Hello then! It’s definitely summer here, and like many Americans I have drastically altered my sleep schedule lately to catch
some of the excellent World Cup games that air at the ungodly hours of 2:30, 5:00 and 7:30 AM for those of us on the East
Coast. And lucky for you, tonight’s activity to keep me awake until 2:30 is a long overdue web update!
This week we’re completing the final preparations for the second set of US dates from Sportique, who commence live
action next Tuesday in Somerville, MA before trudging on to New Haven, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington and
Brooklyn. All dates but the last one are with new top pop combo
Tender Trap, while The Butterflies of Love,
The Mad Scene, Bunsen Honeydew and The Orange
Peels are joining at various points during the tour. The full skinny is as follows:
Tuesday, June 18th Wednesday, June 19th |
Thursday, June 20th New York City, NY – West End Bar w/Tender Trap and Bunsen Honeydew 114th And Broadway doors at 8:00 pm $6 entry, $5 w/Student ID (sponsored by Columbia University and WBAR Radio) Friday, June 21st Saturday, June 22nd Sunday, June 23rd |
Sportique may also be doing an on-air session at New York radio station WFMU on
Thursday afternoon the 20th. Details to be added as soon as confirmed. All dates are in support of the recent Sportique
album “Modern Museums” (matcd015) which is shaping up to be one of the most lauded Matinée releases to date. Some
of our favorite recent-ish quotes include:
“A sort of splash and dash art criticism, parody cum influence, snottiness, appropriations, wining, brilliant observation, a still
breathless meth-amphetamine art punk (g)rumble through the underground with the spray can of hate and love…”
(Wide Open Road)“Modern Museums is immaculate in a bittersweet, madcap, loud petulant sort of way. I want to marry it and have its children.”
(Everett True, Careless Talk Costs Lives)“There will be murmurs of discontent from disaffected indie snobs as to the fact that on the evidence of “Modern Museums”,
Sportique are rocking a bit, shouting a lot, they even sound like they’re enjoying it, and how dare they do an album that’s only
24 minutes long, and has no ballads on it? It’s not worth dignifying them with an answer. Anyway…South Londoners we may
be, we don’t know much about art, but we know what we like. Record of the month.”
(In Love With These Times)“Twisted genius in glorious stereo.” (Tasty)
Just beginning their lives in the eyes of the Matinée press corps are new releases from The Liberty Ship and The
Windmills! The former is a two-track 7″ (matinée 036) pairing “I Guess You Didn’t See Her” with a brilliant cover of the
Byrds classic “She Don’t Care About Time.” The band is a four piece from Nottingham, England led by vocalist and guitarist
Marc Elston (ex- Bulldozer Crash). They’ve already earned comparisons to The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, East Village and
The Weather Prophets so rush out and pick up the single to see for yourself. It came out yesterday so demand it from your
groovy neighborhood record shop or favorite online emporium.
The new single from The Windmills is the “Walking Around The World” EP (matinée 038) and it was released to great fanfare
last month. Featuring lead track “What Was It For?” plus “Amelia” and “Walking Around the World,” the EP is in our
completely unbiased opinion the best thing they’ve ever released. As if that weren’t incentive enough, the single also
includes a video track of “What Was It For?” filmed at the Notting Hill Arts Centre in London last October. See above
directive about groovy neighborhood record shops and online emporiums for what to do next. The band celebrated the new
release with their very first US tour in May with Australian labelmates Simpático. We saw some of you at the shows
in New York, Philadelphia and Washington but for everyone else here are a few photos from our journey.
It was a great week thanks to extra effort from Chris & Wendy of Jinx and the folks at Galapagos in New York; Melissa and
Gabe in Philadelphia; and Eric, Steve, Tom, Will, Les, the Secret History and Nick in Washington. Cheers everybody!
Next up on the new release shelves is the debut “Jet-Set…Go!” single (matinée 039) by The Guild League. As we
reported last month, the band is a collaborative headed by Tali White of The Lucksmiths and featuring Candle Records star
Richard Easton plus members of Sodastream and Art of Fighting. The three track EP includes “Jet-Set…Go!” plus “A
Faraway Place” and “Cornflakes” and is scheduled for release in early July to help your summer sizzle. An album called
“Private Transport” is scheduled for release later in the year, but you’ll want to get hip to the Guild League now because this
one’s limited to 1000 copies.
This leads us rather nicely to the new “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” album (matcd018) from Brighton’s very own
Lovejoy. Also scheduled for July release, we can now report the full tracklisting as “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire,”
“You Fell From Grace,” “Plastic Flowers,” “Nothing Happens Here,” “Snow Falling Softly (Bent Fabric),” “The Beat Hotel,”
“Night On Earth,” “Millionaire…Maybe” and “Don’t You (Wish You’d Never Met Me)?” And no, “Plastic Flowers” is not a cover
of the Wake song but “The Beat Hotel” is a cover of Biff Bang Pow! although a rather different version than the one included
on the band’s recent “Plays Biff Bang Pow! 7″…this one with drums and electric guitars and other sparkly magic only
possible in Lovejoy studios.
We’re happy to report the “R is for Razorcuts” compilation CD (matcd012) from Razorcuts is now very much on
course for release this summer and we’ve expanded the tracklisting to include 20 of their greatest (almost) hits. Granted,
we nearly had to resort to extortion to get the rights to some of the songs but in the end it seemed to work quite nicely so if
you have someone you need to extort just click on the new extortion link on our website and we’ll see what we can do for
you. I would show you an image of the front cover but we’re still undecided between two at the moment so that, my friends,
will have to wait until next time. The album will feature songs from their legendary releases on Creation, Subway and Flying
Nun plus an old rarity and one previously unreleased song…all housed in a deluxe package with great photos and
sleevenotes from two of today’s top pop luminaries. Out when it’s out, it will definitely prove worth the wait.
I now also have the distinct honor of having in my possession the master tapes for the brand new album from Harper
Lee! Entitled “Everything’s Going To Be OK” (matcd020), the album is a masterpiece that will delight each and every
one of you as soon as we find something to use for artwork. Before you start thinking Harper Lee have gone all happy on us
with the uncharacteristically upbeat title, I should point out that the album includes songs called “I Can Bear This No Longer”
and “Unreciprocated” and “Miserable Town” alongside my current favorite “Fine Bones.” So expect more classic Harper Lee
melancholy and some of the best songs they have recorded to date. The anticipated release date is early September and
we’ll be smiling from ear to ear until then.
In the not coming very soon (or anytime we’re afraid) category is the doomed debut 7″ from The Snowdrops
(matinée 029). Those of you who check the site regularly will undoubtedly be able to recite the number of foiled release
dates I announced for this 7″ over the past year or so, but sadly I must report that our endless toil has resulted in, how do we
say it…a rejected sample? Ah yes, our first brush with controversy…just what every aspiring record label needs! So matinée
029 will remain unreleased forever, causing me to create an annoying new symbol for all future 45 inserts unless I just act
as if it sold out before you got one…We are moving forward with a new release as soon as possible using the 45’s original
b-side “Don’t Buy Anything” with new songs they plan to record in the next month and we’re betting that on the heels of a
banned debut single this new release will be a smashing success that will pull us all out of poverty. More news next time
following a pow-wow with the head Snowdrops.
I have nothing new to report about the forthcoming releases from Airport Girl, Kosmonaut, The Pines,
Pipas, or The Fairways…this due solely to the fact that the bands have nothing new to report…so check
out last month’s update to see what I knew back then. Sorry if that sounded surly…did I mention
that the World Cup games are on here at 2:30, 5:00 and 7:30?
There are several Matinée artists on the road this summer, including a Pipas date in Spain, Lovejoy and
Sportique shows in Sweden, an all-day affair in Nottingham (England) in late August, and a London show or two
around the same time. Not sure who will be playing yet but we will let you know soon.
Anyone who wants to know more about Matinée artists is in luck this month as no fewer than five (!) interviews have just been
published: read what makes Keris Howard of Harper Lee tick courtesy of
In Love With These Times, chat with Roy Thirlwall of
The Windmills over at Tasty, catch up with
Jason Sweeney of Simpático in his second interview with Pennyblack,
read about the brief lives of Would-Be-Goods Jessica Griffin at Pinoy
Central, and introduce yourself to The Liberty Ship at In Love
With These Times. Popfans in Greece should also check out the latest issue of Carousel fanzine, which includes an
excellent feature on Lovejoy and a nifty compilation CD as well.
Shouts out this month to the ace publications just mentioned plus All
Music Guide, Aquamarine,
The Bee’s Knees, Canciones Huerfanas,
Careless Talk Costs Lives, dB, Drum Media, Dusted,
Erasing Clouds, Exclaim!, IndiePages,
Indiespinzone, Magnet,
Organ, Popchild, Sete Polegadas,
Shredding Paper, Splendid, Strange
Fruit, Tangents, Think
Small, Twee Kitten, The War
Against Silence, Washington City Paper and Wide Open Road for writing
something in the past month that made us smile.
Bigger shouts out to those of you who actually bought something last month! The top sellers for the month were:
10. Sportique – Modern Museums 10″
9. The Windmills – When It Was Winter CDEP
8. Lovejoy – Plays Biff Bang Pow! 7″
7. The Windmills – Sunlight CD
6. Pipas – Chunnel Autumnal 10″
5. Simpático – The Difference Between Alone & Lonely CD
4. The Lucksmiths – Where Were We? CD
3. Would-Be-Goods – Brief Lives CD
2. Pipas – A Short Film About Sleeping 7″
1. The Windmills – Walking Around The World CDEP
Hope to see you out at the Sportique shows!
Regards,
Jimmy x