Inevitably, if you heard the
lone LP by this Winnipeg troupe it left you craving a bit more.
Transistor (using an alternate spelling here)
Sound & Lighting Co. didn't stick around to track a follow-up to their low key, but stunning eponymous debut in 1999...however if you bothered to scrounge for more details on the band, you might have heard about the three-song precursor I'm pitching here. There's definitely something romantic about one-and-done-album bands, or heck, even those who cut a sophomore record before petering out. Given their era, TS&L didn't have much of a web presence, but if you were informed of these guys through alt/college radio or word of mouth, their lo-fi adjacent album was something of a godsend. Eric's Trip and other likeminded folks from the Maritime provinces may have beat Transistor to the punch by several years, yet even if they weren't making music out of whole cloth, their vibe was raw, yearning and inexplicably intoxicating.
What's here are three songs, two wholly exclusive to this 45, as well as a four-track demo for one of their most stimulating album cuts, "Prince Vince." Nothing here necessarily qualifies as a revelation, and you could frankly argue this record is for completists (numbering in the hundreds or low-thousands at best). As for myself, I'm just gratified there was music in the ether beyond the album. Coincidentally, a lengthy podcast concerning the band just dropped two weeks ago. By request I'm also making this available in FLAC.
A1. Prince Vince (4 Track)
A2. Fast Bus Driver (Makes My Auto Obsolete)
B. Puddlecloud, Lovesong
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