R.E.M. - Reckoning demos & such (1983)

They may not have been a literal "household name" until the early '90s, but even R.E.M. fans who were introduced to them through Out of Time or Automatic For the People were curious enough to explore their back catalog, and in doing so likely made some posthumous but revelatory finds, specifically the five albums they cut for I.R.S. in the 1980s, and perhaps to a lesser extent 1988's Green.  The general consensus is that of their early records, Murmur was their finest and most incendiary moment, and flabbergastingly impressive for a debut (not counting the preceding Chronic Town ep and "Radio Free Europe" single).  Their third and fourth albums, 1985's Fables of the Reconstruction, and Life's Rich Pageant which followed a year later, were tremendous fan-faves (pardon the cliche) and are critically lauded to this day.  Of course, 1987's Document, took on a life of it's own, and eventually went platinum on the strength of it's attendant, bona-fide hit singles, "The One I Love" and "It's the End of the World..."  While certainly not forgotten, nor a commercial disappointment the band's follow-up to Murmur simply isn't discussed or revered nearly as much as the rest of their "indie" releases (not that I.R.S. really struck me as being indie to begin with, but I digress).  I'm talking about Reckoning, Michael Stipe & Co.'s sophomore effort.

I was a relatively late-blooming and even slightly reluctant R.E.M. follower, circa Document, which belatedly introduced me the Athens, GA quartet.  Since I didn't actually sit down with Reckoning until the very, very late '80s I don't have the benefit of hindsight to remember what people's initial response to this record was upon it's 1984 release.  I can't imagine any fan of Murmur disliking Reckoning outright, given there's little if anything to be dissatisfied with.  In fact, the only slight anyone could reasonably have against Reckoning is that it isn't the revelation the first album was.  With the exception of the lively "Pretty Persuasion" and "Second Guessing" there isn't much else here that's as combustible as what R.E.M. delivered on Murmur ("Radio Free Europe," "Sitting Still," and "Pilgrimage" immediately spring to mind).  Still, it's a fallacy to say that Reckoning was a mellower affair than it's predecessor, even though the notion often strikes me as such.  "So. Central Rain," and "Camera" are certainly ballad-esque in tone, but conversely so was Murmur's "Talk About the Passion."  In the grand scheme of things, I suppose it isn't quantifiable to determine how/why Reckoning doesn't boast the same status as some of R.E.M.'s surrounding albums. A few of you reading this might regard this as their peak album, but I don't imagine there's more than a couple folks in the audience raising their hands.

This is all leading into what I'm presenting today, which is essentially a "dry run" of the majority of the songs that would materialize into Reckoning - that and several other tunes that would be relegated as b-sides and outtakes.  Per UNCUT magazine:

"On November 9 [1983], R.E.M. demoed 24 songs at Rhythmic Studios, San Francisco, with Elliot Mazer, who'd produced Neil Young's 'Harvest'. They recorded nine songs that would eventually appear on 'Reckoning': 'So. Central Rain', 'Letter Never Sent', 'Little America', 'Camera', 'Second Guessing', 'Harborcoat', '7 Chinese Bros', 'Pretty Persuasion' and 'Time After Time (AnnElise)'.

All cut in a single day, live to two-track.  Quick and dirty you might say, but the arrangements weren't fussed over much more on the finished product than they were on these prototypes, comparatively raw and spontaneous as they are here.  There's covers too, ranging from the Tokens to the Velvets.  Additionally we're treated to an early take of "All The Right Friends," a song that wasn't released in it's fully realized form until it's inclusion on the expanded import of Dead Letter Office in 1993, and later on a much more widely available best-of.  Then there are a patch of cuts that I seem to recognize from some really early live R.E.M. bootlegs, like "That Beat" and "Just a Touch," and "Skank."  As for "Cushy Tush," the boys were just having a frivolous stab at a potential commercial jingle. 

As die-hard fans of any given innovative artist go, they tend to want to hear alternate versions, regardless of how close the similarities might be.  Luckily, R.E.M. were apparent sticklers for demoing new material - and that's very much to our benefit.  This boot is also known as the Elliot Mazer Demos. Someone other than myself went to the trouble of prepping this collection for a torrent some years ago, and even provided liner notes that you'll find in the download folder, so big props to whomever went to the effort.  By the way, if the depiction of the album sleeve above seems a bit off, I futzed with some of the colors in Photoshop.  

01. That Beat
02. Walter's Theme
03. Cushy Tush
04. Burning Down
05. All The Right Friends
06. Windout
07. Femme Fatale
08. Burning Hell
09. The Lion Sleeps Tonight
10. Skank
11. So. Central Rain
12. Letter Never Sent
13. Little America
14. Camera
15. Second Guessing
16. Second Guessing Take 2
17. Harborcoat
18. Seven Chinese Brothers
19. Just A Touch
20. Pretty Persuasion
21. Pale Blue Eyes
22. Time After Time (Annelise)

MP3   or   FLAC

REM - Murmur outtakes, rough mixes (1982-83)

What I'm presenting tonight will either come as something of a revelation or a bit of rehash.  I say rehash because most of this collection of outtakes and alternate versions has been previously situated in a numerous bootlegs of varying audio quality, depth and sequencing.  I didn't assemble this collection, I'm merely dispatching it as I found it.

REM's Murmur was/is/always will be every bit the landmark it's touted as being.  A gale force surge of fresh air that sounds untouchable and out of place today as it did when it made it's bow in 1983.   The formula?  A tapestry of oblique prose, minor-key melodies and forward thinking, yet disarmingly warm charm.  Murmur's un-superfical notions must have presented itself as a stark anomaly for it's era.  Then again, I wasn't on board for it when it officially surfaced, out of sheer ignorance and inaccessibility.  I wasn't tuned into college radio back then, yet the record shaped and defined that humble left span of bandwidth, one which I would not only sacredly internalize, but eventually play an active roll in.  Fast forward ten years later and the mainstream not only embraced REM, but the format in which Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Bill Berry perhaps unwittingly staked their collective reputations in.  Numerous Grammys, platinum records, and arena tours would ensue, but that first REM record (not to mention the preceding Chronic Town ep and Hib Tone version of the "Radio Free Europe" single) would remain peerless...even by it's own architects.

The tracklist and source details are as follows.  Some tracks were omitted due to eventual official release.  The variances between the album and these alternate takes are sometimes minimal, and in instances significant.  Please note, "Laughing" (track 25) cuts out early.

01. Catapult (Stephen Hague Vers. 1)
02. Pilgrimage (Mitch Easter Vers. 1)

1983-02-16 (rough mixes w/Mitch Easter)
03. Pilgrimage (vers. 2)
04. Catapult
05. Perfect Circle
06. 9-9
07. West Of The Fields

Live In Studio
08. Band Talking
09. That Beat
10. Pretty Persuasion - omitted due to being officially released
11. All The Right Friends
12. Tighten Up - omitted due to being officially released
13. There She Goes Again
14. Moon River - omitted due to being officially released

Murmur basic & rough mixes
15. Talk About The Passion
16. West Of The Fields
17. Moral Kiosk
18. Sitting Still
19. Ages Of You
20. Perfect Circle
21. We Walk
22. 9-9
23. Shaking Through
24. Romance
25. Laughing (cuts out)

MP3  or  FLAC

Hege V - House of Tears (1987, MTM)

Hege V’s House of Tears was something of an anomaly, as far as Mitch Easter productions go that is. If it’s sweet, chiming guitars you hope to encounter, stick to your REM and Windbreakers disks (though Tears leans vaguely in the direction of Dreams So Real and the like). Unabashedly twangy, this long departed Chapel Hill’s, NV troupe bled “Americana” all the live long day, a la The BoDeans, Del Fuegos, and to a much lesser extent, the Georgia Satellites, but that’s a bit of a stretch. They weren’t shy to brandish the strut and swagger of a good old fashioned bar band either (check out my Classic Ruins post for the living, breathing definition thereof). Here’s some background info from their Myspace page:

HEGE V (pronounced: Hegg ee / Vee) the man & the Band pioneered 'Alt.Country / Americana music', introducing this yet un-named genre to Album Rock, College and Country Radio in 1987/88.They were the FIRST 'Alt.Country' artists to blaze the trail out of the Southeastern U.S. of A., later followed by the Backsliders, Whiskeytown and others.

Hege's "rural rock" took-off with the release of HOUSE OF TEARS, produced by Mitch Easter (of REM fame) at his legendary Drive-In Studio in Winston-Salem, NC. The band toured America in a beat-up '65 Cadillac hearse, the "Hearse Of Tears", (10,000 miles through 21 states in 27 days) playing the honky-tonks from Austin to Boston while Hege's self-directed music video, "Burial Ground Of The Broken Hearted", aired on MTV. HOUSE OF TEARS wound-up alongside U2, Bruce Springsteen and REM on many 'BEST OF 1987' lists, including THE BOSTON GLOBE's where Hege V was declared "A FUTURE SOUTHERN SUPERSTAR"!

How about that? Me thinks they’re taking a little too much credit, but anyway… This was ripped from crackly vinyl. CD copies exist of House of Tears, but at this stage in the game, they're pretty pricey.
 

01. House of Tears

02. Silent Stars

03. Matter of Fact

04. Burial Ground of the Broken Hearted

05. Gone, Gone, Gone

06. Hard Way (You'll Learn the)

07. My Decline

08. She Says

09. Grass Grows Greener

10. Ghost Town

11. She Ain't Comin' (Back no More)

Hear

The Squares - Enjoy Yourself...and others (1987, Boat)

Earlier this year I learned of a CD reissue of a demo cassette from a long-lost ‘80s indie rock troupe from the Midwest dubbed The Squares. My enlightenment came via a Not Lame Records stock update of all sources. This reissue was of the band’s debut, Number 1 Cassette, which you can read about and order here. I was so impressed with “Cassette” that I investigated their subsequent releases, including the band’s first proper full-length, Enjoy Yourself…and Others. I have cut and pasted some background info on the Squares below to whet your appetite, but it’s safe to say that if you’re a fan of The Feelies, Figgs, or anywhere in between, Enjoy Yourself is bound to satisfy. My apologies for all the snaps and pops.

Here’s a great find from the mid-80s! Fans of The Bongos, The Feelies, early Talking Heads, The Reievers, REM and dBs, check the Squares! Basically, right after REM knocked the rock-n-roll Establishment on the head with Murmur, the sQuares left the corn fields of Indiana and headed north. For some unknown reason (cheap rent and beer?) the boys landed in Milwaukee.“Although none of its members hailed from the Brew City, the Squares were one of Milwaukee's best bands in the 1980s, mixing high energy rock and roll with melodic pop in the style of the band's heroes Elvis Costello and REM. Although it only released one vinyl LP, "Enjoy Yourself (And Others)," one vinyl 45 and one CD, "Answer," the band was very prolific, recording a number of locally-released cassettes and more than a few unreleased tracks. In 1985 they spent most of their time writing songs and practicing. In the autumn of that year they spent a weekend in the studio and produced the critically acclaimed Number 1 Cassette.

01. Enjoy Yourself
02. Truth Is
03. Blue Notes
04. The Street
05. Chemical Bomb
06. World That Never Was
07. Existential Birthday
08. You Don’t Know Me
09. All Voices
10. Christmas
11. Well Protected
12. Ways to be Weird
13. Safety In Numbers

Hear

Rotary Ten - two tapes (1990-91)

Presumably taking their name from the R.E.M. song, it's virtually inevitable for me to draw some sort of parallel between this Cleveland area quartet and Michael Stipe's former meal-ticket.  Rotary Ten, in fact, didn't siphon as much as you might assume from said Athens, GA staple, so much as the bands whom R.E.M. informed - Miracle Legion, For Squirrels, and even more negligibly Toad the Wet Sprocket.  Submitted for your approval, two low-budget forays into the unlikely realm of organ-laced indie pop.  The proceedings on Long Walk and Coffee Songs emanate a discernible collegiate ardor, yet are uniformly approachable.  Rotate Ten wield some fairly ambitious melodies when they put their collective minds to it - "Glacier Run," "Rainfall" and "Insomnia" for starters.  Otherwise, I have precious little else to opine on here.  However, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that some of these songs are available on an R/T compilation from this period, Adopt a Highway, which is attainable via Bandcamp, alongside a collection of later material. Should you find anything stimulating on these cassettes, please consider supporting the band and send a few $$ their way!

Long Walk (1990)
01. Autumn Years
02. Save Me Mary
03. Glacier Run
04. Rainfall
05. The End of it's Over
06. Lover's Lane
07. Cowboys

Coffee Songs (1991)
01. Coffee Song
02. I Am in a Coma
03. Insomnia
04. Winona

Hear

The Wake - s/t ep (1985, Stonegarden)

If imitation truly is the sincerest form of flattery. R.E.M. should have been tickled pink, assuming they ever heard this obscuro L.A. bunch.  Just as the Beatles inspired untold hundreds if not thousands of wannabees to follow their legendary lead, Athens, GA's own fab four had more than a pronounced effect on impressionable collegiate dudes who might have otherwise still been mired in Ramones riffs were it not for incendiary missives like Murmur and Chronic Town.

Given a highly ubiquitous moniker, common last names, and their existence a solid decade before most of us had our hands on PCs, querying anything relevant regarding this L.A. based five-piece is an exercise in utter futility.  Yes, The Wake were undeniable acolytes of R.E.M., with a mouthpiece in Michael Horton who bore more than a faint resemblance to Michael Stipe.  Guitarist and songsmith Todd Larsen isn't the second coming of Peter Buck, but the aesthetic is present on the brisk and strident "Lion's Heart" and more so on the arpeggio laden "The Crystal Mile."  The record's comparative 'ballad,' "Forever Fair" wields a charm of it's own even if it's considerably meager to what Stipe & Co. could have done with it were it their own concoction.  Throughout The Wake, Larsen's prose is gently enlightened and pretension never bests him.  The Wake's formula was a simple yet effective one, something of an antithesis to all the Paisley Underground hoopla that was transpiring in the quintet's own backyard.
Despite the concluding "Flaming Crown" striking me as a bit of a slouch, this ep ranks as one of my best retro discoveries of the year. 

01. Lion's Heart
02. Forever Fair
03. The Thunder Man
04. The Crystal Mile
05. Flaming Crown

Hear

The Reactions - Cracked Marbles ep (1986, Homestead)

Cleveland's Cracked Marbles weren't the biggest contenders in the Homestead Records stable. Not by a longshot in fact, but that didn't stop them from creating this wholly admirable ep, exuding a fevered, guitar-centric palette falling somewhere between the Feelies and the Smithereens. The trio's bio humorously opines:

In an era where dogshit REM-alike tunes are flooding our turntables, the Reactions have already clocked in with two of the ‘80s coolest indie singles, in “Tomorrows Time Today” and “I Want You” (the later is included here).

The Reactions indeed were not REM sound-alikes, but not completely removed from those sonic environs either. Six very strong cuts with nary a dud in the bunch. Would love to know if there's anything else floating around by these fellas aside from this record and the aforementioned singles.
 

01. Cracked Marbles
02. I Want You
03. Flowers and Tears
04. Don’t You Care
05. Tell Me

06. Don’t Look Back

 

Hear

File under Windbreakers: Bobby Sutliff - What I Wanted Wasn't What I Found: Home demos (1986)

In a nutshell, when singer/songwriter Bobby Sutliff passed away after a battle with cancer on August 29, 2022, the world in general didn't know what they lost, because frankly, the world in general wasn't aware of his presence in the first place. Nonetheless, I know he's not a stranger to a lot of you reading this, but just as a backgrounder for the uninitiated, I'm going to source some details from a piece I originally penned for the reissue of Bobby's 1987 album Only Ghosts Remain.

Making his bow in the early '80s from the somewhat unlikely locale of Jackson, MS as half of the songwriting quotient of the Windbreakers, Bobby, partnered with Tim Lee, would be responsible for three memorable albums of collegiate guitar pop (Terminal (1985), Run (1986) and A Different Sort (1987), not to mention a handful of preceding EPs. The Windbreakers were something of a staple on left-of-the-dial radio outlets, and were a decent live draw, but they didn't come close to breaching the mainstream.  To fans of jangle-laden indie rock coming remotely from the same environs as R.E.M. (and maybe less so the Dream Syndicate) the band was a breath of fresh air. Almost immediately subsequent to several of the aforementioned albums, Bobby pursued solo endeavors resulting in five albums between 1987 and one posthumously released earlier this year, Bob Sings and Plays. 

As for the music concerning tonight's presentation, What I Wanted Wasn't What Found was not my creation, and in fact I have no source to credit the actual curator, so to whomever assembled this (possibly Bobby himself?), gracias. Despite it's purported recording date of 1986, none of the songs here wound up on his first proper album, Only Ghosts Remain, making the bulk of these compositions unique to this collection. Given these dozen and a half songs were likely committed to a four or eight track machine, sonically there's an organic, lo-fi bent to them. While certainly not buttoned-down, so to speak, Bobby doesn't engage in anything particularly sloppy either. The overarching vibe is akin to an early Mitch Easter of Don Dixon production, and while perhaps not as seminal as, R.E.M. or the dB's there's a plenty of charm and roughhewn warmth to revel in. Highlights include but aren't limited to jangly, engaging morsels like "Cold Cold Rain," "Call Your Name," not to mention the hazy psych tinctures (a la Rain Parade) employed on "Don't Come Here At Night."  Amongst a bevy of stimulating originals is a rewarding spin on the Flamin' Groovies masterstroke "I Can't Hide."  Though it may lack the continuity of a proper album, What I Wanted... is nonetheless a font of inspired, homegrown songcraft that will be a major find for both aficionados of the Windbreakers, and fans of guitarsy, indie pop emanating from the southeast circa the mid-80s. 

01. Our Little War

02. One Thing True

03. Quinn Street

04. Cold Cold Rain

05. I Thought You Knew

06. I Remember

07. I Can't Hide

08. What I Wanted Wasn't What I Found

09. Call Your Name

10. Wedding Bells

11. Too Much in Time

12. Our Little War

13. Being Chased by a Ghost

14. Don't Come Here at Night

15. I'm Moving On

16. I Want You, I Need You

17. Same Way Tomorrow

18. Small Town Romance

Hear

For Squirrels - Baypath Rd (2008 remaster) & 1993 demos

I've had For Squirrels on the brain ever since namedropping them in my Naomi's Hair entry a few days ago.  Before they pondered the significance of Kurt Cobain in "Mighty K.C." (from their 1995 Example album), and more notably before the tragic van accident from the same year that claimed the lives of singer Jack Vigliatura, bassist Bill White, and tour manager Tim Bender, the Gainesville, FL quartet issued a self released CD in 1993, Baypath Rd.  Limited to one thousand copies (or so I've heard) Baypath Rd. became an almost instant collectors item as word of For Squirrels misfortune got out, and in years to come would routinely fetch over $100 or so on Ebay.  I don't have an original copy, or even a cd-r of an original, but MP3s weren't hard to come by, and in fact are available from the For Squirrels fanpage linked above. The Squirrels aforementioned sophomore disk, Example, sounded like a perfect fusion of Nirvana-esque tantrums amidst the esoteric folk/pop tenor of Fables/Pageant-era REM.  On the other hand, the preceding Baypath Rd plays out almost as if Nevermind failed to see the light of day altogether.  The REM influence on Baypath is unmistakably pervasive, and for that matter signals where Michael Stipe & Co. would have gone were it not for all the "innovations" they dabbled in during the '90s.  Vigliatura bears a cathartic, yearning timbre that would be deemed "emo" in todays marketplace, but Michael Tooke's ringing chords countered the Squirrel's angst factor in ways their contemporaries didn't contemplate attempting,  "Go On Up" and "Flagboy" were terse, driving rockers, while on the opposite side of the coin, Baypath offered more than it's fair share of reflective ballads in the form of "Kill the Birds" and "Left Behind," among a few others.  To this set of ears the album's crescendo is struck on "Nathaniel's Song" a brisk, strummy pop jewel buttressed on a backbone of sublime multi-tracked harmonies.  A highly endearing set of songs

As mentioned, copies of Baypath Rd are long gone, but one particularly enthusiastic For Squirrels supporter with some studio know-how took it upon himself in 2008 to "remaster" the whole enchalada, giving it a louder mix and boasting the album's sonic attributes in general.  The original Rapidshare link where I obtained this from has expired, so I created my own and have provided it below, but do yourself a favor and view this Live Journal page for more details.  As an additional download, I'm also sharing six demos the band tracked in 1993, including a handful of songs that didn't make the cut for Baypath.  There's also a bevy of F/S live shows, more demos, and evan a radio appearance up for grabs over at Forsquirrels.net.

Baypath Rd.

01. Flagboy

02. Kaberet

03. Go On Up

04. Kill the Birds

05. RO

06. Nathaniel's Song

07. Unicycle

08. Plymouth

09. Left Behind

10. 3

1993 demos

01. Go On Up

02. Flagboy

03. Cliche Song

04. Death of a Salesman

05. Pre-Skool Daze

06. The Incan

Baypath Rd.: Hear

1993 demos: Hear

Airlines - s/t (1994, Quixotic)

This is a request and a follow-up to the Airlines tape I put up last month.  Unlike today, the nineties never struck me as an era of legit post-punk revivalism (unless you want to count a few random Elastica singles), but if such a movement had been afoot, I'm sure these guys could have more than held their own.  Owing a debt to the Feelies just as much as Mission of Burma, Airlines wrapped dextrous, sometimes challenging guitar lines in a fuzzy sling of warm reverb, achieving nearly sublime results on "Remote Color," "Weekend," and "Talking About Talking."  In fact, nothing on Airlines is a let down, but if you're not well versed with the likes of Television, Versus and the aforementioned, this album could pose itself as a bit of a grower.  This is what Big Takeover magazine had to say about it:

Add Airlines to the list of promising New York bands (at last there is a small crop). Theirs is a sprightly minimalist pop, the occasional one-chord drone uplifted by loping bass, bopping snare hits, and caustic guitar lines that encircle that steady bass. The playing is crisp-former KRAUT producer RYK OAKLEY gives them a tight mix-and simple but effective ideas run all over spaces this economical quintet leaves. Like the late `70s Wire, to whom they might be compared (as well as all the U.S. West Coast pop minimalists they inspired, such as the Urinals/100 Flowers, Sleepers, Flyboys, later Middle Class), nothing is chunky, yet the sound has depth, and the post R.E.M./Libertines plucked guitars never fail to invigorate and take unexpected paths... Investigate.

01. Empathy Box

02. Steady Goes

03. Still Life

04. Remote Color

05. Deja Vu

06. Talking About Talking

07. Interval

08. No. 2

09. Weekend

10. 10,000 Days

11. Ad Infinitum 

12. Manitoba 

Hear

Three killer EPs: This "Blue Piano," Holiday, and Downy Mildew

As mentioned a few nights ago I'm forgoing my usual Chanukah singles cluster (again), but I've got the next best thing, a collection of some of the better EPs that made it to my turntable in 2021.  These three doses of collegiate indie rock that are at minimum very good, and at max are off the charts altogether. I buy roughly 20-30 or these short format 12"s every year it seems, and even if the continuing pandemic has slowed me down a tad I haven't run out of gas yet, so let's begin, starting with...

...Montreal's startlingly great This "Blue Piano" who bled cyan hues of the best English exports of their era including but not limited to early Aztec Camera, Orange Juice and to a lesser degree Prefab Sprout. You can draw your own comparisons, but TBP had the UK indie aesthetic down pat and didn't sound contrived or forced in the slightest, forecasting the C86 gold rush just as effectively as the aforementioned acts that actually resided in Britain. The John the Baptist ep's two bookends "I Before E" and "Euphoria," delight and dazzle as much as any era Postcard Records or Rough Trade release. Mighty lofty words, I know, but don't take my word for it. Hear for yourself, and while you're at it check out the band's Soundcloud space for even more.  

This "Blue Piano" - The John the Baptist ep (1984, Waste Island)  MP3 or FLAC
01. I Before E
02. Ground's Gone
03. Summertime
04. Euphoria

Equally as superlative, we have D.C.'s Holiday. No, this isn't the same Holiday that made waves in the '90s, rather the co-ed quartet this blurb concerns featured Lynda Hopper, alum of noted Georgia wunderkinds Oh-OK. Last year I discussed at length the virtues of the then newly released Strum & Thrum compilation on Captured Tracks, and mentioned I had familiarity with the bulk of that double-albums prestigious roster.  There were however a handful of exceptions that even I hadn't been tipped off to yet, with Holiday being one of them. More advanced and virtually doubly rewarding as Oh-OK, Hopper and Co. were groomed on REM's early catalog, and somehow managed to shoehorn even more of an accessible pop angle into the five songs populating hello.  I never tire of those bright, clangy chords, not to mention a little reverb.  This very well could have been a Mitch Easter production, but the band took the reigns themselves for their stunning and regrettably lone record. 

Holiday - hello ep (1987, Nightshade)  MP3 or FLAC
01. John Buffalo
02. At the Movies
03. Change
04. Ingrid
05. Problem to Problem 

Of the three bands featured tonight, Downy Mildew actually boasted something of a pedigree, releasing a succession of albums in the 80s-90s that may not have made strides on the Billboard album charts, but to their credit were a staple of college radio playlists during their run. While virtually every piece of music they attached their namesake to was at minimum listenable the early stuff did it for me, and it didn't get much earlier than this self-titled 1986 platter. Generally speaking, with four songs eps there isn't much room for slack, yet on the second tune in, "The Drive" DM took their sweet time (seven minutes to be precise) and came up with something a bit, um, repetitive and frankly, boring.  This record's more convincing salvos, "Experience in the Far Southwest" and "Purple Parlor" are concise by comparison, and are downright rewarding in their jangly acumen and bright, textured execution. All four cuts comprising Downy Mildew were appended to the CD addition of the band's 1987 Broomtree album, but I think my vinyl rip of this one offers a slightly richer sonic experience.  

Downy Mildew ep (1986, Texas Hotel) MP3 or FLAC
01. Experience in the Far Southwest
02. The Drive
03. Purple Parlor
04. Bad Dream

Seething Grey - Big Table demo (1992)

I obtained this lil' guy in a big 'ol lot of demo tapes a couple years back.  Until then I was wholly unacquainted with this Highland Park, NJ trio, but nearly a quarter century after the fact Seething Grey have one more believer in their corner.  Right off the bat, mouthpiece Peter Horvath reminds me of a less raspy Peter Searcy, and furthermore, Big Table's initial three tunes suggest a punchier REM or Gin Blossoms.  The going gets more aggressive  on "Make It Go" which wouldn't sound a bit out of place on Dinosaur Jr's splendid Green Mind.  Capping things off, "All in Your Mind" is a gratifying blast of full fledged punk pop.  It turns out Seething Grey have a couple of CDs to their credit, which are available on CD Baby, iTunes and the like.  

01. Cold
02. Stop to Start
03. Bench
04. Make it Go
05. Desist
06. All in Your Mind

Hear

Singles Going Single # 98 - Blue TV 7" (1985, Twilight)

I picked this beaut of 45 up a couple years ago at Wuxtry Records in Decatur, GA when I was visiting the Atlanta area (keeping my fingers crossed that they're still in business). Actually, half of it ("Back in Time") has already been made available on Little Hits blog, amidst tracks by a half dozen other like-minded combos that you can check out here. At any rate, I enjoyed it enough to include it in it's entirety in the nadir of my Singles Going Single series. As specified in the Little Hits post, Atlanta's Blue TV, like dozens of bands of the era, fell under the pervasive influence of R.E.M's groundbreaking albums, like Murmur and Reckoning.

The pair of songs enshrined on this 45 could arguably have come to fruition without the presence of Athens, GA's fab-four, given the rapid and robust trajectory of post-punk music at the time, but I'm really not here to make a point. "Back in Time" is the more approachable of the two, with it's flip, "Train Wrecks" staking out a darker, more frenetic path. But enough of me, let the music do the talking.

 

A. Back in Time

B. Train Wrecks

 

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The Paper Train - Run to the Alley (1987, SLIDD)

In the canon of groundbreaking '80s indie/alt-rock, sadly, you are not likely to find this particular record, but for what it's worth it's still pretty decent. Hailing from the outskirts of Rochester, NY The Paper Train were a coed quartet whose earnest aplomb thankfully didn't reek of the more garish and hair-sprayed trappings of their era. Blending just enough modernity to a predominantly basic guitars/bass/drums setup. PT's employment of keyboards was merely a subtext, not the emphasis. The band succeeds mightily on Run to the Alley's mid-tempo numbers, "Call On Me," "Catcher in the Rye," and "Wasn't Made to be Afraid." the latter of which exudes some vague R.E.M.-isms to nice effect. The tense "Lyndon LaRouche" is a sometimes scathing character study (not to mention an offbeat song topic), but nonetheless, the Paper Train pull off something effective. From what little I've been able to glean this was the band's first and final offering. 

01. Call On Me
02. The Phoenix Sings
03. Wasn't Made to Be Afraid
04. Through the Wire
05. Catcher in the Rye
06. Lyndon LaRouche
07. Endless
08. The Cabin
09. Time After Time
10. Run to the Alley

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Public Bulletin - Broke From the Sound ep (1986, Carpenter Shop)

Nada background info on this one. What can I say, I bought it in admiration for the sleeve. The back cover divulges little liner info, except for denoting Broke From the Sound, was recorded in Austin, TX, and the band appeared to be based in San Marcos, TX, not far from the state capitol. Public Bulletin, who boasted a six-man roster, very likely may have been contemporaries to such Austin-situated, period acts as The Reivers, True Believers, and The Texas Instruments. What you get is four tracks of modern indie-rock fare, negligibly reminiscent of REM. The harmonica's that lead off "Victim," and "Green" are about as "Western" as the vibe gets. My pick here is "Killing Us," enhanced by washes of keyboards and poignantly ringing guitars. Enjoy.

01. Victim
02. Green
03. Killing Us
04. May

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Velvet Elvis - What in the World...and more (1998/recorded 1985-89)

Lexington, KY's Velvet Elvis were one of a bazillion college-radio bands in the '80s to record for local record labels despite brandishing the quality befitting of a national, or for that matter international audience. Think "indie," "New South," dB's, Let's Active (who's Mitch Easter contributes on a track here), and even a little Tom Petty-esque jangle.

In actuality, Velvet Elvis did have a shot on the national stage, via a self-titled album in 1988 on Enigma Records, which did precious little to boost their notoriety. This assumedly very limited cd-r compilation rounds up their superb 1985 ep, Fun & Trouble, and the What in the World album that followed a year later, as well as eight bonus cuts tracked between 1987-89, some produced by Mr. Easter. Both of the main recordings were released on Hit-a-Note-Records, and the CD was put out in conjunction with Better Days Records. A review can be read here.

Here's what Allmusic has to say: 

Although part of the fertile indie rock scene centered around Lexington, KY, during the late '80s, Velvet Elvis focused more on country- and pop-oriented rock than their experimentalist contemporaries, recording an EP and one album for the Hit a Note label before signing a contract with Enigma in 1987. The quartet began recording with producer Mitch Easter (R.E.M., Let's Active) and released a self-titled album in 1988. 

 

What in the World

01. Ambition

02. What in the World

03. Too Much of Anything

04. Back Where I Belong

05. Making Plans (With a Married Man)

06. Back It Up

07. All the Girls in Town

08. Nowhere

09. Something Happened Today

10. Out of My Hands

 

Fun & Trouble ep

11. Still Another Reason

12. Second Best

13. Patron of the Arts

 

etc...

14. If You Say It's So

15. Hard to Hold

16. Guilty

17. Suitcase Song

18. Whatever's On Our Minds

19. Little Town Jerk

20. Which Way Now

21. Try!

 

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The Need - Obviously Four Belivers (1985, MCF)

I can't tell you much about The Need, but they did evolve into a more visible entity, Divine Weeks later in the '80s.  Functioning on the fringes of L.A.'s Paisley Underground scene, Divine Weeks got noticed when Steve Wynn of the Dream Syndicate approached them after a 1986 gig.

About a year later the Weeks issued their debut, Through and Through on Restless, an album I coincidentally featured a few years back.  I recall it having a twangy zest to it, but nothing I was fanatical about.  I did mention however that the springboard for Divine Weeks was a precursor band, specifically the one I'm sharing tonight.  I swear it's a coincidence, but remember the Children of Nuggets box I put up the other night?  By and large, The Need would have been a shoo-in for it.  Obviously Four Believers commences with "Stranger," a biting, two-minute salvo firmly in the garage rawk mold, with sass for miles.  "When the Winter Comes" on the flipside gloriously follows suit.  Then there are the quartet's charming flirtations with strummy psych-pop - "Last Time I Saw Her" and "Reach You," and on the other side of the spectrum, a fantastically cathartic slammer in the guise of "I Will."  To my ears, the album's apex is an anomaly of sorts, "Clandestine Shield," rife with jangly arpeggios approaching the oblique flavor of those early REM records that I find so irresistible.

Obviously Four Believers isn't a record of straight-up, wall-to-wall bangers, nor does it dangle on the cutting edge of anything in particular - but it's more inspired moments are something to revel in. As satisfying and competent as the Divine Weeks would later come to be, they never touched the earnestness of this record.  BTW, the Weeks recently dropped a new album, We're All We Have.

01. Stranger
02. (Time) For the Breakout
03. Last Time I Saw Her
04. Like the City
05. Reach You
06. Tell Me
07. Clandestine Shield
08. When the Winter Comes
09. House of Cards
10. I Will
11. Wishing Well

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The Colours - Details at Thirteen ep (1984, Orange George)

This southern Cali quartet do the jangle and strum thing with homespun aplomb and more than enough charm to get by, purloining a thing or two from REM - and they wouldn't sound entirely out of place on a bill with one of their other local contemporaries, The Three O'Clock.  Other than that, I can't offer much in the way of background info on the Colours, who may have only issued this one slice of vinyl.  Modest, but mightily effective stuff here.  A few notches shy of a masterpiece, Details at Thirteen is at the very least well above average.  Funny they went with a black and white sleeve, contrary to their moniker. 

01. Faces in the Window
02. Somewhere in Between
03. untitled
04. Long Distance
05. What You Mean
06. Turn Around

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Robert Pollard hits the half-century mark today...

...or some shit like that, at least that's what they tell me anyway. I have invested well over $1000, if not closer to two-grand in Bob's various enterprises. And what do I get in return? Not a single thank you, not even so much as goddamn handshake. I have gotten some pretty cool tunes out of the deal though, and continue to do so, just on a less frequent basis. In 2003 a list of about two-thousand proposed Guided By Voices song titles/one-off band names, authored by yours truly made it into Bob's scaly mitts, but has he availed himself to utilize so much as one? Hardly. Such proposed titles as "Third Spasm Nosebleed," "Canned Alaska," and "Drool Floodplain," ostensibly failed to make it past our man's stringent quality control. His loss if you ask me.

Long may Robert Pollard run, for even when he puts out shit, it's his shit and we all know it. Most of us could do far worse. Bob was supposedly quoted as saying, "I could write five songs on the can, and three of them would be good." These days, if it's one gem for every five clunkers so be it. Here's to a guy who can kick start his career into high-gear at 36 years of age. There's a few more hopeful years for me yet on that timetable, and it gives me quiet (and cold) comfort.

For this upload, I've got a GBV smorgasbord for you true believers out there. To Trigger a Synapse was procured song-by-song (all 43 of them) on classic-era Napster. Slapped together at various bit-rates by god knows who, it's merely a solid lineup of GBV demos, acoustic cuts, Peel session tracks, covers, and the occasional live offering. Some songs cut off, but no great loss to most of you, as a few of these have made it onto GBV box sets and whatnot. Dig in, and wish the Fading Captain a happy 50th. Hats off you fantastic bastard.

To Trigger a Synapse

01 - Becoming Unglued

02 - Shit Midas

03 - Taco, Buffalo, Bird Dog & Jesus

04 - The Goldheart Festering Moon Directory (acoustic)

05 - Jason Lowenstein's a Wanker

06 - The Day is Done

07 - Benders Bluffing Muscles

08 - Delayed Reaction Brats

09 - Stumbling Blocks to Stepping Stones

10 - Even Break

11 - No One Can Take You Away

12 - Talk to me

13 - Why Did You Land (slow)

14 - Troopers in the Town

15 - Whiskey on Your Breath

16 - Trap Soul Door (live)

17 - Navy (Per Ubu cover)

18 - Quality of Armor (demo)

19 - All Hail the Weed King (acoustic demo)

20 - Run

21 - Office of Hearts (demo - cut off)

22 - Special Astrology for the Warlock Tour

23 - The Goldheart Festering Moon Directory (electric)

24 - Smothered in Hugs (Cheap Trick version)

25 - Deathtrot & Warlock Riding a Rooster (rock version)

26 - Some Drilling Implied (quiet version)

27 - Did I See That (live improv.)

28 - Hardcore UFOs (different lead part)

29 - Greenface (longer version)

30 - Lariat Man (demo)

31 - Cruise (cleaner mix)

32 - Wondering Boy Poet (Live)

33 - My Valuable Hunting Knife (faster rock version)

34 - Sitting Still (REM cover, live - incomplete)

35 - Tomorrow Never Knows

36 - Party (Peel Session - incomplete)

37 - Striped White Jets (Peel Session)

38 - Atom Eyes (Peel Session)

39 - Cut-Out Witch (Peel Session)

40 - Man Called Aerodynamics (Peel Session)

41 - Bright Paper Werewolves (Peel Session)

42 - Lord of Overstock (Peel Session)

43 - Wondering Boy Poet (Peel Session)

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