Happy New Year!!! Matinée had its best year yet in 2003 with 17 great new records, but we are even more thrilled
about our 2004 release schedule. In addition to reports on all the new releases, this month we offer you a brand new
website feature, exclusive new sounds, lists of 2003 favorites from Matinée artists and the results of the second annual
Matinée fanclub poll, so let’s get to it!
The foremost release of the year is the brilliant debut album “Tide” (matcd029) from
The Liberty Ship! The album builds on the celebrated “I Guess You Didn’t See Her” 45 from 2002 and last
year’s “Northern Angel” CDEP, which together earned the Nottingham four piece comparisons to pop greats The Byrds,
East Village, Weather Prophets, The Rain Parade, Go-Betweens, Beachwood Sparks, and Hurrah! The dozen songs on
this new album feature chiming guitars, brilliant melodies, and catchy choruses that further demonstrate the impressive
songwriting of this band. Mixed male and female vocals, clever bits of electronica, tambourines and harmonica combine
for one strong debut album. The tracklisting is: 1. Finer Feelings; 2. Chords Drag You Down; 3. Final Kick; 4. Precious
Time; 5. Coast; 6. Cabin Fever; 7. Shine On; 8. Baseball Caps and Novas; 9. I’ll Try; 10. Stars Above; 11. Actually; 12.
Yuri Gagarin. You can preview three of the songs on the current sounds page, or trust us
and just add it to your shopping cart. Have we let you down yet? It’s available now exclusively via the
order page and in shops worldwide on the19th.
Our report last time about the “Romantic and Square is Hip and Aware” compilation
(matcd030) engendered discussion on numerous websites. A daring and impressive
tribute to legendary mid-80s English band The Smiths, the album is now set for release! Arguably one of the finest pop
groups of all time, The Smiths released an impeccable collection of records between their debut in 1983 and their
swansong in 1987. Among their many fans are several top Matinée artists, so we invited twelve of them to pay respect
to the brilliance of The Smiths and mark the 20th anniversary of their debut album with this sincere tribute.
Borrowing a title from the run-out groove of the “William, It Was Really Nothing” single, “Romantic and Square is Hip and
Aware” provides solid interpretations of Smiths classics by current Matinée artists from England, Australia, Brazil,
Sweden and the United States. The contributors include The Pines, with a jangly version of the hit “Ask”;
Pale Sunday, providing a magnificent bossa-nova/shoegaze reworking of “I Know It’s Over”; The Lucksmiths,
who approach the mighty “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” as a duet and come out smelling of roses;
Slipslide, with an expertly crafted cover of “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want”; Pipas,
adding a dance beat to the early classic “This Night Has Opened My Eyes”; Lovejoy, contributing an admirable
cover of “Girlfriend In A Coma”; Would-Be-Goods, with an unforgettable version of “Back To The Old House”;
The Young Tradition, putting their polish on an untraditional version of “Sheila Take A Bow”; Simpático,
with a convincing rendition of “That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore”; The Guild League, glam-ing up the already glam
hit “Panic”; The Liberty Ship, attacking the rollicking “Sweet and Tender Hooligan” in fine fashion; and The
Snowdrops, with a splendid live recording of “Bigmouth Strikes Again”.
Created with immense reverence for the band, the album is a passionate tribute to the most influential pop band of the
past 20 years. We have copies available exclusively through the mailorder now, or look for it
in shops on January 26th.
Also new for 2004 is a special website feature called Artist of the Month and we are kicking off this spotlight with
the very wonderful Simpático! One of the personas used by Jason Sweeney after
the demise of his band Sweet William in 1999, Simpático has expanded to a full four-piece lineup for 2004! We can only
wonder how rich the resulting recordings will sound, and suspect we’ll not have to wait too long to find out. As resident
artist of the month, Simpático has a freshly updated artist page with new text,
band photo, a favorite song poll and a video clip! You’ll also need to check out the sounds
page, where we have added three brilliant Simpático mp3s for your listening pleasure. The songs are “School Life” (taken
from the album “The Difference Between Alone & Lonely”), “Garden Greene” (from the “Club Life” EP) and a brand new
exclusive mp3 for “100 Ways To His Heart” which you’ll only find here for a limited time. It is a fantastic new song and
Jason has even made a sleeve in case you want to download the track and make
your very own CD! Finally, all Simpático releases are on sale throughout the month on the order
page so you have no excuse for not completing your collection today! We’ll have a featured artist each month this year,
so stay tuned.
First up in the coming soon category is the welcome return of Pipas with six great new songs collected as the
“Bitter Club” EP (matinée 052)! Their album “A Cat Escaped”
(matcd021) has been a top seller since its release 15 months ago, and this new
release should expand their fanbase even further. The tracklisting is: 1. Mental, 2. Bitter Club, 3. Sixten, 4. Minilife, 5.
Jean Cocteau, and 6. South (bend-able mix). So, that’s six exclusive new songs for a top quality release that you won’t
want to miss! We are featuring “Jean Cocteau” on the updated sounds page, so get hip to it
now because they are talking about it at all the coolest parties. The EP is released in mid-February to coincide with two
Pipas birthdays, but don’t say I told you…
We are also nearing completion on a full length release from beloved San Francisco pop group The Fairways!
The band was one of the first associated with the label, releasing their debut and our 9th single – the “Darling Don’t You
Think” 7″ (matinée 009) – nearly four years ago. The band co-released the fantastic “Is
Everything All Right” album on Paris Caramel and Shelflife later that same year, and contributed tracks to a few
compilations before band members went on to play in the Aislers Set and The Young Tradition. This new release serves
as the band’s swansong, and is appropriately titled “This is Farewell” (matcd031). The
album combines five unreleased gems (Emily, The Back of Her Hand, Don’t Call Me Dear, Goodbye California, and
Starstruck) with non-album tracks (Nowhere To Go, This Is Farewell, Winter Song, Fine Day, and Little White Lies) from
sold out singles and compilations. There may be one more song added, but we are still trying to locate the master so
the final tracklisting is forthcoming. In any event, this should be a highlight for many this year and we are thrilled to
release it on Matinée! One listen to the brilliant song “The Back Of Her Hand” now playing on the
sounds page should be all it takes to place this album on your future shopping list, so have
a listen! We will confirm the release date next month.
On the springtime horizon, watch for the return of The Snowdrops with their “Seven Days to Perfect Skin” CDEP,
a new mini-lp from Lovejoy, the debut long-player from our latest superstars The Young Tradition, and
the return of Harper Lee. More details on these releases and others next month.
Thanks to everyone who voted in the second annual fanclub poll last month! We
had an excellent turnout with nearly 130 votes cast. In the singles category, Razorcuts took top honors with the
“A is for Alphabet” EP (50 votes), while The Young Tradition‘s “California Morning” EP (34) came in second and
Pale Sunday‘s “A Weekend with Jane” EP tied with The Pines‘ “True Love Waits Volume Two” EP for
third (33 votes each). Hurrah for our newest bands, eh?!
The coveted album of the year goes to the “Matinée 50” compilation (55 votes), followed by Brighter‘s
“Singles 1989-1992” (48) and The Lucksmiths‘ “A Little Distraction” (39). We also surveyed to identify your
favorite songs from Matinée 50, and the top five are: The Lucksmiths – Falling Off Of My Feet Again (25), The Fairways –
Sunday, Lovely Sunday (17), Gregory Webster – Untidy Towns (11), Harper Lee – Motorway (9), and Would-Be-Goods –
Southernmost (9).
In the favorite band category, The Lucksmiths had a strong showing at number one (69 votes), followed by
Harper Lee (30), Pipas (29), Brighter (24) and Razorcuts (22).
As expected, there was little consensus on the favorite song ever released on Matinée, with 158 different songs receiving
at least one vote. In the end, ten songs emerged with more than five votes each, so top honors this year go to “T Shirt
Weather” by The Lucksmiths (18 votes), “Untidy Towns” by The Lucksmiths (13), “Sunday, Lovely Sunday” by Edson
(12), “Train Not Stopping” by Harper Lee (9), “The Golden Age of Aviation” by The Lucksmiths (9), “Darling, Don’t You
Think?” by The Fairways (8), “Jade” by Razorcuts (7), “Barbapapa” by Pipas (6), “Sunshine Thuggery” by The Siddeleys
(6) and “California Morning” by The Young Tradition (6).
Congratulations to all the Matinée bands and thanks to everyone who entered! The lucky winner of the five CD prize pack
is a very nice chap called William Serpas. Congratulations! Wish you had won? Then why not sign up for the
fanclub to stay hip to this sort of thing?
Query: what in the world do Mosquitos, Bridget Riley, Cat Power, Love, Groove Armada, the Soft Pop tour, Broadcast,
The Legends, The Hours, Anita O’Day, The Man Without a Past, and City of God have in common? They’re favorites of
at least two Matinée artists from 2003, of course! Check out the complete rundown of what makes your favorite artists
smile by clicking here. Additional lists coming soon.
Switching now to autumn releases, The Windmills superb album “Now Is Then” (matcd028)
continues to pile up accolades in the music press. Tangents
summarized it as “shivering guitars, subdued infectious tunes, a beatific undertow that will drag you up to the stars, lines
of words that coyly wrap themselves around your spine and squeeze your heart tight. Thank God for the Windmills.”
Thank God indeed! Friends of the Heroes concluded “you know that
you are listening to a quality recording as soon as you hear the first few bars,” while
Erasing Clouds said “Now Is Then is a rich, deeply
rewarding experience masquerading as just another pop album.” Finally, In Love With
These Times reported “while the ‘feel’ of “Now Is Then” remains inspired by the great, mellifluous guitar bands of the
ages – like Brisbane’s Go-Betweens or Glasgow’s The Orchids – many of the songs also remind us of the Morrissey band
around the times of “Sunny” or “Boxers” – unassuming but carefully tempered reminders of a great English tradition, atop
which Roy Thirlwall’s deep voice drips semicircles of detached irony.” The album is the strongest release by the band to
date so believe the hype and get yourself a copy now!
Now Brighter is a band that is so celebrated you may not need further evidence of their greatness, but further
evidence we’ll give you. One of the nicest things about their “Singles 1989-1992” collection (matcd026)
is that it makes their long out-of-print recordings for Sarah Records available again for anyone who missed them the first
time around. In particular, we’ve heard from a lot of Harper Lee fans who never heard Brighter until now and are thrilled
to finally own the 15 songs on this CD. The album has enjoyed exceptionally positive reviews as well, with
IndiePages recently calling it “essential for any fan of heartbreakingly beautiful indiepop,”
Splendid describing the “music
as gorgeously sad as it was gently uplifting,” and Friends
of the Heroes concluding “their talent shines through song after song and unlike many compilations, they gel
together well giving this album a very complete all round effect.” The packaging is lovely too so there’s really no reason
not to own this, right?
The Pines seem to be at the top of their game lately, thanks in part to the excellent “True Love Waits Volume
Two” CDEP (matinée 048) released in October. Some of the most respected minds in
the business have been singing their praises too, with the venerable Tangents
writing “The Pines of course are Pop, and this ‘True Love Waits, Volume Two’ is finely in the tradition of the great Pop
EP…with heads full of high neck dresses and Buddy Holly glasses they deliver gently sharp and smart mementoes of a
past they are too young to remember.” Meanwhile, those smart lads at In
Love With These Times suggested “True Love Waits Volume 2″ is of course the sound of Belle and Sebastian
gambolling in the, er, Foxgloves, with folk harmonies, an obvious fondness for wordplay and some smashing guitar
work.” Right on. The band is surely working on new songs as we speak so stay tuned for the latest news.
Label samplers often get ignored by reviewers who prefer to focus on proper albums instead, but we are happy to report
that our latest “Matinée Autumn Assortment” sampler (matinée 051) is so good
that we can barely keep up with the reviews. Mundane
Sounds suggested “more samplers and compilations need to take a lesson – all of these songs are winners, but, of
course, that Matinée logo should already tell you that,” while All Music Guide
said “a nice introduction to the label, a must for Matinée devotees, and more proof that the Matinée crew knows the
score.” Finally, in comparing Matinée to a fashion company unveiling their clothes for the season,
Erasing Clouds praised the “gorgeous songs that
are as intelligent and emotion-filled as they are catchy and pleasing on the ear.” Yes sir, this one’s a winner.
In recent interview action, you can catch up with Graeme Elston of Slipslide and Pam Berry of The Pines
in Tasty fanzine, Gregory Webster of Sportique and
Razorcuts at Pixelsurgeon, and
Mark Monone and Tali White of The Lucksmiths in Pennyblack
Magazine. There is also a neat article in Think Small
featuring a joint interview with Matinée and Shelflife about our recent 50th celebrations and pop in general. If you don’t
read Dutch, there is an English translation of the Matinée interview on the archive
page.
Finally, thanks for all your orders last month at the mailorder! There are numerous new items, including some on
affiliated labels, so go here for the latest. In a combined November/December hit parade,
Brighter retained the top spot despite a strong challenge by the “Autumn Assortment” sampler.
Here’s the top ten:
10. Razorcuts – R is for Razorcuts CD
9. Various – The Matinée Summer Splash! CD
8. The Guild League – Private Transport CD
7. The Windmills – Now Is Then CD
6. The Young Tradition – California Morning CDEP
5. Various – Matinée 50! CD
4. The Pines – True Love Waits, Volume Two CDEP
3. The Lucksmiths – A Little Distraction CD
2. Various – The Matinée Autumn Assortment! CD
1. Brighter – Singles 1989-1992 CD
Until next month,
Jimmy
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