Happy July! It’s crazy busy here with last minute Pop Holiday preparations and new release work, but here is a
mini-update to tide you over for a few weeks until we’re back in Santa Barbara.
The latest Matinée release is the debut album from London’s brilliant Slipslide! Entitled “The World Can Wait”
(matcd025), the album is the first release since the band’s “Sleeptalk” single 18
months ago. Lead vocalist Graeme Elston (The Love Parade, Pure, Eva Luna, Astronaut) penned nine of the 11 songs,
while new member Matthew Hawes wrote and sang the other two. This is a spectacular debut album worthy of a place
in your collection next to treasured classics from Aztec Camera, Orange Juice, The Colourfield and Go-Betweens. It’s
really that good! The band redesigned its website to celebrate and you can check it out here.
While basking in the glow of their album release, Slipslide join their Matinée colleagues with an exclusive contribution
to the brand new “Matinée 50” CD (matinée 050) – a brilliant low-price
compilation commemorating the 50th single released on Matinée Recordings. To celebrate, we invited 20 artists to
record a cover version of a favorite song previously released on Matinée, and this is the result. This collection is a labor
of love showcasing the tremendous artists with whom Matinée has had the honor of working during the past six years.
With 20 exclusive tracks, this compilation is an essential release for all fans of the label and associated bands.
The tracklisting (with original bands noted in parentheses) is: 1. Gregory Webster – Untidy Towns (The Lucksmiths);
2. Melodie Group – Emmanuelle Béart (Would-Be-Goods); 3. The Guild League – Between Delta and
Delaware (Airport Girl); 4. The Snowdrops – Summerness (Melodie Group); 5. The Visitors – Sad
Kaleidoscope (Razorcuts); 6. Airport Girl – Three Sixty Degrees (The Windmills); 7. Pipas – You Kill Me
(Harper Lee); 8. The Lucksmiths – Falling Off Of My Feet Again (The Siddeleys); 9. Sportique –
Goldmining (The Visitors); 10. The Windmills – Striking Out On Your Own (Airport Girl); 11. The Pines –
Darling, Don’t You Think? (The Fairways); 12. Harper Lee – Motorway (Monterey); 13. Slipslide –
Wildest Dream (Melodie Group); 14. The Fairways – Sunday Lovely Sunday (Edson); 15.
Would-Be-Goods – Southernmost (The Lucksmiths); 16. Lovejoy – Drug Autumn (The Windmills); 17.
Pale Sunday – Just Friends (Sportique); 18. The Liberty Ship – Desert Song (Kosmonaut); 19.
Simpático – Train Not Stopping (Harper Lee); 20. Kosmonaut – Northern Angel (Liberty Ship).
The CD is officially released on July 21st, but we have advance copies available now exclusively through the Matinée
mailorder at the low price of just $8! We are launching the album with our friends at
Shelflife Records, who are celebrating the release of their 50th release – a
special compilation called “You’re Still Young At Heart.”
The center of the album launch is next week’s Pop Holiday
in San Francisco. Featuring 21 bands playing over four nights (July 10th – 13th), the event will be one of the great pop
events of the year. Matinée artists Pipas and The Lucksmiths headline Thursday and Saturday nights,
while Gregory Webster of Sportique and Razorcuts fame plays on Sunday. Other bands include Aerospace,
The Radio Dept., Even As We Speak, The Salteens, Free Loan Investments, The Frenchmen, Evening Lights, Tullycraft,
Boyracer, The Sprites, Honeybunch, Bart Davenport, The How, From Bubblegum to Sky, The Mosquitos, Lil’
Pocketknife, Origami and The Crabapples.
Matinée and Shelflife are co-hosting a special launch party for the Matinée 50 and Shelflife 50 releases on Saturday, July
12th at 1010 1/2 Alabama Street in San Francisco. The party features a rare live performance from Matinée hitmakers
The Guild League (featuring members of The Lucksmiths, Poundsign, The Fairways, and Aislers Set), plus short
sets from other bands participating on the compilations. Rumor has it that a supergroup is forming just for this occasion!
The party is 12pm – 5pm and it is free. Look for fliers and directions at the Pop Holiday shows.
We look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones next week, so if you’re in San Francisco please come say
hello.
To complement the four days of ace pop at the Pop Holiday, Matinée and Shelflife are also pleased to bring some great
shows to a town near you:
Tuesday, July 8th: Los Angeles, CA
Pipas + Aerospace + Arrogants + Evening Lights + Frenchmen
@ The Garage, 519 Santa Monica Boulevard (Silver Lake)
21+, ticket price: $6
Wednesday, July 9th: Santa Barbara, CA
Pipas + Evening Lights + Frenchmen
@ JoJo, 1134 Chapala Street
all ages, ticket price: $5 (or $4 with flyer)
Tuesday, July 15th: Portland, OR
Pipas + Radio Dept. + Aerospace + Evening Lights + Frenchmen
@ The Blackbird, 3728 NE Sandy Boulevard
21+, ticket price: $6
Wednesday, July 16th: Seattle, WA
Pipas + Radio Dept.
@ Chop Suey, 1325 E. Madison
ticket price: $8 advance at Sonic Boom or Rudy’s
Also on the road this summer are The Lucksmiths! They begin their US tour at the Pop Holiday and travel
across the country before heading back for a handful of West Coast shows in early August. Following is the complete
itinerary. We will post updates to this schedule throughout the month so check back for the latest tour news!
July 12th – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill (Pop Holiday) w/Even As We Speak, From Bubblegum To Sky, The Mosquitos and Lil Pocketknife
July 15th – Portland, OR @ Portland State University (724 SW Harrison), 12pm-1pm
July 16th – Portland, OR @ Stumptown Coffee (on 3rd) w/Andrew Kaffer, 8:30pm
July 17th – Portland, OR @ Magic Marker House (4306 SE 34th St) w/The Salteens and The Mosquitos
July 18th – Bellingham, WA @ 3B Tavern w/The Salteens
July 19th – Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern w/The Salteens and Tullycraft
July 23rd – Moorhead, MN @ Ralph’s Corner Bar w/Sprites
July 24th – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry w/Sprites
July 25th – Chicago, IL @ Schubas w/Pas/Cal and Sprites
July 26th – Wyoming, MI @ Marge’s Donut Den (1751 28th St SW) w/Pas/Cal and Sprites, 6:30pm – all ages
July 27th – Indianapolis, IN @ Radio Radio (1119 E. Prospect) w/Sprites, 21+
July 28th – Cleveland, OH @ The Grog Shop w/Kiddo and Sprites
July 29th – Hamden, CT @ The Space w/Sprites
July 30th – Boston, MA @ Zeitgeist Gallery (1353 Cambridge St, Inman Square) w/Sprites, early show 7 – 9 pm, $5/all ages
August 1st – Brooklyn, NY @ Southpaw w/Ladybug Transistor and April March, 18+
August 2nd – Manhattan, NY @ Knitting Factory w/Ladybug Transistor and Sprites, all ages
August 6th – Philadelphia, PA @ Doc Watson’s
August 8th – Washington, DC Signal 66 w/Sprites & Mosquitos
August 9th – Santa Barbara, CA The Mercury Lounge (5871 Hollister Avenue) w/The Flower Machine, 9pm, $5
August 10th – Los Angeles, CA instore @ Sea Level Records (1716 West Sunset Blvd.), 4pm, all ages, free!
August 12th – San Francisco, CA @ The Hemlock Tavern w/Dear Nora, 10:30pm
Speaking of people we like a lot, when we return we’ll have copies of the new “Do You Dream In Colour?” EP
(matinée 037) from Airport Girl! The title track is a violin-led orchestrated gem
which (somewhat disturbingly) joins the exalted company of Kylie Minogue’s “I Should Be So Lucky”, The Farm’s
“Altogether Now” and the Pet Shop Boys’ “Go West” by taking its inspiration from Pachelbel’s “Canon in D.” Second
track “When You Fall” is a trumpet-driven summer pop hit that recalls the best moments of The Boo Radleys. “Easier
To Smile” is a singalong hit à la The Beach Boys’ “Barbara Ann” featuring tambourine, shaky egg and handclaps plus
guest musicians Graeme Elston of Slipslide on backing vocals and Matinée head honcho Jimmy Tassos on bongos.
The EP closes with a beautifully sad lament called “Been Waiting.” It is a jubilant return for Airport Girl, who follow
this release with a new album for Matinée in September. We are taking preorders for the single now, and will ship on
July 14th. The official release date is the 21st.
Forthcoming singles from The Young Tradition (matinée 043) and The Pines (matinée 048), a fantastic
compilation from Brighter (matcd026), and several other releases are progressing as we speak. Look for
forthcoming release news in the next update.
Our recent releases are the talk of the town, so if you’re behind with your Matinée listening you better get busy! We
wrote extensively about the new releases in the June update so check that out if you
need more details. We posted reviews this month for fresh releases from Slipslide,
The Snowdrops, Sportique, Pale Sunday, Razorcuts, The
Liberty Ship, Simpático, Kosmonaut, and more,
so check the release pages for details.
We have one new interview to mention this month – a nice chat with Pale Sunday up now on our favorite Italian
website Indiepop.it. Watch for new interviews
with Matinée bands in the next month.
Thanks to everyone who placed a website order in June. The Snowdrops ruled the roost this month, outselling
the closest competition by 2 to 1. Hooray for vinyl! Here’s the top ten:
10. The Guild League – Private Transport CD
9. The Liberty Ship – Northern Angel CDEP
8. Sportique – Modern Museums CD
7. Simpático – Club Life CDEP
6. The Lucksmiths – Naturaliste CD
5. Slipslide – The World Can Wait CD
4. Sportique – Communiqué No. 9 CD
3. Pale Sunday – A Weekend with Jane CDEP
2. Razorcuts – A is for Alphabet CDEP
1. The Snowdrops – Mad World 7″
The mailorder will be closed from July 9th through 13th while we are in San Francisco, but we’ll be back on the 14th to
ship your orders. Hope to see some of you at the West Coast shows and the Pop Holiday!
cheers
Jimmy