When I last wrote I promised no fewer than five new releases by this time, and while I was only
right about four of them, four releases in about as many weeks is not bad, right? So hopefully many of you are
already enjoying the new releases from Edson, Lovejoy, Sportique, and the Lucksmiths…
if not, please have a look at the updated catalogue page for details!
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Hmmm…that leaves Harper Lee, who have endured an extended wait for an acceptable test pressing on
their new 7″ Bug. I’ve started quite a collection of rejected ones, by the way, so if you’re a fan of loud humming
noises that start halfway through an otherwise tranquil pop song, please let me know as soon as possible as the
official rejected test pressing edition is limited to just eleven copies. It was 12 but I can’t imagine any of you
want the copy from the third batch I pitched across the room after learning it was just as faulty as the other two
rejected ones. Besides, the cats took a fancy to it laying on the floor in the library so it has a bit of fur on it. Of
course, I’ve made all of this up as we don’t throw anything in my house and the cats never shed. Luckily, the highly
anticipated hum-free fourth test pressing arrived to great fanfare last week, and proved well worth the wait.
The sleeves arrived back in August, and look rather swell if you ask me. The finished singles, including the tracks
Bug and You Kill Me, are expected later this week. Full details are up on the catalogue
page.
In the next seven days we also will have a brand new CDEP from the Windmills! The more linguistic of
you might have noticed my use of the indicative mood in saying we “will” have them. If so, well done! I can do
that because my CD pressing plant is roughly three hundred times more reliable than my vinyl pressing plant these
days, and when they say I’ll have something on a certain date, it actually shows up then. The single is called the
Drug Autumn EP and contains four tracks: Everything Is New Each Day, Drug Autumn, Are We Still Where We
Were? and Want. The last of those is taken from the band’s debut album Edge of August while the other three are
new songs recorded late spring. They’re all just superb and the sleeve looks something like the image on the right.
Release details are now posted on the catalogue page.
Looking ahead to November, Melodie Group‘s next release is the Raincoat CDEP featuring new songs You’ve
Got The Whole of the World In Your Mouth, Raincoat, Magic Robot and Goodbye. We’re describing this as a
quadruple-A-side single because they’re all fantastic pop hits with chiming guitars and superb vocals for fans of
the Loft, Go Betweens, Lloyd Cole or Echo and the Bunneymen. Some of you may find the artwork rather risqué
except those of you who surf the Internet all day and come across this sort of thing with regularity. Look for the
real thing early in the month.
November also promises the debut single from Australia’s Simpático, featuring Jason
Sweeney of Sweet William in a slightly electronic mood. The CDEP is called the Postal Museum EP after one of its
four tracks…the others being Union Station, Pheromone Stars and Song for Steven. Combining strummed guitars
and earnest vocals with electronic rhythms and keyboards, the songs are seductive and sublime, not unlike Brian,
Pale Saints, Trembling Blue Stars, or Magnetic Fields. The single is a very welcome return to the Matinée roster
for the chap responsible for our foremost release back in 1997. If you don’t already have a copy of Sweet
William’s Dutch Mother EP (matinée o-o-one), you should get one soon as stock is getting rather low.
Speaking of welcome returns, Ego‘s debut album La Main Devant La Bouche should be ready
for release in November as well. The French band responsible for Matinée’s second release have accomplished an
astounding feat with their debut long player filled with superb melodies, strings, and mixed English and French
vocals. Ego’s The Question Mark 7″ is also close to selling out so don’t say I didn’t warn you as it includes three
songs not on the album.
In cooperation with the English label Fortuna Pop!, Matinée is pleased to be releasing the debut album from
Airport Girl called Honey, I’m An Artist. An eight-piece from Nottingham, Airport Girl play trumpets and
violins and exhibit influences ranging from the Pastels to Pavement (musically, not alphabetically, as that wouldn’t
leave much, would it?) In describing the band, Melody Maker wrote “like Belle and Sebastian meet Denim, which is
the stuff of genius” and “melodies so glorious they make the room spin in adoration.” And Melody Maker, as
evidenced by its optimistic reviews of Matinée releases by the Visitors, Lucksmiths and Sportique, is never
wrong… Following acclaimed singles on Fortuna Pop! and WIAIWYA, this 12-track album marks the band’s US
debut and will be available on vinyl and CD to enjoy with your Thanksgiving dinner.
Following release this week of the Bug 7″, Harper Lee will be finalizing the artwork for
Matinée’s penultimate release of the year, their highly anticipated debut album Go Back To Bed. Featuring Keris
Howard formerly of Brighter and Laura Bridge currently of Kicker, the Brighton band’s full length includes ten
doses of classic melancholy pop designed to keep you warm all winter. Although my preference changes every day,
today’s top choice would be either Only Connect, or Clifton Street Passage, or Brooklyn Bridge…
Matinée’s final release of the year will be a new 45 from Lovejoy called A Christmas Wish.
A quick follow up to the band’s debut album Songs in the Key of Lovejoy, the single features three new songs to
celebrate the approaching holidays. The band has also just launched an excellent website right here on IndiePages,
which you can visit by clicking here.
Still on the horizon is the much-anticipated Siddeleys compilation Slum Clearance, which
has taken a bit longer than expected to assemble due to various locations of the master tapes. The album will
include sixteen songs pulled from previous releases on Sombrero and Medium Cool plus numerous unreleased
songs taken from two BBC sessions of the same era. Expect to be delighted early in the new year.
Also on tap for January is the debut single from ex-Love Parade/Pure/Eva Luna frontman Graeme
Elston’s new project, which was to be called Fisher until we learned of another band with that name. They’re now
called Slipslide, which suits me just fine as it makes me remember the brilliant Bodines’ song of the same
name. The debut single is a four song CDEP called Four Day Weekend and it’s on heavy rotation these days around
Studio Matinée.
At some point the long-awaited Remember Fun Train Journeys single should also see the light
of day, but I won’t pin a date on it yet… More news next month, including:
- details on London shows the week of November 26th featuring between one and eight of the
above-mentioned bands; - confirmed dates for Sportique’s US tour the first week of December including shows in New York,
Philadelphia, Washington, and Boston; - announcement of an excellent retrospective CD from an old band featuring the lead singer of the band
mentioned in the previous bullet; and - an explanation of why I’ve just quit my dayjob to do this full time next year.
Thanks for reading…Jimmy