Wow! Four fantastic new slices of pop made it into the released category in September, and even we’re impressed with
this bunch. Apparently, so are you because the Matinée mailorder is doing brisk business this month!
Our newest release is the wonderful “Singles 1989-1992” CD (matcd026) by
Brighter! A trio of Alison Cousens, Keris Howard and Alex Sharkey, Brighter was a beloved English band equally
comfortable creating introspective, poignant songs and jangly pop hits. The songs all possessed the signature Brighter
elements: beautifully strummed guitars, gorgeous melodies, and heartfelt, intelligent lyrics. Between 1989 and 1992, the
band released four brilliant EPs (“Around the World in Eighty Days”, “Noah’s Ark”, “Half-hearted” and “Disney”) on
legendary English pop imprint Sarah Records. Long out of print, the 15 songs from these singles are collected here in
their entirety. Brighter disbanded in 1993, leaving a devoted legion of fans heartbroken until band members reemerged in
recent pop outfits Harper Lee, Pinkie, Trembling Blue Stars and Fosca. A document of what came before these
distinguished bands, “Singles 1989-1992” is an essential release for any serious student of indiepop. We have added a
Brighter artist page to the website and a few soundclips to the
sounds page as well. This CD is one of Matinée’s fastest sellers to date and is currently
fending off Belle & Sebastian, Death Cab for Cutie, Stereolab, the Shins and the High Llamas atop the
Parasol sales chart. Sarah Records fans also should note a new compilation
CD by Sarah band Secret Shine just out on Clairecords.
Also just out is the lovely “True Love Waits, Volume 2” CDEP (matinée 048) from top
London pop duo The Pines! A twosome of Joe Brooker and Pam Berry, the Pines have earned a reputation for
strong songwriting, intricate guitars, clever lyrics and exquisite harmonies and have an esteemed catalogue of singles
already to prove it. Joe sometimes moonlights in London duo the Foxgloves, while Pam is also a member of Matinée
hitmakers The Snowdrops. She also boasts association with scores of indie bands of yore including Belmondo,
Black Tambourine, Bright Coloured Lights, The Castaway Stones, Glo Worm, The Seashell Sea, The Shapiros, The
Snowdrops, and Veronica Lake, and has contributed vocals to recent recordings by The Clientele, Jasmine Minks, The
Lucksmiths, The Relict, and The Saturday People. This exclusive new EP is the second half of the thematically-related
“True Love Waits” series (the first recently released on DC’s FoxyBoy Records)
featuring the most compelling Pines compositions to date. Listen for yourself to “Anita O’Day” now playing on the
sounds page, and check the order page for a copy of the new
single and to catch up on previous Pines releases too.
Still dazzling on the new release shelves is the debut “California Morning” single (matinée
043) for new Swedish/American duo The Young Tradition! A unique alliance between Brent Kenji (The
Fairways, The Guild League, Skypark) and Erik Hanspers, The Young Tradition produces beautifully orchestrated songs
with jangling guitars, keyboards, trumpet, rich melodies and Brent’s captivating vocals. The sort of single that demands
repeated listens again and again, this brilliant release features two inspired originals and an earnest cover of “Isolation”
by San Francisco pop heroes Poundsign. In reviewing the single, All
Music Guide put it best saying “these two have hit on some magic here. The three tracks on the EP are light and
lush indie pop songs that are drenched in sunshine and bathed in instrumentation. California Morning is a magical EP
that will leave indie pop fans desperate for a full-length.” Fortunately, the band has spent most of the past month working
on songs for an upcoming album, so hopefully the wait will not be too long. For now, help yourself to the magic of this
great new single. We have created a Young Tradition artist page on the
website, and a clip of the title track is now playing on the sounds page.
The fourth September release was the welcome return of Australian pop legends The Lucksmiths with their new
mini-CD “A Little Distraction” (matcd027). A mere five months after the release of
acclaimed album “Naturaliste,” the six exclusive songs comprising “A Little Distraction” were written and recorded during
The Lucksmiths’ brief intermission between Australian and US/Japanese tours. Reminiscent of their brilliant “Staring At
The Sky” CD from 1999, “A Little Distraction” is the Lucksmiths at their very best. In four short weeks the mini-album
has piled up numerous accolades in the press, including Tasty calling it
“just about the most perfect pop there is at the moment,” Erasing
Clouds remarking on the “songs you’ll find yourself singing along to after only a few listens,” and
In Love With These Times concluding “it is almost impossible to think of another
band who have released so many records without ever having lost the plot from time to time.” Right. It is a truly great
release so have a listen to “After the After Party” now playing on the sounds page and
order your very own copy today.
Speaking of The Lucksmiths, they have just arrived in the UK for a set of dates in support of “A Little Distraction” which
is released October 27th on 10″ vinyl courtesy of our good friends of Fortuna
POP! In addition to nearly a dozen UK dates, the band plays Barcelona and Madrid later this month before heading
to Sweden and Germany in November. Here are complete details on the UK and Spanish shows:
15 October – The Lucksmiths + The Windmills @ Bitterscene Club, The Bassment, Chelmsford, England, £4, doors 8:30 pm.
16 October – The Lucksmiths + Would-Be-Goods + Aislers Set + Comet Gain @ The Quad, LSE, London, England, £6 advance/£7.50, doors 7:30 pm, presented by Track & Field.
17 October – The Lucksmiths + Aislers Set @ The Winchester Club, Glasgow, Scotland, £5, doors 9:00 pm.
18 October – The Lucksmiths + The Aislers Set + Homescience @ Baby Tiger, Caledonian Backpackers, Edinburgh, Scotland, £5, doors 8:30 pm.
23 October – The Lucksmiths + Airport Girl + Las Dolores @ Sidecar, Barcelona, Spain, 6 Euros, doors 10:30 pm, presented by Strange Ones.
24 October – The Lucksmiths + Airport Girl + Pipas @ Barbarella Pop Club (Sala Nasti), Madrid, Spain. 10 Euros.
27 October – The Lucksmiths + Airport Girl + Sodastream + Anthony Atkinson @ The Royal Park, Leeds, England. £4, doors 7:30 pm, presented by Strangeways.
28 October – The Lucksmiths + Airport Girl + Mavis + Anthony Atkinson @ The Dog and Parrot, Newcastle, England. £5, doors 7:30 pm.
29 October – The Lucksmiths + Airport Girl + The Escape Pod + Anthony Atkinson @ The Star and Garter, Manchester, England. £6, doors 8:00 pm, presented by Pop Art vs. Industry.
30 October – The Lucksmiths + Airport Girl + Sodastream + Anthony Atkinson @ The Porter, Bath, England. FREE ENTRY, doors 7:30 pm, presented by Moles Club.
31 October – The Lucksmiths + Airport Girl + Slipslide + Anthony Atkinson @ The Metro Club, London, England. £5.50 advance/£7, doors 7:30 pm, presented by Strange Fruit.
1 November – The Lucksmiths + Airport Girl + The Liberty Ship + Anthony Atkinson @ The Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, England. £5 advance, EARLY SHOW! doors 6:30 pm.
2 November – The Lucksmiths + Airport Girl + Anthony Atkinson + Champion Kickboxer + Offbeat DJs @ The Grapes, Sheffield, England. £4, doors 7:00 pm, presented by Sheffield Alternative Music Society.
3 November – The Lucksmiths + Anthony Atkinson + Frankie Machine @ The Lamplighters, Leicester, England. £4, doors 8:00 pm, presented by Red Leicester.
4 November – The Lucksmiths + Would-Be-Goods + Anthony Atkinson + Wob @ The Cellar Bar, Oxford, England. £4, doors 7:30 pm, presented by Trailer Park.
Labelmates Airport Girl, The Windmills, Would-Be-Goods, Slipslide, Pipas
and The Liberty Ship join the Lucksmiths on various dates of the tour, so get off the couch for a top night out
this month! Thanks to Sean Price at Fortuna POP! for arranging such a spectacular tour.
To celebrate this prodigious bounty of live performances, we are releasing the third in a series of seasonal Matinée
samplers, following the wildly popular Matinée Spring Collection (matinée 026) in 2001
and the Matinée Summer Splash (matinée 040) in 2002. This one’s called the Matinée
Autumn Assortment (matinée 051) and it features splendid new tracks from the
seven aforementioned bands plus Harper Lee, Lovejoy and The Pines. Nearly all of the songs
are previously unreleased, and several remain exclusive to this CD so mark this down as an essential purchase because
we’re selling it at the price of a single…yes way!
The tracklisting is: 1. Would-Be-Goods – Morning After (preview of forthcoming album); 2. Slipslide –
Love Split (exclusive new track); 3. The Lucksmiths – After the After Party (from the brand new “A Little
Distraction” CD); 4. Harper Lee – Autumn (previously unreleased); 5. The Pines – A Rainy Day (from
the “True Love Waits Volume One” EP on Foxyboy); 6. The Liberty Ship – Baseball Caps and Novas (preview of
forthcoming album); 7. Airport Girl – I’ve Seen Mexico (preview of forthcoming album); 8. The Windmills
– Summer Snow (preview of forthcoming album); 9. Pipas – Don’t Remix (exclusive remix of “Don’t Walk” from
the Annika LP “Golden Square”); and 10. Lovejoy – Strike A Pose (exclusive remix of “Night On Earth”). We
will have advance copies available at some UK shows and the CD sees general release November 3rd.
Also released on the 3rd is the stunning new long-player from Essex hitmakers The Windmills! Entitled “Now Is
Then” (matcd028), this new album is the band’s defining moment and the gauge
against which all future releases will be judged. The tracklisting is: 1. Ever to Exist; 2. Beach Girls 1918; 3. Now is
Then; 4. Footprints; 5. Walking Around the World; 6. Your Fingers and Mine; 7. Something Spring; 8. Across the
Playing Fields; 9. Amelia; 10. Summer Snow; 11. Time Machine. I revealed last month that “Summer Snow” just may
be the best Windmills song to date but you may find yourself humming “Beach Girls 1918” or “Something Spring” or the
title track after just one listen as well. If you were tuned into the Windmills from their previous two albums “Edge of
August” (matcd002) and “Sunlight” (matcd014)
then you undoubtedly have this one down on your shopping list already, but if you’ve yet to delight to the band make this
one your first stop. The catalogue number is no coincidence, but instead a scientific recognition that the new album is
twice as good as “Sunlight” and 14 times better than “Edge of August”. You didn’t know we were scientists here at
Matinée, did you?
Thanks to the Matinée press corps for continued favorable reviews on our summer releases. If you need further
convincing, following are some recent quotes that should induce a trip straight to the order
page for copies of your very own:
“Clever ploy or simple celebratory fun, the fact is that Matinée 50 is great because it achieves what it sets out to do.
Much more than a label sampler, Matinée 50 is its own product, and it’s all the better for it. Grab yourself a copy and
see for yourself.”
Pop Matters
“Ineffably cool.”
Careless Talk Costs Lives
“What this compilation really says is that Matinée’s bands are all just stepping into their best form now, and that the
next 50 singles are going to be even better.”
Pennyblack
“A glorified and exceedingly pleasant self-tribute album.”
Splendid
“When You Fall sounds like ‘Wake Up Boo!”s great uncle Colin splintering his thorax on a bison’s spare rib at his mum’s
barbecue.”
Drowned In Sound
“Four tracks of summertime sweetness and light. Belle And Sebastian used to sound this good, you know. Remember?”
Tangents
“The madly bouncing trumpet on “When You Fall” is worth the price of admission by itself, like boss brass a-go-go.”
Unpeeled Fanzine
“One of the best indie pop albums to come out all year. For a label that’s released many wonderful albums, The World
Can Wait is easily Matinée’s crown jewel.”
Mundane Sounds
“Those who like your guitars jangly, your pop stylings tight and your acoustic guitars double-strung — welcome to your
favorite album of the summer.”
Splendid
“A big fat triumph.”
Tasty
“Unabashedly influenced by situationist art and the politics of the late ’60s and early ’70s art world, Communiqué No. 9
is a time machine back to a radical and mod scene where culture was a form of activism. It continues to be one of the
most interesting bands in the indie pop scene and Communiqué No. 9 only further cements Sportique’s reputation as a
wry, slippery band that actually has something to say.”
Pop Matters
“An appropriately energetic post-punk pop record.”
All Music Guide
Oh! We are pleased to announce that we now have limited copies of the 10″ vinyl version of Sportique’s Communiqué
No. 9 in stock! This courtesy of the fine pop purveyors at Where It’s At Is Where
You Are Records, and we only have 150 so get in touch quickly if you want one. See the order
page to secure your copy.
In pending release news, coming soon is the debut album from Nottingham tunesmiths The Liberty Ship! It’s
called “Tide” (matcd029) and is one of the best debut albums we’ve heard in a long while. Anyone who enjoyed the “I
Guess You Didn’t See Her” (matinée 036) or “Northern Angel” (matinée
046) singles will be delighted with the 12 new songs on this album. The tracklisting is: 1. Finer Feelings; 2. Chords
Drag You Down; 3. Final Kick; 4. Precious Time; 5. Coast; 6. Cabin Fever; 7. Shine On; 8. Baseball Caps and Novas; 9.
I’ll Try; 10. Stars Above; 11. Actually; 12. Yuri Cagarin. You can listen to a preview of “Baseball Caps and Novas” now
playing on the sounds page and also featured on the imminent “Matinée Autumn
Assortment” (matinée 051) CD. We will reveal more details and the release date next
month, but add this to your holiday shopping list now!
We have one other album in the final stages of production but cannot confirm a release date on it yet either. This one is
a bit of a surprise anyway, but what we can tell you is that it is a tribute album to the greatest band of all time in our
humble opinion. We have 12 Matinée bands finalizing superb covers of classic hits from this band to celebrate their
20th anniversary. If that’s not enough to go on, we could also point out that their name appears on this page no fewer
than 25 times. Go on then, start counting! We’ll reveal the bands involved and songs covered in the next update.
There are various Matinée bands working on new releases for next year, including The Snowdrops, Pipas,
Lovejoy, Harper Lee, The Young Tradition, Pale Sunday, Would-Be-Goods
and more. We are working to establish the 2004 release schedule now.
In hit parade action, Matinée 50 continued its stronghold atop the sales chart but in the end was edged out by the new
Lucksmiths. Here are the top sellers for September:
10. Pale Sunday – A Weekend with Jane CDEP
9. Airport Girl – Do You Dream In Colour? CDEP
8. The Snowdrops – Mad World 7″
7. Razorcuts t-shirt
6. Razorcuts – A is for Alphabet CDEP
5. Matinée t-shirt
4. The Young Tradition – California Morning CDEP
3. Slipslide – The World Can Wait CD
2. Various – Matinée 50! CD
1. The Lucksmiths – A Little Distraction CD
The mailorder is closed October 21st through November 3rd while we are in London and Madrid, but you can still place
orders and we will ship everything when we return on the 4th. Thanks for your patience and hope to see some of you
at the upcoming shows!
Jimmy
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