Hello! Exciting times here as we present a brand new release from The Lucksmiths, unleash a slew of Matinée badges on an unsuspecting indie public, rave about great new releases, unveil some exclusive new soundclips, divulge exciting news about Brighter and Would-Be-Goods, gush about some old releases, and more!
Our premiere 2006 release is the new ‘A Hiccup In Your Happiness’ EP (matinée 060) from The Lucksmiths! The glorious title track, perfect for repeat plays on your car stereo or iPod, is lifted from the recent Lucksmiths album ‘Warmer Corners’ (matcd039). We trust you knew that. Boasting strings, horns, some seriously funky guitar and a bassline possibly borrowed from Orange Juice, the song is a dancefloor sizzler that just had to be a single. Check it out now playing on the sounds page if you haven’t heard it. The EP also includes three exclusive new tracks that validate yet again why The Lucksmiths are among the most popular indie bands of our time: ‘From Macaulay Station’ is an ode to one of the unlovelier stops on Melbourne’s rail network, ‘Rue Something’ a more-or-less factual account of an evening spent on tour in Paris, and ‘To Absent Votes’ a tale of election night in the Australian outback town of Lake Cargelligo. Collected with ‘A Hiccup In Your Happiness’ they create a brilliant EP designed to give ‘Warmer Corners’ another shot at the glory it deserves. Housed in one of our signature minijacket sleeves (matte coated for all you printing buffs) with liner notes from comedian Daniel Kitson, the single is released to shops on February 20 but you can get your very own copy right here right now! Life is good with a new Lucksmiths single, don’t you think?
In other top news, last month we promised you badges so badges you shall have! As evidenced in the above photo and detailed on the fancy new fanclub page, we currently have 36 badges available to adorn your shirt or satchel or whatever you kids use these days. Some of them are quite old… leftovers from the original Soirée Matinée badge pack from 1999 plus tour badges for Monterey, Sportique and The Lucksmiths. Others were made for a series of London shows in 2001 and 2002, while 20 are brand new. We have at least one design each for 24 different Matinée artists plus two Matinée label designs and they’re all ready to include with your orders. Stock on older badges is quite limited and when they’re gone they’re gone so act fast if you want any. To launch our new line, we are offering a FREE badge with every order this month, oh yeah! If you just can’t decide on one, you may want to check out our 5 and 10-badge packs and choose your favorites. Please see the order page for details.
Hanging with The Lucksmiths on the new release shelf is the second single from The Snowdrops, an occasional collaboration of indie legends Keith Girdler (Blueboy, Beaumont, Lovejoy), Dick Preece (Lovejoy, Beaumont) and Pam Berry (The Pines, Shapiros, Black Tambourine, Glo Worm). The new ‘Sleepydust’ EP (matinée 053) features five tracks including a Pet Shop Boys-inspired title track (now playing on the sounds page) with brilliant lead vocals from Keith plus backing from Pam. Other tracks include a beautiful atmospheric number called ‘Too Cold To Snow,’ the wonderful ‘The Boy With The Hummingbird Eyes’ featuring Dick on lead vocals and a guest appearance from Keris Howard (Harper Lee, Brighter), a short one called ‘Teddy Dragons’ and a remix of ‘Sleepydust’ with more Pam and some other nice touches.
The EP continues to generate positive press, with Vanity Project calling it “ambient electro indie-pop with a rocking chair St. Etienne groove;” Mundane Sounds commenting “if you’ve ever wondered what The Field Mice might have released after their swan-song single “Missing the Moon,” Sleepydust answers that question quite nicely;” and The Big Takeover writing “gorgeous, stylish, melancholy pop music with an ’80s sheen, one song overtly alluding to Pet Shop Boys.” Finally, Tangents weighed in with its usual discerning prose, describing the single as priceless and writing “the sound of breathy kisses and dreamy-eyed devotion; of The Field Mice skywriting love letters to Ellsworth Kelly; of Pet Shop Boys on Brighton pier in a video by Caravaggio.” The single is limited to 1000 copies in a gorgeous minijacket sleeve and available now from the Matinée mailorder and all good retailers so get going!
Also garnering lots of attention is the wonderful ‘Language Lessons’ EP (matinée 058) from London trio Tender Trap! Since forming in 2001, band members Amelia Fletcher, Rob Pursey and John Stanley (DJ Downfall) have released three singles and the superb album ‘Film Molecules.’ Of course Amelia is arguably the voice of the indiepop generation, fronting legendary acts Talulah Gosh, Heavenly and Marine Research from the mid-80s to the turn of the century and adding her unmistakable vocals to hits from The Wedding Present, Hefner, The Brilliant Corners, and Sportique, among others. This long-awaited follow-up features lead track ‘Talking Backwards’ which will appear on the forthcoming Tender Trap album ‘6 Billion People’ (matcd040) in April. The song is a refreshing pop hit, full of chunky guitars, mellifluous vocals, smart drumming (courtesy of Claudia Gonson of The Magnetic Fields), ba-ba-ba’s and shimmering enthusiasm as it builds to its harmonious conclusion. Check it out now on the sounds page. The EP also includes three non-album tracks: ‘Unputdownable’ showcases more of Claudia’s ace drumming as it mixes lush string-filled verses with a shouty chorus that recalls the heady days of Heavenly; ‘Friendster’ is a lovely ode to a certain online forum; and ‘Cómo Te Llamas?’ is a frighteningly catchy electropop hit featuring a bilingual duet between Amelia and special guest Lupe Nuñez-Fernandez of fellow Matinée superstars Pipas.
The magnificent EP reviews continue, with All Music Guide concluding “Amelia Fletcher has never made a record anything less than wonderful and this is no exception,” and Pop Matters writing “all in all, Talking Backwards is a rousing girly guitar-pop joy that takes at least ten years off the soul.” Indeed! As with all our new singles, it is limited to 1000 copies in another stunning minijacket sleeve so get to the order page or your favorite shop now!
Staying with Tender Trap, we can now divulge details of the highly anticipated new album! Entitled ‘6 Billion People’ (matcd040), the album features dazzling new songs 6 Billion People, Talking Backwards, Inuit Beauty Queen, I Would Die For You, Applecore, Fahrenheit 451, Ampersand, (I Always Love You When I’m) Leaving You, Dreaming of Dreaming, and Dead and Gone. Of course they’re all dead good but we’ve just uploaded four current favorites to the catalog page and ‘Applecore’ is also featured on the sounds page. We’ve just finished the artwork too so it’s off to the pressing plant and on schedule for release in late April if all goes well. The band talked about the new album and more in a recent interview with Pop Matters so head over there if you want the inside scoop. More release details next month.
While on the sounds page, you will undoubtedly notice there is also a new soundclip of a song called ‘Wallflower’ from Brighter! While we are still working out the release details, I can confirm that we will release a very exciting compilation of Brighter material including the entirety of the ‘Laurel’ LP released on Sarah all those years ago, plus tracks from flexis and compilations and a healthy number of frankly stunning unreleased songs including the one now featured on the sounds page. The CD is tentatively entitled ‘Out To Sea: The Rest of Brighter’ (matcd041), and could contain as many as 20 tracks. More definitive news soon! New recordings from Lovejoy and Harper Lee are also nearing completion so watch this space for more new release information next month.
Would-Be-Goods are back in the spotlight with a quick set of dates in Spain this week with ace Elefant act Les Très Bien Ensemble! The shows are Thursday February 16th at Apolo in Barcelona, Friday February 17th at El Loco Club in Valencia, and Saturday February 18th at El Sol in Madrid. For additional show details please see the Elefant website. The shows are a collaboration between our friends at Elefant and Fortuna POP!, and the bands are scheduled to play three dates in the UK later this year. Entrance to the shows includes an exclusive Elefant/Fortuna POP! sampler CD “Que viva le pop!” featuring highlights of the two labels’ rosters. Would-Be-Goods have been busy in the recording studio recently and should have new release plans sorted soon as well. Hurrah!
In other band news, The Guild League have two new songs available on the latest Candle Records compilation ‘Hamper;’ Sportique have joined forces with the Myspace generation with a page of their own; and Pale Sunday have an alternate Myspace page as well.
After a month off, we are reviving our back catalog spotlight feature with classic releases this month from Simpático, The Young Tradition and Slipslide. Each release is on sale for the next month if you want to add to your Matinée collection. Further endorsement follows:
The back catalog spotlight album is the March 2002 full length ‘The Difference Between Alone and Lonely’ (matcd016) from Simpático! Not content to rest on the laurels of his prior band Sweet William, vocalist Jason Sweeney set out to create a debut Simpático album featuring warm, summery and melancholic tunes that reflect the harsh and dramatic Australian landscape matched with a longing and desire for lost loves. The resulting 12 tracks blended some of the strongest songwriting of Jason’s career with masterful keyboards, perfectly strummed guitars and his oh-so-dulcet voice. The album was greeted with glowing reviews, including Tangents writing “Simpático makes the sounds that you’d imagine the Field Mice making if their world were filled with more of a heat haze than a steady light drizzle;” Delusions of Adequacy concluding “borders on a work of genius;” In Love with These Times calling it “all killer, no filler;” and All Music Guide commenting “If you had to play the standard rock critic comparison game, saying Simpático is the Field Mice having tea with Brighter at the Razorcuts’ flat would be pretty close to dead on.” Check out full reviews and soundclips on the catalog page. We suspect this is an album you should probably not miss.
The July 2003 ‘California Morning’ EP (matinée 043) from The Young Tradition is our back catalog CD single of the month. At the time of their debut, group members Brent Kenji (The Fairways, The Guild League, Skypark) and Erik Hanspers had never met, collaborating instead through the marvels of our international postal service and a shared sense of songwriting. Featuring three beautifully orchestrated songs with jangling guitars, keyboards, trumpet, rich melodies and Brent’s captivating vocals, the single was the sort that demanded repeat listening and engendered gushing praise from all corners. Wide Open Road awarded it single of the year (so far), writing “California Morning is intoxicating, mesmerising, and totally huggable, recalling the beauty of those late 1960s San-Fran anthems you can all name yourselves quite easily.” Meanwhile, All Music Guide wrote “California Morning is a magical EP that will leave indie pop fans desperate for a full-length,” Tasty called it “cracking grown-up pop,” and The Big Takeover concluded “California Morning soars way above most indiepop—like a great track from 60s softrock giants The Millenium or a hidden gem of Simon & Garfunkel song that’s somehow only just been discovered. The EP includes two songs—including a cover of ‘Isolation’ from San Francisco popstars Poundsign—that did not appear on the subsequent album ‘Northern Drive (matcd038) so it’s well worth picking up. See the catalog page for reviews and soundclips. You’ll soon see that ‘California Morning’ is one of the very best songs we’ve ever released!
One of a trio of 7″ singles released in November 2001, the ‘Sleeptalk’ 45 (matinée 031) from Slipslide is our back catalog classic 7″ of the month. Featuring current and former members of Astronaut, the Love Parade, Eva Luna and Pure, Slipslide are merchants of swirling guitar pop with addictive choruses, keyboards, and rich production that sits nicely beside treasured records from Aztec Camera, Go Betweens, Pale Fountains, or New Order. ‘Sleeptalk’ features superbly jangling guitars, farfisa, a tambourine, and a bit of reverb, making it one of the most immediate songs the band has recorded to date. The flipside ‘Six Strings’ employs classic 12-string guitar, more tambourines and a slight folky edge reminiscent of the best moments of Shack. It remains one of our favorite Slipslide tracks to this day. Tangents liked it, writing “like a daydream beamed into my Saturday morning from fifteen years ago, making my spine creep and jangle.” Strange Fruit did too, concluding “this is a bit of a gem, basically. Charming vocals, C86 style melodies and guitars, and a happy, jolly, wonderful sound. An instantly delightful pop song that trundles along with a fey vigour all its own, it’s unassuming, charismatic and ideal to dance to. Lovely.” Lovely indeed. See the catalog page for reviews and soundclips. It’s on sale right now so a perfect time to pick one up and you could also use a nifty Slipslide badge too right?
That’s enough for this month. As always we leave you with the list of top sellers from the previous month…our official hit parade. Nice work Snowdrops!
10. The Happy Couple – Fools In Love CDEP
9. Would-Be-Goods – Brief Lives CD
8. The Young Tradition – Northern Drive CD
7. The Snowdrops – Mad World 7″
6. Pale Sunday – Summertime? CD
5. Tender Trap – Language Lessons CDEP
4. The Lucksmiths – Warmer Corners CD
3. Math and Physics Club – Weekends Away CDEP
2. Math and Physics Club – Movie Ending Romance CDEP
1. The Snowdrops – Sleepydust CDEP
Adios!
Jimmy
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