takethepills
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Marcadores:
c86,
post punk
Genre: C86 / Post-Punk Based In...: UK Label: Ron Johnson Year: 1986 My Rate:10/10
Tracklisting:
1. Smelt Like a Pedestrian 2. O'Grady's Dream 3. Car Skidding 4. Red Snake 5. Dipping Bird 6. Sharpened Sticks 7. The Loudhailer Song 8. Legs Be Sturdy 9. 4.49 Stool 10. Hard Day's Love
1. Shame On You 2. Just To Be Seen 3. If I Said 4. It's All Up To You 5. Just May Be The One 6. When It Feels Good 7. If I Said 8. Mary's Got To Go 9. The Other Night 10. Think Of Me 11. Love Me Tender 12. Shame On You 13. If I Said
Genre: Indiepop / Guitar Pop Based In...: US Label: Shelflife Year: 1998 My Rate:10/10 MySpace
Allmusic San Francisco's Skypark created some elegant pop songs before their
dissolution in the late '90s. This six-song CD is evidence of that. The
five-piece band featured beautiful harmonies between Brent Kitahama and Jen Cohen.
The first track, "Bicycle Boy," is immediate evidence of the band's
musical camaraderie. The title track is classic Skypark, featuring a
dreamy instrumental backdrop, intricate guitar, and plenty of "oooh"s
and "ahhh"s on vocals. Song number four, "Morse Code," was a hint of
things to come with Kitahama's next band, the Fairways.
The song is a bright and simple one, complete with handclaps and an
overriding sense of cheerfulness. "She Is Me" features amiable lead
vocals by Cohen. The final track, "Countryside," features a radiant horn solo performed by Dwayne Palasek of the Autocollants and Cartwheel.
Some of the tacks were recorded at California's Blackeyed Pig studio,
while others were home-recorded. All of the songs were recorded between
1996 and 1997. The CD was released by Shelflife Records in 1998. Half
of the band went on to recreate Western jangly indie pop as members of the Fairways. [by Stephen Cramer]
Genre: Indiepop / Indie Rock Based In...: US Label: Minty Fresh Year: 2004 My Rate:8/10
Allmusic Viva Voce is the husband-and-wife duo of Anita and Kevin Robinson. They are purveyors of a pleasant and sweet indie rock sound located somewhere on the harder side of Papas Fritas and the less experimental side of Elephant 6. Released in 2004, The Heat Can Melt Your Brain
is their third album and it is their best so far. The songs are lively
and memorable. "Alive With Pleasure" kicks things off with a peppy
jangle, Anita's
sweet vocals meshing nicely with the crunchy guitar lines. But apart
from "Business Casual," a spooky blend of '80s post-punk and '90s
neo-psych, and "High Highs," a less than successful though admirable
foray into trip-hop soul, Viva Voce never stray too far from the sound
of the opening track. Still, that's OK because they do it well. The duo
has a fine grasp of dynamics and layers the sound with all sorts of
sonic candy. Most of all, they have some killer songs. "The Lucky Ones"
is like the best song the Blake Babies
never recorded, "Daylight" and "Lesson No. 1" have great hooks,
"Mixtape = Love" is lyrically cute and musically beautiful. There are
no weak tracks apart from the failed experiment of "High Highs," and
while you may not find yourself listening to the record every day, when
you pull it out a month from now, it will still sound good. There is
still a place for solid, sweet, and imaginative indie rock like The Heat Can Melt Your Brain in the mid-2000s, and Viva Voce are right smack in the middle of the top tier. [by Tim Sendra]
Genre: Indiepop / Jangle Pop Based In...: UK Label: Positive Records Year: 1991 My Rate:10/10
Essa banda é dica do maravilhoso blog Jangle Pop Boutique, que postou há alguns meses atrás a música "Roundabout". Eu não conhecia o The Headmen, fui atrás de outras músicas e achei este 12" que foi lançado em 91 pela Positive Records. É fantástico, você tem que conhecer. "Reach The Sky" e "You Make Me Smile" são deliciosas pop songs, imbatíveis!
1. Here Comes That Feeling - Jazzateers
2. Out - The Kingfishers
3. Mistakes of Human Nature - Gazelle
4. Adriano Celentano - Ralley
5. I'm a Swinger - The Marina Swingers
6. I Know You Well - Shack
7. Abandon Ship - April Showers
8. Everybody Knows It's a Dream - The Pearlfishers
9. Heads Watch - Josef K
10. Nutmunch - Mindstore
11. Fisherman and His Soul, The - Sugartown
12. How Much I Really Loved You - June & The Exit Wounds
13. Young, White & Stupid (Under Teenage Skies) - Kim Fowley
14. Smiling Sweetly - Malcolm Ross
15. Listen - Tahiti 80
16. Horizon - Ashby
17. Sei Bereit - Kosinar & Schmiechen
18. Satellite - The Aluminum Group
19. Yeah Yeah Yeah - Skinner
DISC 2:
1. Opium - Peter Thomas
2. Amelia Star - The Secret Goldfish
3. Hook, The - The Free Design
4. Hohe Kante - Der Plan
5. Wow (Love Theme From Marina) - Marina Unlimited Orchestra
6. Seventies Night - Edwyn Collins
7. Long Live You - Adventures In Stereo
8. Lonely Sea - Eric Matthews
9. Event to Come - Article 58
10. Thank You - The Pale Fountains
11. Wunderbares Madchen - Camping
12. Faraway Station - James Kirk
13. Mailman - The Primary 5
14. I Get It - Green Peppers
15. Keep It On - Eight Miles High
16. Melanie - Cowboy Mouth
17. Cornelia - Die Zimmermanner
18. Your Smile Has Stopped the Hands of Time - Roddy Frame
19. Joshua Tree Suite (Part 1) - Van Dyke Parks
Genre: Jangle Pop / Indiepop Based In...: UK Label:Deadbug Records Year: 1986 My Rate:10/10
Clássico e perfeito 7" desse grupo britânico de jangle pop. Eles lançaram apenas três singles pela Deadbug Records entre 86 e 87. O Ed, no blog da Shelflife, fala que o som do Friendly Fires é uma mescla de New Order e The Close Lobsters. É por aí mesmo!!! Não perca!
Genre: Jangle Pop / Post-Punk / Indiepop Based In...: UK Label: Heavenly Year: 1991 My Rate:9/10 MySpace
Tracklisting:
1. Lost in The Well
2. Wildwood
3. Long Time coming
4. Spitchwick
5. Big Black Sky
6. Bury My Time
7. Hanging Tree
8. Too Many Mansions
9. Slow Wheel's Turn
10. Dying On The Vine
11. The Long Road Out of Town
12. Dead Man's Look
Genre: New Wave / Post-Punk / Jangle Pop Based In...: UK Label: Fire Records Year: 1985 My Rate:9/10 MySpace Website
1000 Mexicans were one of the most innovative and creative independent bands of the 1980s, combining quality pop songwriting and rhythmic and harmonic richness with their unique touches of experimentalism and eccentricity. Described by one journalist as "the musical equivalent of the 70s Dutch team with their total football", the trio of Julian Griffin, Michael Harding and Andrew Hobday exchanged vocal and instrumental duties at the drop of a sombrero, "mixing melody and mayhem in equal measure." Their first single The Art of Love provoked Melody Maker reviewer Adam Sweeting to enthuse "The way things are going it won't be long before 1000 Mexicans are the best band in the world." They went on to release 4 more singles including the classic The Last Pop Song and Under Construction, a hit in Spain and Portugal, as well as the LP Dance like Ammunition. Despite success in Europe and consistent critical acclaim, they never found favour with the UK record industry who appeared confused by their singular brand of humour and sometimes anarchic live shows. The 'hi-flying Burrito Brothers' eventually found themselves in a tangle of bad management and publishing agreements that strangled their creative momentum and finally their will to live. [From 1000mexicans.co.uk]
Genre: Indie Rock / Indiepop / Jangle Pop Based In...: US Label: Mammoth Year: 1990 My Rate:10/10 Myspace
Allmusic
Sunburn is not just the Blake Babies' best album, it's in many
ways the last great college rock album, the album that's the pinnacle
of the US indie guitar scene of the late '80s and the album that
exemplifies what "alternative" meant in those pre-Nevermind days when the term was actually understood to mean something. Juliana Hatfield, John Strohm, and Freda Love (puckishly billed here as Freda Boner)
create a literate, emotionally direct brand of catchy, melodic pop
based on the post-punk jangle pop of the '80s, but with a slightly
tougher edge, particularly in Strohm's guitar sound. For the first time, Strohm
contributes two solo writing credits on which he sings lead, the
disturbing "Girl In A Box" and the anthemic "Train," which somehow
manages to quote both "Mystery Train" and "I Melt With You." However, Sunburn is primarily the album on which Juliana Hatfield's
songwriting prowess first flourishes, and it's possibly her finest
collection of songs. Kicking off with the one-two punch of the tart
kiss-off "I'm Not Your Mother" and the aching "Out There," the finest
song of the Blake Babies' career, the album continues through 10 more
punchy guitar pop songs with lyrics filled with Hatfield's
trademark combination of innocence, brashness, wit and moments of
extreme self-doubt. "I'll Take Anything" and "Kiss and Make Up" are
early examples of the kind of disarming emotional vulnerability further
explored on the more controversial songs of Hatfield's early solo career.
"Watch Me Now, I'm Calling," though, has to be the most emotionally masochistic song of Hatfield's
entire career, expressing romantic dependency in disturbingly graphic
images of physical self-mutilation, which become all the more powerful
and discomfiting given Hatfield's
perfectly matter-of-fact delivery. It's an unpleasant song, but an
oddly fascinating one with the same sort of compellingly real tone as
some of Kristin Hersh's early Throwing Muses
songs. On a more upbeat note, "Look Away" has a spirited chorus and
wittily-phrased lyrics, and "Star" seems in retrospect to foreshadow Hatfield's ambivalent response to her media darling image circa 1994. Gary Smith's production keeps things simple without sounding like the songs are unfinished or under-arranged, and Strohm, Hatfield and Love
have the casually impressive interplay of a band who know they're
making the best record of their career. Elements outside of their
control would change the musical landscape seemingly overnight within a
year of Sunburn's release; what could they do except break up, which they did, amicably, in early 1991. [by Stewart Mason]
