Sorry for the late website update this month but we are just finalizing the sale of a house and the purchase of another
on opposite coasts of this very large country and, as a magnificent band from Manchester once sang, these things
take time…
…this of course sets me up nicely to report on the unbelievable response to our brand new tribute CD “Romantic and
Square is Hip and Aware” (matcd030). The CD features current Matinée pinups
The Guild League, The Liberty Ship, Lovejoy, The Lucksmiths, Pale Sunday, The Pines, Pipas, Simpático, Slipslide, The
Snowdrops, Would-Be-Goods and The Young Tradition performing cover versions of songs originally performed by our
favorite band of all time – The Smiths!
The songs chosen span the illustrious Smiths career, including recordings from 1983 (This Night Has Opened My Eyes,
Back To The Old House), 1984 (Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want, That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore), 1985
(Bigmouth Strikes Again, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, I Know It’s Over), 1986 (Panic, Ask) and 1987 (Sweet
and Tender Hooligan, Sheila Take A Bow, Girlfriend In A Coma).
We created the CD to pay respect to the brilliance of The Smiths and to mark the 20th anniversary of their debut album.
Some people will undoubtedly miss the point but in the end it was a lot of fun to create and a nice way for us to say
thanks. The wonderful Italian webzine Indiepop.it recently contacted us and
interviewed all the bands for a nice feature on the release, so click
here to read more about our collective thoughts on
The Smiths and the new CD. Mille grazie Salvatore and Alessandro!
Among the many excellent album reviews so far, our favorite quotes include:
“Bands you love covering the songs of a band you love equals a unique pleasure that’s hard to describe. Romantic and
Square Is Hip and Aware is one of those rare tribute albums that makes you remember how much you love the original
musicians and makes you love the interpreters even more at the same time.” –
Erasing Clouds (USA)
“Only Matinée bands could pull something like this off. And, by crikey, they have.” –
Tasty (UK)
“The fact that “Romantic and Square is Hip and Aware” is another matter is clear from the first seconds of song one.
From that moment you know that the right place for it is in the same filing row of “The Queen is Dead”. –
Indiepop.it (Italy)
“This is a collection that doesn’t allow admiration (or indeed adulation) get in the way of a good time; is an artful nod and
a wink instead of a deferential grovelling. And for this we should be more than happy.” –
Tangents (UK)
“Needless to say the brave Matinée artists paying tribute to this legendary band had their work cut out [and] met this
challenge head on.” –
Friends of the Heroes (UK)
To see the tracklisting, read reviews, and listen to soundclips, visit the catalog page.
The CD is available now at your favorite record shop or online music emporium, and if they do not carry Matinée releases
then you can always order directly from our handy order page for same day shipping.
Also still shining on the new release racks is the debut long-player from Nottingham quartet The Liberty Ship!
The 12-track album “Tide” (matcd029) remains on heavy rotation at Matinée HQ and
has made a few friends in the music press too. Tasty described it as “a
mighty album in its own right [that] doesn’t need comparison with anything else, because, let’s be honest about it…this
album could just about be the best place for anyone to start listening to indie pop music.”
Friends of the Heroes called it “intelligent pop at its best,” while
Tangents said “a blend of minor chord melancholy and steel toed sharpness,
Tide is an album that sits neatly beside labelmates The Windmills’ offerings of bittersweet melodies whilst casting a
glance over its shoulder at the bedroom Pop of, say, White Town.” The album is one of the top sellers in the
Matinée shop so get over there or to your favorite groove merchant to secure your own copy.
The brilliant track “Baseball Caps and Novas” is now playing on the sounds page if you’d like
to try before you buy.
The second installment in our Matinée Artist of the Month series features Pipas! As February artist of
the month, Pipas have contributed a wealth of new information to their artist page
including new interviews and several video clips. We are also featuring Pipas mp3s on the sounds
page, a sale on all Pipas titles at the mailorder, and a special poll about your favorite Pipas song
where everyone who enters has the chance to win special limited edition Pipas ephemera. The prize is a secret but you
would be delighted to win so go here to enter your vote.
Voters in the January Artist of the Month poll selected “School Life” as the favorite Simpático song, narrowly
edging out “Train Not Stopping”, “The Postal Museum”, “Union Station” and “Let Him Go.” Thanks to everyone who cast
a vote.
To further celebrate all things Pipas, on February 23rd we are releasing their brand new “Bitter Club” EP
(matinée 052) featuring six fantastic new songs in the chord of bitter. Lead track
“Mental” is like the bitterness of going to a party after realizing that you’re not really going to be there…”Bitter Club”
features Mark rolling out backwards guitar and slicing the vocals all My Bloody Valentine-like…”Sixten” is a dance hit
reminiscent of those classic early Bananarama collaborations with Fun Boy Three – all echoed vocals and protagonist
beats…”Minilife” is short and to the point; guitar and voice au naturel…”Jean C” is a bitter love song, hopelessly hard
core Pipas with nice harmonies…and “South” (bend.able mix by Pandatone) is a track taken from the recent Annika
album Golden Square and transformed into a music box reverie, full of uncoiled springs and bursting water pipes, by the
wonder of Pandatone. So, six new songs masquerading as a mere single…top quality and quantity from the world of
Pipas and a celebration of their upcoming back-to-back February birthdays. What better way to celebrate than with a
brilliant new release and Matinée artist-of-the-month residency? You can preorder the EP now exclusively from the
Matinée mailorder, or ask your usual pop junkie for it starting the 23rd.
We’ve no real news to report on the rest of the coming soon releases, except that the next two should be the swansong
LP “This is Farewell” (matcd031) from San Francisco pop darlings The Fairways,
and the brand new “Sleepydust” single from Brighton pop purists The Snowdrops! The tracklistings are not yet
final but we will have full release details in the next update for sure. We have two Fairways songs currently featured on
the sounds page and will add Snowdrops songs to the page later this month. Lots of bands
are in the studio as we speak so the springtime release schedule is shaping up nicely.
Fantastic autumn releases from The Windmills (matcd028), The
Lucksmiths (matcd027), Brighter (matcd026),
The Pines (matinée 048) and The Young Tradition
(matinée 043), plus our latest label sampler “The Matinée Autumn Assortment”
(matinée 051), continue to generate excellent reviews. We are giving you a short break
in our otherwise relentless release schedule so take this opportunity to catch up on some top quality pop. See the
catalog and order pages for the latest reviews and ordering
information.
If you are looking for scoop on Matinée artists, you’re in luck this month with seven features just published! Check out
interviews with The Lucksmiths in
Pennyblack
Magazine (UK) and Britpop Arsenal (Germany), a nice article in
Ya No Puedo Mas (Spain) crowning Pam Berry of
The Pines “Indie Pop Queen,” a lovely chat with The Liberty Ship in Tasty
fanzine (UK), an interview with Sean Price of Airport Girl in Pennyblack
magazine (UK), and an interview with Pipas in The
Belle Music (Spain).
We also completed Matinée interviews this month with Pennyblack
(UK) and In Love With These Times (UK) so visit their fine sites to read all the latest
gossip…we even told them things we haven’t reported here! If you’re one of those people who like to stay at home
instead, we have copied the interviews to our very own archive page.
Over in the reliable mailorder department, the “Romantic and Square is Hip and Aware” CD helped incite a tremendous
January. Here are the top sellers for the month:
10. Harper Lee – Go Back To Bed CD
9. Razorcuts – R is for Razorcuts CD
8. The Lucksmiths – Where Were We? CD
7. Various – Matinée 50! CD
6. Pipas – A Cat Escaped CD
5. The Windmills – Now Is Then CD
4. Brighter – Singles 1989-1992 CD
3. The Liberty Ship – Tide CD
2. Various – The Matinée Autumn Assortment! CD
1. Various – Romantic and Square is Hip and Aware CD
More news next month!
Jimmy
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