| February
19, 1998
Got some more sounds for you, these from
the inimitable Pell Mell: Pell Mell (from Star
City)
February 13, 1998
hey all, couple things: for those of you
in the Boston area, Come will appear live on WBCN, 104.1 FM
this Sunday, February 15, 10pm. Not sure what all the set
will consist of but it’s a safe bet they’ll do songs
from their new record, Gently
Down the Stream. (see below for a few sound clips)....
also of note: fellow Bostonians and former Matador recording
artists The Flying Nuns have a new EP on the Spinning
Records label. The EP has five new originals, plus a cover
of Joy Division’s "Disorder."
This doesn’t have anything to do
with Matador, but get this: "Men’s magazines today are
afraid to get more than their toes in the water....It’s
all bland rehashing of press release-controlled drivel." So
sayeth Bob Guiccone Jr., who should know. Apparently, he’s
launching a new magazine called Gear with the dough
he got for selling Spin (which, btw, he founded)...
According to Variety, "Gear is aiming for the 21- to
34-year-old male demo and will focus on men’s fashion
and sex lives, while running lengthy investigative pieces."
"Pop culture-meets-muckraking"? Please.
It takes a real wizard of bland, rehashed drivel to make investigative
journalism an accessory and call that daring.
Anyone remember Guccione saying that
the reason he was dumping Spin was because he was out-of-touch
with what young men want? (to say nothing of interns) He didn’t
share their taste in music.... of course, apparently, now,
neither does Spin, a formerly useless music magazine,
the useless music part of which I’m actually starting
to miss. ah, industry....
Sounds:
Come (from Gently
Down the Stream)
Solex (from Solex
vs. the Hitmeister)
Tommy Keene (from Isolation
Party)
Liquor Giants (from Every
Other Day at a Time)
Cornelius - (from Fantasma)
February 5, 1998
Nice new look, huh? It was between Maki
and Gary Young and Maki won the coin flip. Many apologies
to those of you who have been waiting so long for this update
but we wanted to wait until there was something good to talk
about.
We’ve really been shaken up by the
revelations coming from Washington...really questions your
faith in leaders, etc. And to think some of us were considering
voting for the first time (cancel that, some of us are now
considering running for public office).
Some thrilling new signings to report,
the first of which being Japanese pop mastermind CORNELIUS.
His U.S./European debut, Fantasma will be released
on March 24. For background purposes, the biography prepared
by Mr. Amory will be online shortly. For now, an appreviated
version is on our upcoming
releases page. I could add something like "prepare to
be blown away," but I don’t know how you prepare yourself
for that (not without running for office first).
 The 2nd signing
we are honored to introduce is SOLEX, the first Matador
artist to be discovered via an unsolicited demo tape since
Liz Phair. (We promise to start listening to demos again in
5 years). The debut album Solex Vs. The Hitmeister
coming out on March 24. Solex (also the name of a motor scooter)
is the previously unknown Dutch sampling/ keyboard wizard
Elisabeth Esselink. Esselink’s haunting vocals combined
with a varied array of found sounds (some of ’em found
in the 2nd hand record shop she runs) recall few other experimental/pop
crossovers. You could try playing Cabaret Voltaire, Portishead,
Cibo Matto and Suicide simultaneously on 4 different CD players
but a) it wouldn’t sound very good and b) Wayne Coyne
might think you were making fun of him. And it wouldn’t
be necessary -- Solex Vs. The Hitmeister is as musically
inventive as any of the above, yet showcases a vocal presence
(and a keen sense of humor) you’ll not find anywhere
else. Solex will be making its U.S. debut as part of the Matador
showcase at South By Southwest on March 20 (Electric Lounge,
Austin, TX) with additional North American appearances to
follow.
We’ll have 2 nights of live entertainment
at SXSW this year...Tommy Keene and the Liquor Giants at Liberty
Lunch (along with the Apples In Stereo and quite possibly
an ex- Matador band who won’t have to travel far). On
Friday the 20th, Cornelius, Solex, Come and Bardo Pond will
be at the Electric Lounge, along with an additional new signing
we’re not allowed to talk about yet (it isn’t Belle
& Sebastian so calm down, please). We’re still working
on some scheme in which we can peddle advance tickets via
this site (no promises) and if we’re able to pull it
off, we’ll let you know.
Recently completed recordings: SPORTSGUITAR - Happy
Already, awesome 3rd album from our Swiss pals (Oliver’s
ears have healed, btw) with a rumored deluxe package (our
finance dept. prays otherwise) coming in April. CAT POWER
- TBA (a very common title around here), just finished
at Sing Sing Studios in Australia, w/ special guests Mick
Turner and Jim White of the Dirty Three. Chan just completed
an Australian tour and by the time we see her next, we’ll
have forgotten what she looks like.  Probably
September for this album and for all you nosy types who want
to know why it takes that long, it’s cause I have to
personally manufacture each CD at home, one at a time (that’s
how we ended up with Michael Flatley on the "What’s Up
Matador" video).
Since you won’t stop asking, LIZ
PHAIR continues to work on her 3rd album. This past January
saw her reunited with longtime producer/drummer Brad Wood...currently,
the album is being mixed and will probably included stuff
recorded with Brad, stuff produced by Liz herself, along with
some songs from the sessions with Scott Litt. June looks pretty
solid for this long-awaited album, and by the time I bash
out another update we should have some live shows to announce.
YO LA TENGO are about to leave for live dates in Australia,
New Zealand and Japan. I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One
is about to be released in Japan via our friends at Bandai.
Back home, there’s a new Yo La EP, a CDEP of "Little
Honda" plus 7 non-LP tracks (only 5 of ’em listed), including
Kinks, Sandy Denny and Urinals covers, in your favorite shop
March 24.
FUCK are about to embark on another
U.S. tour, with a brief interruption at Easley Studios in
Memphis, TN to start work on their 4th album. They’ll
have a new split 7" with German friends Tocotronic on sale
at their gigs.
We’ve already warned you about the new LIQUOR GIANTS
album, Every Other Day At A Time (February 24), and
some of you might’ve been lucky enough to get an advance
CD with a whole bunch of unlisted cover tunes at the end....well,
those covers (previously titled Lawsuit Waiting To Happen
around these parts) will be coming out as a full-length CD,
Something Special For The Kids on April 7th, via Blood
Red Records (2134 N 25th, Portland, OR 97213). The selection
looks like this: "Fire Brigade" (The Move), "Things I’d
Like To Say" (New Colony Six), "Tally Man" (Jeff Beck), "Stay
Awhile" (Dusty Springfield), "Led Along" (Del Shannon), "I
Don’t Know Why" (The Sons Of Thunder), "Toast And Marmalade"
(Tin Tin), "Days Of Broken Arrows" (The Idle Race), "Don’t
Ever Leave Me" (Connie Francis), "Boys Keep Swinging" (David
Bowie), "What’s New Pussycat" (Tom Jones), "Got To Get
Ahold Of Myself" (The Zombies), "Love In The City" (The Turtles),
"Beatles Please Come Back" (Gigi Parker and the Lonelies).
If you are wondering why this CD isn’t on Matador, that’s
because we have a very strict policy of NO DAVID BOWIE covers
under any circumstances. Absolute synchronisity, with the
Blues Explosion’s version of "Right Place, Wrong Time"
blaring during the "lynch-Jerry O’Connell" scene in "Scream
2"...how many of you caught Boss Hogg doing their thing in
O’Connell’s previous star vehicle, "Joe’s Apartment"?
And did you know that Jon Spencer was once asked to audition
for the part of Joe in that very same movie (we’re pretty
sure he didn’t follow that one up)? What the fuck is
up with Jerry O’Connell and why can’t he stop riding
Jon Spencer’s jock? The Blues Explosion did some recording
in Chicago back in January and have since done some more work
with the Automator. No other news for you (release dates,
new spots in Jerry O’Connell films) so calm down.
Many congrats to RUN ON’s
Sue Garner, whose excellent new solo album To Run More
Smoothly is available now on Thrill Jockey (PO Box 476794,
Chicago, IL 60647). Later this spring, we’ll be plundering
the vaults and taking more of your money with a Matador singles
comp. called Singles Going Home Alone. Many rarities
and not-so-rare-enough songs to be included. The final running
order isn’t confirmed yet, but look for stuff from Chain
Gang, Toiling Midgets, The Shams, Railroad Jerk and many others.
We have no exciting Pavement news for
you this time around, but the live album rumors you might’ve
heard are exactly that, rumors. There’s been some talk
about new recording this spring or summer, but it isn’t
like we’re gonna give you the name and the address of
the studio (so calm down). We just got confirmation on a bunch
of Sleater-Kinney/Helium U.S. dates, so check the tour section.
There’s no big Lynnfield Pioneers
news this time around, but they’ve got some Eastern dates
coming up with more touring later this spring. And if you
run into the guy who wrote the Emerge review in Alternative
Press, please punch him in the nose for me (’cause
I’m too chicken to do it myself). If anyone else bothered
to write these, they could go on for ages about their favorite
current records. But since they’re all busy doing real
work, I get to recommend the aforementioned Sue Garner album,
Sweep The Leg Johnny - S/t CD, The Champs - Champs III
(Frenetic, ferocious psuedo- metal, available from our mail
order dept.) and the new Pacific Ocean CD Birds Don’t
Think They’re Flying (Enchante). The TWO FOOT
FLAME duo of Jean Smith and Peter Jefferies are currently
touring New Zealand and Australia. We’re told that Mecca
Normal recently performed on a nationally televised Canadian
morning program (insert vile joke about Regis Philben here)
and I wish we could’ve seen it....
We’ll try to have these updates
in your mailbox a little more frequently. Failing that,we
might just ripoff the old WSBK-TV program "Ask The Manager"
and make Chris Lombardi answer your most personal questions
every Sunday evening at 10pm (not over the web, over speakerphone).
If you are looking for news about a band not mentioned here,
either the most recent scoop was in the last update or we
have nothing exciting to tell you. So calm down.
good day,
Gerard Cosloy
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