Happy New Year! In addition to reports on top new releases, this month we offer lists of 2005 favorites from Matinée artists and official results of the fourth annual Matinée fanclub poll, yes way!
Our foremost release of 2006 is a new 4 track EP (matinée 060) from The Lucksmiths! As soon as we received the master for last year’s magnificent ‘Warmer Corners’ album (matcd039), we knew lead track ‘A Hiccup In Your Happiness’ had to be a single and after months of cajoling and some fancy studio work its day has finally arrived. Boasting strings, horns, some seriously funky guitar and a bassline possibly borrowed from Orange Juice, the song is a smash and we are excited to finally see it grace the Matinée singles discography page. Making the release possible was tricky for several reasons: 1) a one track single – even one as tremendous as this – isn’t very exciting; 2) there were no available b-sides; and 3) Lucksmiths bassist Mark Monnone was living abroad most of the past year which made recording new songs a bit of a challenge. But alas, this is the Lucksmiths we’re talking about.
Magically, three magnificent b-sides appeared on my doorstep just last week along with some fresh artwork and 24 hours later we had a package ready for the pressing plant. Those magnificent b-sides are all set in actual places: ‘From Macaulay Station’ is an ode to one of the unlovelier stops on Melbourne’s rail network, while ‘Rue Something’ is a more-or-less factual account of an evening spent on tour in Paris and ‘To Absent Votes’ is the tale of election night in the Australian outback town of Lake Cargelligo. They’re all lovely of course, and, did I mention… exclusive to this EP?! Combined with ‘A Hiccup In Your Happiness’ they make quite a brilliant EP that will hopefully give ‘Warmer Corners’ another shot at the glory it deserves.
The EP is set for release on February 20th although we’ll have copies to send out the prior week for anyone who preorders it. See the order page to preorder. The EP will be available through Candle Records in Australia on the same date.
The new Lucksmiths EP is the first of 12 releases planned for this year as part of the 2006 Matinée Hit Parade! Future volumes should appear roughly monthly and include exclusive new songs from Matinée idols Harper Lee, Lovejoy, Slipslide, Sportique, Would-Be-Goods and more. The 2006 release schedule also includes new albums from Tender Trap and Math and Physics Club and a handful of seriously wonderful surprises including at least one retrospective release so stay tuned for details.
Now featured on new release shelves across the globe is the second single from mysterious Matinée musicmakers 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 with brilliant lead vocals from Keith plus backing from Pam. You can listen to it now on the sounds page. 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 (always a good thing) and some other nice touches.
The EP is already generating positive press, with Stylus Magazine suggesting “the members of the Snowdrops might want to reconsider the band’s status as a side project…their subdued synth-pop moves like a less-kinetic Postal Service, prizing atmosphere over rhythm or groove.” Meanwhile, Erasing Clouds described ‘Sleepydust’ as “romantic and lovely” and “another stylish, melancholy pop song for the ages,” while Tasty offered seasonal advice “if the winter is stretching out in front you like a miserable frozen lake, reach for this ep, put a warm jumper on and eat some chocolate… you’ll feel better again before long.”
The single is limited to 1000 copies in custom minijacket sleeve and available now from the Matinée mailorder and all good retailers so get yours before they’re all gone.
Also gracing the new release shelf, the wonderful ‘Language Lessons’ EP (matinée 058) from London trio Tender Trap finds band members Amelia Fletcher, Rob Pursey and John Stanley (DJ Downfall) in top form. 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. Since forming in 2001 as Tender Trap, Amelia, Rob and John have released three singles and the superb album ‘Film Molecules,’ once described as “the unholy alliance between Blondie and The Magnetic Fields.” This long-awaited follow-up features lead track ‘Talking Backwards’ which will appear on a forthcoming Tender Trap album (matcd040) in early 2006. 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 highly 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’s P.U.N.K. Girl; ‘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.
We’re getting new Tender Trap reviews on a daily basis now. Some of our recent favorites include 75 or Less writing “infectious sing-song melodies, sweet girl-on-girl harmonies and an ounce of synthesizer for good measure… pop-a-licious!” and Pennyblack concluding “the whole of this EP is pretty much near perfect… welcome home, Amelia!” Do all Tender Trap reviews end with exclamation points, or am I imagining it? Let’s see… Mundane Sounds? Check: “A sweet little treat, this!” IndiePages? Check: “Talking Backwards” is taken from the band’s forthcoming second album, and if that album is as good as the single, it should be a delight! Tasty? Check: “A brighter, clearer sound [with] much simpler, bolder arrangements and lyrics to rival Heavenly’s cheekiest yet dark offerings… quite frankly, this is unmissable!”
The single is limited to 1000 copies in custom minijacket sleeve so get to the order page or your favorite shop now so you can see what all the hoopla is about!!
Thanks to everyone who voted in the fourth annual Matinée Fanclub poll! We had responses from 18 countries this year and the results are now posted on the archive page. Here is a summary:
The winner of the album of the year award is ‘Warmer Corners” (matcd039) from The Lucksmiths (71 votes), with “Chunnel Autumnal” (matcd036) from Pipas (36) and ‘Summertime?” (matcd037) from Pale Sunday (33) coming in second and third. Hurrah!
In the singles category, newcomers Math and Physics Club took top prize with the ‘Weekends Away’ EP (matinée 056) earning 63 votes. ‘San Francisco’ EP (matinée 057) from The Lucksmiths and ‘Movie Ending Romance’ from Math and Physics Club (matinée 059) were the other favorites, with 43 and 34 votes respectively.
In addition to the top album and singles categories, we added a new category this year for song of the year. As expected, votes were fairly dispersed with 66 of the 76 eligible songs earning votes. In the end, Math and Physics Club took the prize with ‘Weekends Away’ (34 votes), followed closely by ‘The Chapter In Your Life Entitled San Francisco’ from The Lucksmiths (31), ‘Another Sunny Day’ from The Happy Couple (23), ‘Movie Ending Romance’ from Math and Physics Club (22) and ‘California Morning’ from The Young Tradition (20). Additional songs from these bands plus hits from Lovejoy, Pipas, The Snowdrops and Tender Trap also made the top tier.
In the favorite band category, The Lucksmiths captured the number one spot this year (56 votes), followed by Math and Physics Club (33), Pipas (31), Harper Lee (23), The Fairways (23), Would-Be-Goods (14), Razorcuts (12), Brighter (11), Pale Sunday (10) and The Pines (8).
Finally, we replaced the ‘favorite song ever released on Matinée’ category with the more limited ‘favorite Matinée release of all time.’ Although the list of choices still numbered over 100, it seemed a bit more manageable than the 700+ songs released to date. Of course votes were still spread among virtually all the releases, but in the end a few firm favorites emerged. Top honors went to ‘Singles 1989-1992’ (matcd026) from Brighter (31 votes), followed by ‘Warmer Corners’ (matcd039) from The Lucksmiths (25), ‘R is for Razorcuts’ (matcd012) from Razorcuts (21), ‘A Cat Escaped’ (matcd021) from Pipas (20) and ‘Weekends Away’ (matinée 056) from Math and Physics Club (18). Other releases earning more than 10 votes each include ‘T-shirt Weather’ (matinée 018) from The Lucksmiths (17), ‘This is Farewell’ (matcd031) from The Fairways (15), ‘Where Were We?’ (matcd019) from The Lucksmiths (15), ‘Chunnel Autumnal’ (matcd036) from Pipas (13), ‘Slum Clearance’ (matcd005) from The Siddeleys (13), the Matinée 50 (matinée 050) compilation (13), ‘Everything’s Going To Be OK’ (matcd020) from Harper Lee (13), and ‘Staring At The Sky’ (matcd004) from The Lucksmiths (12).
Congratulations to all the Matinée artists and thanks very much to everyone who entered. The lucky winner of the five CD prize pack is Nancy Ostrander from Seattle, WA. Hurrah! Wish you had won? Join the Matinée Fanclub and you may be our next lucky winner.
We also surveyed all the Matinée artists at the end of the year regarding their favorite things of 2005 and as expected there was great variety in the responses. See responses from members of Airport Girl, The Happy Couple, Harper Lee, Lovejoy, The Lucksmiths, Math and Physics Club, Melodie Group, Simpático, Slipslide, The Snowdrops, Sportique, Tender Trap, and The Windmills on the archive page.
This update has gone on long enough so we’ll skip the back catalog spotlight this month but I promised to mention new Myspace pages for Slipslide and Tender Trap! They join fellow Matinée artists The Lucksmiths, Math and Physics Club and Pale Sunday on the popular website and are looking for friends, as the lingo goes. I’m still not sure what all of this means, but if you click on the band names in this paragraph you’ll be whisked away to myspace and can, indeed, become friends with these bands and probably thousands of others. Have fun!
Also, we are making new buttons and thinking about making new t-shirts. Thanks very much for your input. We are fairly certain buttons can’t be downloaded so this is likely your only place to get them. Full details in the February update, or check the fanclub page later this month. If you go there now you’ll see lots of postcards and some rather outdated t-shirt information but not a word about buttons. Trust me, you’ll need a new backpack with what we have planned.
People bought lots of records in December so we had a nice Christmas. Here is the final hit parade of 2005, with a brand new number one:
10. Pipas – Chunnel Autumnal CD
9. The Happy Couple – Fools In Love CDEP
8. Brighter – Singles 1989-1992 CD
7. Pipas – A Cat Escaped CD
6. Various – Romantic and Square is Hip and Aware CD
5. The Lucksmiths – Warmer Corners CD
4. Math and Physics Club – Weekends Away CDEP
3. Tender Trap – Language Lessons CDEP
2. Math and Physics Club – Movie Ending Romance CDEP
1. The Snowdrops – Sleepydust CDEP
Until next month,
Jimmy
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