The third night of Chanukah - Seven scintillating singles.

Note:  If you can't see anything past the singles post, scroll down and select "older posts."

I haven't been offering much in the way of singles lately, but that doesn't mean I haven't been adding to my stockpile of 45s.  Here's the creme de la creme of what I've accumulated in the past year or so.

The Bandables - Cynicism b/w Love Lies Down (1984, Galt)

Quite possibly one of the ten best singles in my entire collection. The Bandables were a co-ed and very photogenic foursome who emanated from Port Washington (Queens), NY specializing in highly resonant power pop.  With it's cutting and cathartic lyrics "Cynicism" sounds like the greatest thing Chrissie Hynde never committed to tape, while "Love Likes Down" is a slice of jangle pop manna for the ages.  Had these folks recorded a full length of the same caliber of these songs I think I might have a new favorite band.  Per their Facebook page, the aforementioned tunes and several more may surface digitally at some point.  

Choo Choo Train - This Perfect Day b/w Happy Bicycle (1987, Picture Book)

It doesn't quite feel like a Choo Choo Train record without the involvement of Paul Chastain, but I'm still more than on board with any record Ric Menck cares to grace the mic on.  "This Perfect Day" (not the Saints song btw) boasts some discernible psych pop tweaks to keep things interesting.  The other side of the coin, "Happy Bicycle is steeped in Let's Active's edgy aesthetic.

The Big Maybe - Some Things Never Change b/w It Should Be Alright by Now (1987, Picture Book)

Both Menck and Chastain comprise the ostensibly short-lived Big Maybe, with the equally capable Nick Rudd manning the vocal stead.  Rudd was the frontman for Turning Curious and Weird Summer, the latter of whom churned out four albums between 1987-98.  Both cuts here have the Rickenbacker thing going for them without overdoing it.  Not surprisingly, distinct shades of Weird Summer abound.  BTW, Nick Rudd's early '90s project, Blown comes highly recommended.

The Diffi-cult - Day of Saint Christopher/Low Rider (1986, St. Valentine)

I can't recall how I became hip to this David Giffels-helmed Akron, OH three-piece, but I present you with what appears to be their one and only single.  "Day of Saint Christopher" is a ringing, left-off-the-dial jewel, bleeding some scrappy indie guitar-rock panache with a heap of integrity to go with it.  Why War's "Low Rider" is such a damn popular song to cover I'll never be able to figure out, but Diffi-cult pull it off, retooling the song into something of their own design. 

The Fire - Stars (Looking Up At) b/w England (1985, Big Step)

A cold case if there ever was one.  Mystery rockers from the UK deliver a spectacular A-side that doesn't cling to any of the traditional Brit-indie norms of the day.  I'm drawing a blank as to whom I might be able to offer a comparison to, but "Stars" thrives in it's indigenous stride, deferring equally to gits and synths with any potential wave tendencies kicked to the curb.  The flip, "England" is strikingly minimal by comparison.  A slow grower if there ever was one.  BTW, this was taken from a 45 rpm, 12."  Feel free to comment if you have any pertinent deets on this elusive combo.

Ironics - Mayday b/w Misdemeanors (1982, Age of Music)

Yet another un-Google-able entity, this time American (potentially the Bay Area). If this was the Ironics lone single they came and left on a remarkably high note, with two excellent power pop salvos.  "Misdemeanors" wins the contest by a hair.  They had more in common with Clocks, Fools Face and other contemporary obscuros than 20/20 and Shoes, making them that much more interesting.

SVT - Heart of Stone b/w The Last Word (1979, 415)

This San Francisco treat was a curiosity if only for the inclusion of Jefferson Airplane/Hot Tuna bassist Jack Casedy moonlighting in SVT's otherwise pedestrian lineup.  For better or worse, the group doled out a somewhat pedestrian AOR sound to match, with loose power pop tendencies.  "Heart of Stone," however happens to be a remarkable three-minute pop-rocker with hooks that put anything by say, the Knack to shame.  And the b-side?  It rocks like a mofo.  There was at least one other SVT single, an ep, and a 1981 LP, No Regrets, that was reissued a few years ago by the thoughtful folks at Rykodisc.

 

Hear

First & Second nights of Chanukah: Big Star - I Got Kinda Lost 8 CD "box set" with live bonus.

**The music links in this file are no longer active, as I have not been granted permission to share them.  My apologies and thanks for your interest.**   

Where do I even begin with this one?   First and foremost, here's the general basis behind this whole mondo ball of menorah candle wax.  The 162-song I Got Kinda Lost is not a physical product (despite the jewel-box thumbnails depicted a little further below).

Initially prepared in 2007 by an obsessive Big Star adherent(s) as a four disk compilation, IGKL represented a parallel version of the band's catalog with all material represented in the form of demos/alternate takes/mixes/outtakes and the like.  It was expanded to double that length some six years later, coincidentally or not after, the release of the official 2009 Big Star box set, Keep An Eye on the Sky, and in 2013, the Nothing Can Hurt Me documentary soundtrack.  In essence, the premise of IGKL was to corral every abandoned take or mix of every Big Star song known to exist that didn't carry over to the group's original three albums: #1 Record, Radio City, and Third/Sister Lovers, circa 1972-75.  For an even better frame of reference, this collection serves the same function as Bob Dylan's recently released omnibus, The Cutting Edge - not a single note left behind.  Additionally, it excavates the prehistory of Alex Chilton and Chris Bell prior to joining forces in Big Star.  For a more "together" wrap of what this set entails here's a blurb from the liner notes (included in disk one).

This is the expanded 'I Got Kinda Lost' unofficial Big Star box set. Previously this set contained four discs and was jam packed with all kinds of Big Star related tracks.  Like the previous incarnations of 'I Got Kinda Lost', this expanded 2013 release attempts to tell the story chronologically of Big Star through their studio outtakes and alternate versions by keeping it more Big Star-centric through the prism of Chris Bell and Alex Chilton - the architects of the band.

The tracks are split up between the CD's to a timeline that carries the listener from 1965 to roughly 1975.

This massive compilation is what one would call a 'fantasy release'. It's designed to look 'official' but clearly it is not.  In fact, this box set carries a fake catalog number - ST100/6 which is a direct homage to Chris Bell and Andy Hummel who briefly had the idea (as a joke) that if Ardent/Stax didn't release their completed #1 Record they were going to do it themselves (à la bootleg it) and give it the mythical catalog number ST100/6. Their little idea has now come full circle back to that very same idea, like a bridge to the past.

With that out of the way you're likely to want to see the tracklist NOW.  You can do so in pictures of the sleeve art here.  Each disk contains a folder of all scans specific to that CD. I have provided a brief disk-by-disk synopsis' below, however I offer all of this to you with a few vital caveats to bear in mind before diving into the well.

• If you're new to Big Star, this rabbit hole is waaaaaay to deep of a pit to plunge into.  IGKL is designed for completists and is bound to alienate neophytes, or for that matter even casual fans.  Not everyone in the world is going to benefit from six different iterations of "The Ballad of El Goodo."
• Secondly, and even more significantly, Jody Stephens and the respective estates of Alex Chilton, Chris Bell and Andy Hummel, not to mention Ardent Records mainstay John Fry are not receiving any money from this hypothetical release.  You only have your own conscience to wrestle with, but if you opt to partake in any or all of this collection, my hope is that you've supported Big Star in the past or plan to do so, preferably via album purchases.
• The majority of this material is unreleased...then again some of it may be commercially available again.  I present all of this to you on a wing and a prayer that no one objects.  

Onto the disk-by-disk summaries.  Links to both MP3s and lossless FLAC are provided.

Disk 1. An all pre-Big Star affair beginning with four cuts from the short-lived Memphis combo The Jynx, featuring Chris Bell on guitar.  A bit further in our some psych guitar workouts from Chris, as well as recordings from his collaboration with singer/songwriter Terry Manning.  The latter half of disk consists of alternate takes from Alex Chilton's 1970 Sessions.  23 tracks total.

Disk 2.  Commences with five tracks with Terry Manning teaming up with Alex.  Among the tunes is the irrepressible bubblegum chestnut "Sugar Sugar."  The bulk of the disk is all Chris, and his two immediate precursors to Big Star, Rock City and Icewater (yep, all one word).  I prefer Icewater'a tunes to Rock City's by a hair.  Early versions of "Feel" and "My Life is Right" make appearances.  20 tracks in all.

Disk 3.  Here's where the first ladle of gravy meets the plate.  Alternate takes and mixes for the first half of #1 Record, including a fairly radical alternate recording of "The India Song" with different lyrics.  Other songs represented include "Feel," "Ballad of El Goodo," "In the Street," "Thirteen" and "Don't Lie to Me."  21 tracks.

Disk 4. As you might expect, outtake incarnations of the remainder of #1 Record, featuring "When My Baby's Beside Me," "My Life is Right," Give Me Another Chance," "Try Again," "ST100-6," and no less than three versions of the non-LP charmer "Gone With the Light."  45 seconds of studio banter and jamming to boot.  22 cuts.


Disk 5.  This one kicks off with some alternates of Chris Bell solo classics, with no less than five different versions of "I Got Kinda Lost."  A bit further in we encounter the makings of Radio City, with solo Chilton demos of "Life is White," and "What Goin' Ahn" clearly still works in progress.   "O My Soul" makes the cut four times, and "Way Out West" turns up with a vastly different vocal track.  18 songs.  .

Disk 6.  Part two of the Radio City-era recordings.  It's an overkill onslaught of "Get What You Deserve" and "Mod Lang," with "Back of a Car,", "Daisy Glaze," "September Gurls," and "Morpha Too" also present and accounted for in various different mixes.  Great stuff, but again, these disks cater to the most dedicated among us.  20 tunes.

Disk 7.  We roll into the Third/Sister Lovers sessions, packed with revealing demos of "Holocaust," "Nightime," and "Thank You Friends."  Surrounding these prototypes are alternates of "Jesus Christ," "For You," "Big Black Car," and "Kanga Roo."  23 cuts.

Disk 8.  Here's where the bottom of the barrel meets the scraper.  The eighth bag of tricks kicks of with no fewer than five version of "Lonely Day," a song that was eventually massaged into "Stroke it Noel" from Third.  There's outtakes of deeper album cuts including "Downs" and "Nature Boy," and we even get an alternate version of "Hot Thing," the "new" B/S song that appeared on the bands own tribute album Big Star, Small World.  The disk concludes with Chris Bell having the final say with a clutch of solo rarities.  15 tracks.

bonus: Till the End of the Day, 1974.  A live Big Star performance in Cambridge, MA, March 31, 1974. I don't have a wealth of details to impart on this one.  A very solid set that's either a soundboard tape or a fantastic audience recording.  "Femme Fatale" is covered.  Given the lineup of Alex, Jody and John Lightman, the only #1 Record song making the eleven track setlist is "In the Street."   This is a beaut.

Enjoy, and remember, this is a one-week only proposition. 

Watching the candles burn...Chanukah 2015 BFD shares commence this Sunday.

There hasn't been much activity on this page in the past week, and it shall remain that way until Sunday evening (EST) is upon us.  In what has become an annual tradition on Wilfully Obscure (not to mention the ever increasing bane of my sanity) I'll be rolling out extra special, super duper entries over the week of Chanukah.   Beginning in 2012, I decided to spread the goodies out over the eight nights of Chanukah (check out the preliminary details for 2012, 2013 & 2014).  This made sense on a couple of different levels.  For one, it gives me a convenient excuse to share several mind-blowing "gifts" instead of just one mind-blowing whopper on Christmas.  Secondly, Chanukah represents personal relevance to me.  We all know you were envious of that boy down the block who had a yarmulke festooned to his head, who was given the privilege of lighting the menorah, and of course, reveling in eight glorious nights of presents.  Once again, I'm paying it forward.  Previous Chanukah entries have featured Wire, Velocity Girl, Jellyfish, The Pursuit of Happiness and Redd Kross, but name recognition is not necessarily guaranteed. 

NOTE: I'm shaking things up ever so slightly this year.  The first entry is so mondo and overwhelming it could easily absorb all eight nights of the season by itself.  I decided to compromise and whittle it down to two night's worth of presents instead, with the remaining six nights resuming Tuesday.  Trust me, you won't have any complaints, However...I'm making Sunday night's elephantine offering available for ONE WEEK ONLY.   When Chanukah is over the links for this particular entry will be decommissioned as well.  The remaining of the holiday booty will remain available in perpetuity, as per usual.  It just might be the most significant share I've offered to date.  In other words, don't sleep.  And make sure to tell a friend or two once it's live.

All of this begs the question, "Has Wilfully Obscure been holding out on us for the last 11 months?"  Somewhat...but not quite.  In short, the presents I plan on revealing over the eight nights of Chanukah are of considerably high caliber.  I like to think that everything I share qualifies as good to excellent, but to paraphrase that sage Orwellian dictum, some are more equal than others.  One final note of housekeeping - I will forgo Mystery Monday for the next week in order to maintain the continuity of the holiday as it falls on the calendar.  

See you Sunday night.

Nice Strong Arm - Mind Furnace (1988, Homestead)

More glum music for another glum news day. To be honest, I had designs on sharing this one for awhile, especially after my entry for Nice Strong Arm's third and final platter, Stress City, garnered so much approval from you, my humble audience.  1988's Mind Furnace was their second LP and by and large doesn't compel like NSA's aforementioned follow-up...but Kevin Thomson & Co. were making strides.  Overcast, dissonant, and occasionally tuneful (check out "Windowsill" and "Faucet Head") Mind Furnace's pessimistic stanzas went a long way in characterizing the trio's sinewy stripe of post-punk, resulting in one of their signature songs, "Everyday an Ambulance."  The more I think about it, you can hear a heck of a lot of Nice Strong Arm in the first two Jawbox albums (Grippe & Novelty) if that's your thing, proving these low-profile, Austin, TX outliers had a deeper reach than even they might have realized.  And yes, I'm not particularly moved by the album jacket either.

01. Windowsill
02. Everyday an Ambulance
03. A Case for the Calm
04. You'll Never Know Me
05. Secret Languages
06. Framingham
07. Faucet Head
08. Swingset
09. Turn Me Grey
10. Centralia

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