Hello popular music lovers and thanks for visiting the Matinée site. We’re overflowing with news this month so pour
yourself a frosty beverage and sit back for the latest.
The highly anticipated album from The Fairways is finally…at the CD plant! Perhaps not what you wanted to
hear but hey, defunct bands move rather slowly. There appears to be a lot of interest in this release and we’re sorry
for its delay but I can finally disclose the complete release details. Entitled “This is Farewell” (matcd031),
the album is a collection of 13 songs recorded between 1998 and 2004 by our favorite San Francisco band. In fact,
they are probably our favorite American band considering they are the only one currently on the label. Since they
are technically broken up, I’m not sure what that means except maybe we need a new American band. In any event,
the CD includes eight previously unreleased songs that formed the basis of the band’s unreleased second album,
plus two tracks from their 2000 debut “Darling Don’t You Think?” 7″ (matinée 009),
two tracks from a 2001 tour CD on Dogprint Records, and a song from a limited split 7″ with The Aislers Set on
Yakamashi Records. The album includes cover versions of songs by Walter Donaldson, Three Berry Icecream, and
Scottish indie legends Jesse Garon and the Desperadoes. Here’s the full tracklisting: 1. Don’t Call Me Dear, 2. The
Back Of Her Hand, 3. Catch That Man, 4. The Rain Fell Down, 5. Starstruck, 6. Winter Song, 7. Casino Lights, 8.
Nowhere To Go, 9. Little White Lies, 10. Fine Day, 11. Emily, 12. Goodbye California, 13. This Is Farewell. You can
preview three tracks on the catalog page now. Although the official release date is
scheduled for late June, we will have advance copies available exclusively from the Matinée mailorder early next
month. Watch the order page for your chance to preorder the CD in a few weeks.
Also rather exciting is the upcoming fourth album from beloved English band Would-Be-Goods! Since their
splendid last album “Brief Lives” (matcd017) in 2002, the band has evolved into a
four piece with the addition of Debbie Green (ex-Headcoatees) on drums and backing vocals and Lupe Nuñez-Fernandez
(also of Pipas) on bass and backing vocals. They join Jessica Griffin (lead vocals and guitar) and Peter Momtchiloff
(lead guitar) to form a quartet that is equally impressive live and in the studio. The full band lineup adds a wonderfully
rich dimension to the songs, and the new recordings are their best to date.
The new album is called “The Morning After” (matcd032) and features a dozen
new classics: 1. Pantomime Devil, 2. Morning After, 3. Bluebeard, 4. Big Cat Act, 5. Le Crocodile, 6. Too Old, 7.
What Adam and Eve Did Next, 8. I Broke the Spell, 9. The King of Lace, 10. Miss La-di-dah, 11. Innocent Abroad,
12. Dear St Valentine. The CD heads to the pressing plant this week so we should have copies available for preorder
in early June. We’ll announce release details in the June update. For now, you can preview “Morning After” and
“Miss La-di-dah” playing on the sounds page.
Now, before you start drafting that email complaining that you have to wait another whole month for some new music
from Matinée (my, you’ve grown quite accustomed to 15 new releases a year, haven’t you?), we do have on offer a
brand new track from Slipslide! And best of all, it is completely free! Yes sir, Slipslide is the esteemed
Matinée Artist of the Month for May. Serious students of indiepop of course remember Slipslide leader Graeme
Elston from his previous labors in The Love Parade, Pure, and Eva Luna with a half-dozen releases on respected
labels Sugarfrost and A Turntable Friend. Slipslide bandmembers Matthew Hawes, Dave Masterman and Brychan
Todd had something do with these former bands as well but I can’t really remember the details and of course it
doesn’t matter because they’re all together now in the finest collaboration of all.
Yes, the recent cries of “best Matinée album to date!” have made Slipslide smile, but seriously, have you heard “The
World Can Wait” (matcd025)? It’s really that good…just read any of the fantastic
reviews collected on its catalog page and you’ll soon realize this is an album you
need to own. It contains two songs that I might just include on my “top ten Matinée songs of all time” list. “Baked
Alaska” and “Palm House Crawling” are the two, but reviewers all seem to like different ones so apparently there is
something for everyone here. Prior to the album, Slipslide released two fine singles in 2001 – the “Four Day Weekend”
CDEP (matinée 023) and the “Sleeptalk” 7″ (matinée
031). They have contributed tracks to nearly every Matinée compilation so far, and most of them are exclusive.
The band is currently recording songs for future releases and plays a rare live date June 2nd at The Bull & Gate in
London as special guests of The Seb Clarke Big Band. Slipslide take the stage at 9pm so get there early.
As resident artist of the month, Slipslide have a freshly updated artist page with
links to interviews, a special Popquiz, and a poll about your favorite Slipslide song. The sounds
page now features three Slipslide mp3s, including an exclusive track called “Eden” to tide you over until the band’s
next release. Of course, all Slipslide titles are on sale at the mailorder this month only.
We’re including free Slipslide buttons with all orders so get going!
April Artist of the Month poll respondents selected “Radio” as the favorite Lovejoy song, with “You Fell From
Grace” and “I Dream of Angels” close behind. Thanks to everyone who voted. Lovejoy is one of several Matinée
artists in the studio right now working on new recordings. If all goes as planned, we’ll have a new album in our hands
later this summer. New songs in progress include “Nicotine And Love” (previewed in last month’s Artist of the Month
feature), “America”, “Sid Vicious”, “Everybody Hates Us And We Don’t Care”, “Petrol Stars”, “Sandcastles”,
“Because You’re Worth It”, and “A Glimpse Of Blue.” We’ll announce release details soon.
The band has just released a great 7″ on UK label Unpopular
Records which is a new project of Alistair Fitchett of the wonderful Tangents
website. The 45 includes the tracks “Strike A Pose” and “Someone To Share My Life With” … a TV Personalities
song also made famous by Creation Records band Biff Bang Pow! The single is limited to just 500 copies and we
have 20 of them available at the mailorder while supplies last. There are two different
sleeves so check the Unpopular website for details and let me know if you have a preference.
Other Matinée bands in the studio include Harper Lee, The Guild League, The Snowdrops,
Pale Sunday, Airport Girl, and The Young Tradition so look for reports on more great new
releases next month.
A few Matinée bands are forsaking the sunshine to play some live shows in dark clubs. Here are confirmed dates
so far:
16 May: The Guild League in Melbourne, Australia @ Pony (+Splendid & Sophie Koh)
22 May: The Lucksmiths in Perth, Australia @ The Rosemount Hotel (+Showbag & The Bank Holidays)
02 June: Slipslide in London, England @ The Bull & Gate (+The Seb Clarke Big Band)
12 June: Pipas in Glasgow, Scotland @ The Winchester Club (+The Language of Flowers)
21 July: Pipas in London, England @ The Arts Café (+The Shadows of Doubt & The Frenchmen)
We don’t know much about some of these bands, but apparently The Seb Clarke Big Band are an 11 piece
Indie/Northern Soul band which should be fairly entertaining. The Frenchmen and The Language of Flowers both
release records via Shelflife so of course they are good. Finally, The
Shadows of Doubt is an exciting new band who at last roll call featured indie statesmen Gregory Webster (Razorcuts,
Sportique, etc.), Peter Momtchiloff (Would-Be-Goods, Heavenly, Marine Research, etc.) and DJ Downfall (Marine
Research and Tender Trap). So that should be fun.
There are also a handful of rumored Swedish dates, including The Shadows of Doubt and Lovejoy at
the We & You Festival in Malmö on July 23 & 24, plus The Pines
at another Swedish festival in July, and maybe the first live shows from The Young Tradition in Sweden as
well. It’s apparently the place to be this summer! We will provide details on these appearances in the next update.
Our recent releases continue to procure flattering reviews, with the “Bitter Club” EP (matinée
052) from Pipas on everybody’s list. Splendid
called the band “pop’s Umbrellas of Cherbourg” while Logo
Magazine wrote “an unexpected seam of sunshine pop… like a disinterested, disheartened Pizzicato Five.” New
album reviews include All
Music Guide calling our Smiths tribute CD “Romantic and Square is Hip and Aware” (matcd030)
“a lovely dedication to Manchester’s favorite sons,” Aversion.com
lauding “Now Is Then” (matcd028) from The Windmills as “an unfaltering
collection of uplifting pop that demands repeat listening,” and Logo
Magazine reviewing the “Matinée 50” compilation (matinée 050) and
saying “If you’re not sure what pop means these days, lend Matinée your ears for the most interesting – and satisfying –
lesson you’ll ever have.” Check out the latest reviews on the updated catalog pages, and pick up these and other
essential new releases today.
In other press action, this month we completed a “Beginner’s Guide to Matinée” for Vanity
Project fanzine and a great interview for Swedish fanzine Try Happiness. Tasty
also just published an interview with our Brazilian friends Pale Sunday. Look for more interviews next month.
With the warm weather here to stay, our supply of Matinée t-shirts is nearly gone. We have fewer than 20 Matinée
and 20 Razorcuts shirts left and when these designs are gone they’re gone so order now if you need some
summertime threads. We are planning to make new t-shirts this summer, so if you are interested please go
here and let us know which bands you’d most like on your chest and also your size. This
will help us effectively plan t-shirt orders.
Finally, April made it four straight months atop the Matinée hit parade for the “Romantic and Square is Hip and
Aware” CD. Can anything topple this? Here are the top sellers for the month:
10. The Windmills – Now Is Then CD
9. Slipslide – The World Can Wait CD
8. Various – Matinée 50! CD
7. Pipas – A Cat Escaped CD
6. Various – The Matinée Autumn Assortment! CD
5. Razorcuts – A is for Alphabet CDEP
4. Pipas – Bitter Club CDEP
3. Brighter – Singles 1989-1992 CD
2. Razorcuts – R is for Razorcuts CD
1. Various – Romantic and Square is Hip and Aware CD
See you in June!
regards,
Jimmy
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