I think the relative sizes are incorrect, but you get the idea:
Sorry for all the pics and videos in this post, and I will try not to do it in the future. It's definitely the most media I've ever put in one post, and I generally hate when people do that because it can cause your computer to slow down or freeze up. But sometimes you have to live on the edge, and I have a big backlog of images and videos to share, so. I'm a technical Luddite compared to most interneters of today, so I was surprised when I thought about all the various software programs and physical devices that were used in the making of this post:
Blogspot (blog software / website hosting) (duh) [free]
iTunes (mp3 player) [free with any Mac]
DivShare (mp3 hosting) [free]
Canon SD870 IS digital camera (photos) (also takes mediocre videos) [passed down from my mom when she got a new camera]
Flip Video camcorder (both videos) [given by my dad, who got it as a freebie at a business meeting]
iPhoto (photo editing) [free with any Mac]
YouTube (video hosting) [free]
PageSpinner (HTML editor) (excerpts from Cold Comfort article) [free trial software that I got in '99 and never paid for]
Planets with similar climates: Bright Channel - "Airborne" (2005), Bleach - "Seeing" (1991), Interpol - "Obstacle 2" (2002), Bailter Space - "Orbit" (1992), Slint - "Good Morning, Captain" (1990), Juno - "The Sea Looked Like Lead" (1998).
backcover.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
(3_2_12).jpg)
.jpg)
