Last week an unprecedented pike of messages in the indiepop-list happened. You know, it’s usually so quiet. Nothing ever happens there. An email conversation going by the subject “Anyone up for a book burning?” had everyone giving their opinion about the announcement of a new book called: “Twee: The Gentle Revolution”.

99% of the people were totally up for the book burning. No one felt that this was going to be a good book. The other 1% were either cowardly asking not to have ‘bad’ feelings about it and instead think of other things that can give you “good” feelings, or asked to wait until we get the chance to read the book.

The book is not out yet. It will be out on June 3rd. So we are mostly supposing things at the moment, but we can figure a thing or two from the book description at the publisher’s Harper and Collins site:

New York Times, Spin, and Vanity Fair contributor Marc Spitz explores the first great cultural movement since Hip Hop: an old-fashioned and yet highly modern aesthetic that’s embraced internationally by teens, twenty and thirty-somethings and even some Baby Boomers; creating hybrid generation known as Twee. Via exclusive interviews and years of research, Spitz traces Generation Twee’s roots from the Post War 50s to its dominance in popular culture today.

Vampire Weekend, Garden State, Miranda July, Belle and Sebastian, Wes Anderson, Mumblecore, McSweeney’s, Morrissey, beards, artisanal pickles, food trucks, crocheted owls on Etsy, ukuleles, kittens and Zooey Deschanel—all are examples of a cultural aesthetic of calculated precocity known as Twee.

In Twee, journalist and cultural observer Marc Spitz surveys the rising Twee movement in music, art, film, fashion, food and politics and examines the cross-pollinated generation that embodies it—from aging hipsters to nerd girls, indie snobs to idealistic industrialists. Spitz outlines the history of twee—the first strong, diverse, and wildly influential youth movement since Punk in the ’70s and Hip Hop in the ’80s—showing how awkward glamour and fierce independence has become part of the zeitgeist.

Focusing on its origins and hallmarks, he charts the rise of this trend from its forefathers like Disney, Salinger, Plath, Seuss, Sendak, Blume and Jonathan Richman to its underground roots in the post-punk United Kingdom, through the late’80s and early ’90s of K Records, Whit Stillman, Nirvana, Wes Anderson, Pitchfork, This American Life, and Belle and Sebastian, to the current (and sometimes polarizing) appeal of Girls, Arcade Fire, Rookie magazine, and hellogiggles.com.

Revealing a movement defined by passionate fandom, bespoke tastes, a rebellious lack of irony or swagger, the championing of the underdog, and the vanquishing of bullies, Spitz uncovers the secrets of modern youth culture: how Twee became pervasive, why it has so many haters and where, in a post-Portlandia world, can it go from here?

The author of the book is called Mark Spitz. I haven’t read anything by him so I have no clue if he is a good writer or a bad writer. A bad researcher he definitely is though and I will tell you why (especially after this feature in Salon magazine).

But let me stop here first. What about the term Twee. Sure I hate it. I’ve never liked as it entails making indiepop a synonym of the word inoffensive. I truly don’t believe that. BUT at the same time I understand and accept that it’s a term that for most of us, Twee.net might be the best example, that twee in the end means indiepop, C86, p!o!p!, neo-aco, or however you want to call it. We all know, even if we don’t like the word, that twee is indiepop. Or at least, a sort of sub-category within indiepop. Can we agree on that?

Sure the term has been in existence longer than indiepop has existed. But it’s use was also almost non-existent in the English language. Maybe they used it to name Tweety bird. Who knows. But I can’t think of many examples. It’s rise as a word to describe something has to do with our music in the late 80s. It was mostly a term to dismiss the cutesy bands of the indiepop spectrum. I believe it was after 1994, when the Sha La La list was functioning and Twee.net was already established that the word gained power. And it was especially used to tag those small bands that were appearing in the US in the mid 90s like say The Receptionists or even Tullycraft, bands that had a sweeter, funnier, and cheekier approach.

So explain me then what does Arcade Fire has to do with anything of this? Sure they had one release in Asaurus, but that wasn’t a proper indiepop record. They released some, but in general it was pretty eclectic. What does Nirvana has to do with it? They championed The Vaselines, but does they make them a big part? Maybe a little footnote perhaps, and even so.

It’s mentioned that it’s the first great cultural movement since hip hop. This might not be liked by many that read me, but I don’t think hip hop has anything to add to culture. If there’s a culture surrounding it, it’s a terrible culture and I feel uneasy with even mentioning hip hop and twee in the same paragraph. There’s no comparison of the values of one and the other music genres.

Generation Twee has it’s roots in the 50s. That’s a very strange claim. I guess I’ll wait for the book to read what’s his point about this. But it does seem farfetched. I can see some late 70s groups influences in it, like The Buzzcocks, but all the way from the 50s? Perhaps some sort of aesthetics? Morrissey’s quiff? It feels like he is just inventing something here that has nothing to do with our beloved indiepop.

I love this phrase: an old-fashioned and yet highly modern aesthetic that’s embraced internationally by teens, twenty and thirty-somethings and even some Baby Boomers. I love it especially because I have no clue what they are trying to say. Should we be surprised that people in general, no matter the age, like some sort of music? Is our indiepop that terrible? Or what? I don’t get it.

Then there’s that list of “influences” or perhaps “examples of what Twee is. From that list I only like Morrissey and a bit of Belle & Sebastian. Zooey Deschanel can be pretty ok. But that does make her indiepop? That’s really stupid. I like one movie by Mirand July, her latest was very mediocre, but were her movies indiepop? No. Wes Anderson is very overrated. I think he is among the most pretentious and vacuous directors out there, but who cares what I think, are his movies indiepop? Do they show indiepop values? Again, no. I really don’t have to deal with Vampire Weekend, or even beards, right? I don’t remember Edwyn Collins sporting a beard. Or Davey Woodward doing so. Which indiepop stalwart sported a beard? Maybe he is confusing lumberjacks with musicians. Poor research. Again.

Then of course there’s the issue of ukuleles and kittens. This requires a long post. I dislike both. But a big part of the indiepop fandom loves them. So I’ll leave it like that for now. I guess he has a point about this. I can understand kittens in a way, they’ve been in so many jacket sleeves, but ukuleles? That’s only for the most terrible bands out there and thankfully I can only count with my fingers the bands that say make indiepop with an ukulele. Etsy, crocheted owls, food trucks, artisanal pickles, McSweeney’s, honestly I don’t see any connection at all. Maybe he is playing a game of six degrees of separation?

Twee movement in music, art, film, fashion, food and politics. Damn. I WISH! I dream of someone making an indiepop film. I know the Sarah documentary is coming up, and there has been a couple too like BMX Bandits documentary or the great Dolly Mixture one. But not really a feature film yet. That’d be something. Indiepop music sure. Indiepop politics. Yeah that exists too. Indiepop art? Mmm if you consider the art of the records, perhaps, I can be ok with saying that that exists. Indiepop fashion? I guess there are sort of looks people go for. Though I tell you, I’ve seen some people with mohawks or piercings all over their body following indiepop concerts and not missing any day of an indiepop festival. But I can see someone saying there’s a sort of fashion. But what about saying that there’s indiepop influence in food. You have to be quite stupid to make such a claim. What’s an indiepop food? Marmite because there was a band called The Marmite Sisters? Doesn’t make any sense.

And then they say: and examines the cross-pollinated generation that embodies it—from aging hipsters to nerd girls, indie snobs to idealistic industrialists. Really? Again? Do we need to break down people this way? Clearly he hasn’t gotten what indiepop is. Indiepop is not like this. We are all equal. Bands can be fans, and fans can be bands. Fanzine writers can run a label, a label person can write a fanzine. Everyone does everything, it’s all about democracy and equality. And we don’t like hipsters or snobs or yuppies. Just for your information Harper and Collins.

Then they tell us that Disney and Dr Seuss are origins of indiepop/twee. It’s the twilight zone, isn’t it? I start to worry if the book will really be exactly what this book description is. What will happen to those reading this book and have really no clue what indiepop is. This is creating a caricature of all of us, and a bad one, one that is not close to reality. The only right part of it is a line that says “to its underground roots in the post-punk United Kingdom“. But one line among a lot of crap? Even mentioned my favourite Whit Stillman doesn’t help. I love his films, and I hold them dear, but to say he is indiepop! Or what about mentioning Pitchfork? For f*ck sake, they are all that indiepop isn’t!!! Its’s like the nemesis! They champion everything else but indiepop. They do it all for money, not for the kids, even less for the music. And indiepop is not about the money. Anyone involved in it knows that. If we break even we are already more than happy.

Then the last paragraph is a bit more accurate when they mention: “Revealing a movement defined by passionate fandom, bespoke tastes, a rebellious lack of irony or swagger, the championing of the underdog, and the vanquishing of bullies“, though I strongly disagree when they say there’s a lack of irony. That’s tremendously wrong. I think there’s so much irony, so much wit in indiepop, that we could give away to other genres that lack of intelligence. Perhaps these people don’t care about lyrics. I’ve met some like that in my life. Boring and uninteresting people.

Twee became pervasive? Not really. It’s a very small scene. A little pocket that no one really cares about, only us in it care about it. It has many haters? I haven’t met any. I only meet people that have no clue what indiepop is and give me a hard time explaining them what it is. So yeah, all wrong.

Then there’s this on the Salon feature:
“Tweens?”
“No. Twee.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“You know! Everything happening in Brooklyn.”
“Hipsters?”
“No, Twees. It’s a movement!”

I go to Brooklyn often for drinks, to party, etc. I have never met anyone that knows about indiepop or twee. I’ve never seen anyone sporting an indiepop badge/pin. Or even a t-shirt. I believe the author lives in NYC, somewhere in the five boroughs, most possibly Brooklyn. I’m very surprised he would make this claim. Because even a The Smiths t-shirt is kind of rare in Brooklyn. I think the ones I see the most these days are Black Flag t-shirts if you are wondering. And yes, Im very observant.

Anyhow, to dissect that interview would maybe require another post, as it is a big joke to twee/indiepop. So I’ll get on that on my next post, on part 2.

The question for now is, if this is just a book description to catch people’s attention, to get sales, or is the book really like this? That’s the answer I’m looking for. I guess we’ll have to wait until it’s published! Let’s see how much it will be hurting our indiepop scene,how many will jump in the bandwagon, and how many ‘haters’ (at last) it will create of indiepop?

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Now into the obscure band of the week: The Clamber. Though it’s surprising that someone has uploaded to SoundCloud the song “Choose The Way”.

Clamber: an awkward and laborious climb or movement.

More like a laborious climb to find out who this band was!

That song was the A side of their one and only 7″ released sometime during the mid 80s. A British band most definitely as on the back sleeve we can clearly read Basildon, Essex. The only other information on the back is that the record was produced by both The Clamber and D.J.M. entertainment. The sleeve was designed by Mark Molloy.

Aside from those credits we do know that the B side was “Everywhere You Go” and that the release was the first one in the catalog of Clamber Records. So definitely a private release. Some descriptions I found online of previous listings on eBay say: “Somewhere between Friday Club, early Style Council, Ala Pana Fuzo and Where The Hell Does Jane Smith Think She Is.” Definitely on the right track. I can guess that this description must have written by the great Uwe at Firestation Records! The only other clue we get is from the center label of the record. It credits both songs to a K. Boardman.

Aside from that, there’s nothing else online about the band. Listening to “Choose The Way” one ends up wanting to know more, to research them properly, find out what happened to the band, who were the members, and how can one find a copy of it, with a sleeve (as it seems the sleeves are rare too!). It’s a great track obviously. The trumpets. How can I be won by trumpets!!! Catchy, classy, elegant. The kind of record I love! Check it out!

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Listen
The Clamber – Choose The Way

– EDIT –
I’ve just been told that there is no-repeat policy at Indietracks. Later in this blog post I go babbling about it, so forgive me. From Indietracks Twitter I got this: “We don’t have a no-repeat policy, all we say is that we don’t book bands two years in a row :)” . So everyone out there forgive me, I have misunderstood when I go on and on about this policy. I was totally sure it existed, but it’s clear for me now, through official channels even(!) that this rule doesn’t exist.

Hello my dearest indiepop fans of the world. Not the nicest, not the prettiest, not the smartest, but my favourite people nonetheless? haha. After last week review of New York Popfest lineup I think it only makes sense to check out the bands that have been announced to play Indietracks. So let’s do that.

I remember I woke up. Kind of late. 11am. I turn on the computer and I see a friend that has posted the lineup. Then I write a post about it on my facebook. So far, all so natural, right? Thing is, I was leaking the news. I had announced some of the bands 3 or 4 hours before the official announcement. What had happened? It seems people that are involved in press or have a blog (but not me of course) or have a zine (not me either) got the news beforehand. I guess so they could prepare a post or an article for when the time came after the announcements. The news was embargoed until 7:00pm GMT. I guess my friend didn’t notice immediately about this fact and had made it public. Of course he noticed afterwards but it was too late, I had already noticed the whole lineup before he had the chance to delete his post.

My complain was, “Allo Darlin’ again?”. My excitement came for The Popguns! I had wanted to see them last year. I was happy to have met their drummer as he was at Indietracks drumming for his other band, The Fireworks. I took a photo. Good fan. This year it has to be with the whole band of course. But what about Allo Darlin’? Sure, I’m not a fan, but that doesn’t mean that I can be objective and say that Indietracks goers love the band. I understand that. The thing is, Indietracks boasts a no-repeat policy. I know they’ve broken this policy before with The Smittens (who knows why, but they did), and well, they are doing it again. Isn’t this the third time Allo Darlin’ is playing? I don’t know anymore. For me this is a bit annoying because this in fact takes a space that another band, that has never played, could have taken. Right? I’m not into conspiracy theories, but, some people gain benefit by shifting records of their bands at this festival. I leave the thought there…

The March 10th announcement read like this:

Gruff Rhys, Allo Darlin’, Dean Wareham, Rocketship and Withered Hand are among the bands playing this year’s Indietracks Festival, held on 25-27 July at the Midland Railway in Derbyshire.

Also playing Indietracks this year will be Spearmint, The Spook School, The Popguns, Sweet Baboo, Let’s Wrestle, The Very Most, Franny and Zooey, The Wellgreen, Night Flowers, ONSIND, The Blue Minkies, The Yawns, Thee AHs and Lost Tapes.

Cheaper early bird tickets are available until 11 May. There’s full details about today’s announcement here: http://www.indietracks.co.uk/?p=757

I’m feeling quite sick today, sore throat, maybe starting to get a cold, but as I promised last week, I think it’s good time to go through the NYC Popfest lineup. Though before doing that I want to tell that I have started work on the 9th Cloudberry fanzine. I’ve started to contact the bands that will be featured as well as the ones that will contribute tracks for the 3″ CD. Hopefully it will be ready by Indietracks time. I’d love to sell a bunch there! Now let’s start getting excited about NYC Popfest!

I’ll only go through the bands I’m excited to see, in alphabetical order.

The Arctic Flow – I believe they will be playing the free Saturday show at Spike Hill. They will go on first. I don’t seem to find online the schedule for Popfest but I’ve seen some of it on Facebook. The Arctic Flow were invited last year to play but they didn’t come. I think it had to do with playing solo or something like that, I can’t remember. In any case I’m very glad that Brian is coming to play to NYC the beautiful songs that he has been crafting for many years now. I’ve really liked the few things I’ve heard, the EP on Holiday Records and lately the 3″ on Little Treasure. I definitely want to see this band.

Bart & Friends – Of course! I think this is one of the bands I’m looking forward the most. I’m pretty sure they will be playing on Friday at The Knitting Factory. I had the chance to work with Bart on a little 3″ some time ago and later I’ve been enjoying the EPs on both Matinée and Shelflife. Bart is an indiepop hero, The Cat’s Miaow, his previous band, is one of my favourite bands ever. It is no surprise I’ve interviewed Bart in this blog so many times, talking about each of his projects, from Girl of the World to Pencil Tin to Cat’s Miaow and more. I’ve heard some rumors that as many in the band are librarians they will be visiting some of NYC libraries. Exciting! Extra points for the band as I will finally meet Scott Stevens (who is part of the Friends part), an old friend from Summer Cats! So far I had the chance to meet Hugh and the other Scott, Brewer, of the Cats. So this is pretty cool. Also Scott S used to be in The Earthmen who also appeared on an interview in the blog. We have agreed on having some great dinner that Friday before the show! Good times!

Colour Me Wednesday – In due honesty, I haven’t followed them in all these years they’ve been playing gigs. I have always missed their gigs when I’ve been in the UK. Their recordings remind me a bit of a band I used to love in the mid-00s, The Sorayas (from Sweden). This is punky indiepop, but has that Britishness that I like. Not sure what day they’ll be playing, or where, though I’m hoping they are a nice surprise for me.

Don’t Cry Shopgirl – Very VERY excited to see them. It’s been some months since they appeared on Facebook. I remember writing some lines about them here on the blog, and then just after that, hanging out all the time at Indietracks with Astrid and John. Sweet people! It’s interesting how friendship happens! Astrid is perhaps a bit more known as she plays solo with a project called Northern Spies. Under that name I saw her play in a packed wagon at Indietracks while everyone was sweating and then months later here in NYC. Actually she is in NYC now too! The truth is, after listening to their songs for the first time I knew I had to release them. So yes, there will be a Cloudberry 7″ by them this year. We’ve been working on the artwork this week actually! They will also be playing the free show on Saturday and I think this is one that I will say you can’t miss!

The Flatmates – I am going to see them. I’m not sure what to expect. Martin and Rocker are the only original members. I like Brian and Lisa, but I have to say I’m very skeptical after the single they released (mostly due to the artwork being kind of terrible). But The Flatmates are the The Flatmates, a band that I’ve always loved, so I’ll be there front row. Let’s see what happens.

Franny & Zooey – A band I must have seen as many times as Allo’ Darlin haha. I must really love them. I could tell so many anecdotes and stuff about them, but I think it has to wait. I may have seen them around 10 times  play here in NYC and I’m happy to call them my friends. Real friends, the kind you go for beers every single weekend. In the last few years I’ve seen an evolution in their songs that I can assure you that you’ll be surprised by their next release. They’ve gone full indiepop! I believe they’ll be playing Cake Shop on Thursday, hopefully not opening because I may miss them because of work! It’d be a shame because it’s been months since they left NYC and they are coming back especially for this gig, so crossing fingers!

Gingerlys – It was Ed Shelflife that tipped me about them while eating Korean food here in NYC months ago. I think he will be putting out a 7″ by them. I was so surprised that a band this good in NYC hadn’t been under my radar. Then I tipped Maz. Then I’m very happy that they’ll be playing Popfest! May be the best new band in town. One of the bands I look forward to seeing the most. And that’s because I’ve been unable to attend any of their shows yet! Terrible me!

Gold-Bears – Jeremy is back. Who’s coming with him? He always finds the cool musicians, though I must admit I loved the first incarnation the most with Erich and Santiago. Mostly because they were so cool haha. Anyways, the Gold-Bears have a new album coming out and it’s coming in a white and green sleeve that I had to Photoshop some days ago! Energy, excitement, and fast guitars, that’s what they bring. I can see them many times and will never have enough. One of the happiest moments of Cloudberry is indeed when we released their 7″. Now I’m hoping to hear their new song as well as their classics. Can’t wait for my favourite This Poison wannabes 😉

The Haywains – So yes, you know that the Haywains 7″ is coming out on Cloudberry just for NYC Popfest time. What can I say about the legend that The Haywains are? You’d think they’d sound boring and mature after 20 years. But when you listen the 7″ songs that’s not the case. They sound as fresh as ever. Fresh as a lettuce! And what’s even better is that I can assure you that live they are one of the funnest bands I’ve ever seen. Their Madrid Popfest show that I attended last year was glorious. I think this might be one of the gigs of the year for me. They are playing Knitting Factory of Friday too. I believe they are the headliners that night? Anyways, I just can’t wait. Can’t WAIT! Oh! and they will also be appearing on the next Cloudberry zine I was talking about earlier…

Heathers – Because they sound alright on bandcamp, though they are terrible with emails. I’m still waiting for my copy of the 7″ 🙂

Lost Tapes – Our last 7″ we released was by this Spanish band, and what an EP it is. It’s lush. It’s beautiful. Precious even. It’s classy. It can remind you of moments of the 80s, postcards of Brighter and The Field Mice. It’s no surprise they’ve been just touring the West Coast and now they are playing at SXSW. They will be playing next week at Cake Shop too where I’ll meet them in person for the first time. They’ve been invited to Copenhagen Popfest and Indietracks too. It seems this is their year. One of the best new bands around for sure. Quality.

Marine Life – A band I’ve never heard before. But I’m liking what I hear on Bandcamp. It says their debut single will be coming out on Elefant. That’s a big deal isn’t it? Especially as this doesn’t sound like all the 60s influenced bands that Elefant seems to be preferring these days. Marine Life reminds me to many of the American bands from the 90s. #Poundsign# anyone? Worth checking out the live set.

My Favorite – The quintessential NYC indiepop band. The one and only. The first one. My Favorite is back. I could write so much about them because I love them. That’s why I wanted to release The Secret History album last year. That’s why this year I’m teaming up with them for a co-release of a reissue of Love at Absolute Zero on vinyl. Hopefully later this year the Cloudberry Cake Kitchen of their early recordings will be released too. Dream come true. More importantly, seeing them live, after all my Swedish friends always raved and boasted about their tour in their country, with the pinnacle of Hultsfred festival when My Favorite became a cult band, that’s a dream come true.

Pam & Bart perform as THE CAT’S MIAOW & THE SHAPIROS – This might be the intimate moment at Popfest. It may need a lot of beer to keep me going after getting all sentimental by these songs. When it’s the Cat’s Miaow Pam is not Kerrie, but she is still Pam. She has the voice. It will be definitely interesting to hear. The Shapiros? Match made in heaven. Never thought I’d listen to them. Btw, there’s also a Shapiros interview in the blog!

Rocketship – Another classic band. For many indiepop heroes and legends. For me a fabulous, an outstanding band, that in their earlier period released their most magnificent stuff. The 90s were glorious for Rocketship. The 00s not so much. That Garden of Delights album was the biggest letdown. Here I’m hoping then to hear the indiepop songs, the ones that made Rocketship a band loved by everyone! (also playing at indietracks)

Spearmint – This was perhaps the biggest surprise (maybe not much as a surprise now after they’ve also been announced for Indietracks). I didn’t think they were still going you know. The band fronted by Shirley Lee has been a favourite of mine for so many years. I’ve djed many times their songs, and I remember always having this sort of paradigm about loving their song “The Flaming Lips” and hating the band by the same name! In any case, a band that name drops Said Liquidator in a song, or the BMX Bandits in another, well, that’s a band I love. It’s funny that the day they were announced for Popfest I was actually listening to their A Week Away album. Coincidences. Destiny. I don’t know. But it’s great!

The Spook School – Cloudberry graduates with one 7″ two years ago. Time flies! I thought it was just last year. When I saw them play at Indietracks 2012 I knew they could be big. They are so talented. They are so much fun. And Niall, the drummer, is party personified. Last year they released their first album and what a cracker it was. I feel they will be one of the bands New Yorkers will like the most. Funny how when Nye was living here they didn’t play, now that she is gone the whole gang is coming for it. Life has that kind of things. But the timing couldn’t be more perfect! They are such a treat!

Stars in Coma – I saw Stars in Coma in Berlin Indiepop days. At a small venue. It was nice. I saw André once too when I djed at a little venue in Malmö ages ago. Those were the days. There’s a connection of course with Cloudberry. There was a 3″CD very early on when the label was just starting. There was also a CD album that we released through Plastilina. Stars in Coma is so prolific. I’ve lost count how many releases they have now. But what I do know for sure is that there is a whole bunch of fantastic songs that you should start discovering.

The Zebras – I like them though I’ve never been head over heels for them. They make great luminous pop. Classy, smart, elegant. I stopped following them in 2007 or so. Why? I don’t know. I guess it didn’t connect as other bands do. BUT, I’m hoping to get excited by them once again. The song “Chase” on the NYC Popfest page is very STRONG. If they have more like this one, I might fall in love!

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Über obscure band today. Let’s roll back to 1988.

That year sees the release of a 7″ by a band that sounds more 1984 than 1988. They are called Mexico Red. The songs included are “Eternal Flame” and “Follow me to Heaven”. Both of them are beautiful. They were meant to be classics. They should have been in the Leamington Spa compilations that my friend Uwe has stopped releasing.

They have elegance and class. “Eternal Flame” even has trumpets. Oh I melt. The question arises immediately, with a single this strong, that these days is highly sought after, how have they disappeared from the face of the Earth?

Where does the name come from? Definitely they must have liked Mexico or at least Mexican food (can’t blame them). The Red part? Maybe they liked the idea of a communist Mexico? Who knows. The cover art is beautifully illustrated in black and white. A sad looking girl that seems to have a knife in her belt.

The credits on the back sleeve just add more to the mystery. Lyrics and Music by Del Kwai. Who was Del Kwai? It’s enough of a strange name, but google doesn’t really help me find him.

The label that put out the record was Hummingbird Records.  Possibly a self-release.

The 7″ according to Popsike also included an insert. Not so sure what says in it. I sadly don’t own the record. But maybe someone out there does? And can help us with the insert?

Anyone out there remember them? Where in the UK where they from? Did they have more songs? Would love to know a bit more about them! Hopefully someone can help!

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Listen
Mexico Red – Eternal Flame

A strong feeling that something is about to happen, esp. something unpleasant.

I’m suddenly changing my idea of going to China in autumn, postponing it for next spring, and instead going to Germany. Thing is Throw That Beat in the Garbagecan, one of my favourite bands ever is doing a reunion gig in Berlin for their 20th anniversary. I’ve always said that McCarthy is my favourite band, and it is. But before I even knew McCarthy I was already in love with the German outfit. Can I consider them a second favourite band then? Possibly yes. That would be very fair, and it’s not like I like just 10 or 20 bands. I like hundreds, thousands. So they are very very dear to me.

To be honest I don’t remember how I heard about them first. The year must have been 2003. I was young. Younger than now. I was 19 back then. I had just moved to Texas that winter. At that time I hadn’t even started blogging as Mira el Péndulo. I was on Soulseek though and perhaps it was there that I met them for the first time. I used to hang out in the Twee Folks room, a place I made many great friends, but of course the best being Cris in Spain. Did he introduce them to me? Possibly not. We were mostly gossiping. There were some people that had amazing stuff. I do remember getting the video for “Suburbia” from Chris Jigsaw on Twee Folks. But I’m 100% sure that wasn’t the first time I heard their music.

The fact is in 2004 during a weekend trip with my dad, from San Antonio to Texas, I bought two of their albums. I was still 19, it was winter, and I remember that drive as if it was yesterday. Five hours of talking about football, history and politics, the three topics we usually talk about. My dad is not really a music-fan you see. But he grew up seeing Peru in the world cups unlike me. So he has these vivid memories of the golden age of Peruvian footie. On the highway, passing by outlet malls, ranches, and fast food restaurants, we agreed that at least we were going to go to a record store while in Dallas. We weren’t really going as tourists, my dad had to attend some business there. We didn’t even stop by the Dr. Pepper museum in Waco (I love Dr. Pepper), just to get to Dallas in time.

I don’t remember liking the city much. Just another American city I would say. The food wasn’t that special. I had Mexican food one day, and it wasn’t the best I’ve ever had (arguably the best I’ve had has been in San Diego, I’m yet to visit Mexico). On another day I remember having Brazilian rodizio, all the meats you want, but that is the same every place you go. For that, still the best, the ones I had in Sao Paulo. Anyways. On Sunday morning, after a terrible night sharing room with my dad (he snores heavily), we visited a record store. Problem is now that I don’t remember the name of it. It was in that store that I found the two albums that Throw That Beat released on the American label Spinart: “Large Marge Sent Us” and “The Cool Album”.

They weren’t priced. I took them to the cashier and possibly because he saw I looked a bit out of place he charged me $15 for each. And they were used! Total rip off. But my dad insisted in getting them for me. Happy days. I was just a student and in Texas I hadn’t found a job yet. Now I had to wait until I got back to San Antonio so I could listen to them. I was so eager but I knew I couldn’t play these in the car, my dad would hate me eternally haha.

And so on my old cd-player, the one that lasted almost 10 years (rip 2009), I started a very close relationship with those albums. It was love at first-sight, or listen. I played them over and over for months. Both of them. I rode the bus to university listening to them every single day. At home will I was still honing my skills on Pro Evolution Soccer, I played them. At every moment of the day, I played them. And this went for months. That whole 2004 for me is a year defined by Throw That Beat in the Garbagecan!! I can say their songs always gave a smile to me, and that let me survive a whole year in Texas. That is way too long. Nobody should live for that long there. By 2005 I moved back to Florida and I found a job and well, eventually started buying other records. But, it wasn’t that long that I was going to return to TTB.

My next encounter would be when I visited Germany for the first time. In Essen I stayed with my dear friend Nanita. What a surprise for me that she had a gift for me upon my arrival. What was it? It was the “Tweng” LP on September Gurls. I didn’t know this one existed! There was no Discogs yet, and their discography wasn’t easily available online. Some days after I was at Peter Twee.net’s home and he was giving me a bunch of TTB stickers he got from back in the day. I was back in love and from that time on, my hunt to find all their records started though to my shame I haven’t got them all yet!

Since those days I always go back to Throw That Beat. I don’t think there are months that I don’t listen to at least one of their songs. The videos on Youtube always work when I need a little cheering up. So when on the Facebook group it was announced that they were going to play a reunion gig, it made my the happiest. And now I want to go. It seems it’s happening on the 13 of September. At the Lido in Berlin. Supposedly all original members will be there, even Lotsi. I hope so. I cross my fingers. I should start planning how to get there. Could be my 30-year old present in advance!

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And now one way more obscure band that Throw That Beat. One that requires more researching, but I don’t seem to find much information about them: Premonition.

Let’s transport all of us to Dublin, Ireland. It’s the mid 80s and there’s this band called Loudness of Whispers. We don’t know much about them only that they played the Mood Club at Tommy Dunne’s Tavern in June 1985. From their ashes a band called Premonition will emerge.

The only information regarding the band comes from that great Irish site called Irish Rock, an encyclopaedia of the Irish scene. From there we learn that Premonition were:
John Brennan – rhythm guitars, loud voice
Kevin Morris – lead guitars, mandolin, alto voice
Kieran Eaton – bass, bass voice
Gerard Eaton – drums, tenor voice

Safe to think that Kieran and Gerard were brothers?

The small bio on Irish Rocks says:
Blades-influenced band also compared to the Housemartins. Winners of the Dublin Millenium Battle of the Bands competition held at The Underground on 8 July 1988. Standout track of their set was “Clutching at Straws”. This competition was organised by Danceline and involved 9 heats and 3 semifinals. The prize was a single recorded at Sun Studios, released on EMI.

So another question arises, is there any recordings for “Clutching at Straws”?

Then they released their 7″. On the A side the song “The Streets are Paved with Lead” and “Eyes like Sin” on the B side. Catalog was IEM 004 though the back cover incorrectly lists it as IEM 006. The record was produced by Premonition and Pat Dunne.

I haven’t yet heard the B side. But the A side is quite glorious! It’s classic jangly pop. Of course there’s The Smiths influence, but you can also hear classic sounds from Mighty Mighty, The Brilliant Corners or Hey Paulette! Not your usual fare on EMI! You got to love the guitars, the trumpet arrangements! Should have been a classic! That opening line: “Please don’t go, you are tearing my life to shreds”, always gives me goosebumps!

And then they disappeared. There is no sights about them online. Whatever happened to them? Does anyone remember them? Did they play live often? Did they release anything else? Did they leave any other recordings? Would love to know more about them. Just listen to this song, and you’ll understand why!

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Listen
Premonition – All the Streets are Paved with Lead

Because people keep asking for a list, and I won’t do a ranking because I feel it’s terribly wrong, here are a many releases I’ve enjoyed this year. Obviously all Cloudberry releases are here because I would be an hypocrite to release them and not enjoy them, right? And also keep in mind I may update this list any day between today and December 31st. That’s because I’m very forgetful and I’m sure I’ll remember about some release sometime later and because I still haven’t heard all albums for this year like Spook School, Bubblegum Lemonade or Northern Portrait, that I know if listened they would appear in this list. Anyhow, if you are one of those curious people here it is in no particular order:

Electrophonvintage – Play Harp in Your Hair (album)
Go Violets – Heart Slice (CD-EP)
Major Leagues – Weird Season (EP)
The Sheets – The Sheets (lost album)
Club 8 – Above the City (album)
Homecomings – Homecoming with Me? (CD-EP)
Reserve – Beneath the London Sky (retrospective)
Alpaca Sports – Alpaca Sports (mini-album)
April’s Fools Day – Well, it’s true (album)
Silver Screen – When You and I Were Very Young (album)
The Felt Tips – Symbolic Violence (album)
Various Artists – Envoys from Alexandria (CD-EP)
The Secret History – Americans Singing in the Dark (album)
Veronica Falls – Waiting for Something to Happen (album)
Camera Obscura – Desire Lines (album)
The Proctors – Everlasting Light (album)
Various Artists – The Sound of Leamington Spa 7 (compilation album)
Everyday Mistakes – Obscure Lanes (album)
Honigritter – Kellergeister in Unserem Haus (album)
Los Canguros – Un Salto Adelante (retrospective album)
Rose Elinor Dougall – Future Vanishes (single)
Fireworks – Runaround (single)
The French Pop Dream – The French Pop Dream (single)
Helen Love – Day-Glo Dreams (album)
Flowers – When You Lie (single)
The Spook School – I’ll Be Honest (single)
Zipper – La Casa Rural (single)
Joanna Gruesome – Supercrush (single)
Boyish – The Hidden Secrets (single)
The Occasional Flickers – Capitalism Begins at Home (single)
Los Urogallos / Las Chinchetas – Brindis Picnics y Bongos Beatniks (split single)
Alpaca Sports – He Doesn’t Even Like You (single)
Karatekas – Nubes Negras (single)
Eva & John – César Gutiérrez (single)
Tripping the Light Fantastic – Heavy Heart (single)
Axolotes Mexicanos – Infectados (single)
The Understudies – Everyone Deserves at Least One Summer of Love (single)

Last week I counted the amount of posts left for this year, not counting interviews. That’s 12 more posts including this one. I assume it will be 11 as I will be away for a week in November. So 10 more after this. I wonder then if this has been my most prolific year as a blogger. I ask myself too if people still consider themselves bloggers. Are there many blogs left? I feel many bloggers these day feel more like columnists, working for newspapers, magazines and such in their digital platforms. I saw though in the last couple of days the return of a favourite blog of mine though, 7 Pulgadas. When did his blog start? 2004? A long run from Alex, right? After a long standby as most of his records were in boxes thanks a very long move between houses in Madrid he is back. And it makes me happy that there are people who care about sharing their indiepop knowledge in the world, who respect bands and artists and who get involved in making this scene a better one. People who know Alex know that all of what I’m saying is true, not just because of his blog, that’s certain, but also from being part of the great Madrid Popfest, a regular indiepop festival attendee, and a good friend.

I started blogging in 2004 too. I had a Spanish language blog called Mira el Péndulo. The name came from a song by a Spanish band I was really in love then, El Niño Gusano. I still like them, but perhaps not as much. I started to blog inspired by the Indie-MP3 blog that was pretty popular then. That one was Tom’s blog. It closed some years ago and I wrote a big blog post about it I remember. As I was saying, I was inspired by it because they would offer an Mp3 from some new-ish band, or sometimes even an old classic band, with a link to their Myspace or to their website, and a little review. I thought that was the perfect format to introduce a band. And so I set up a blogspot, even with the same design and look as Indie-Mp3, and started blogging in Spanish because at that time there was nothing like it in my native language.

That’s the time when I discovered a couple of like-minded bloggers, all of them based in Spain. Their format varied, some wrote longer pieces, some shorter. Some wrote about old bands, some about gigs. Some preferred sharing many songs, some not even one song. But we all read each other, we all respected each other, and so a little community of indiepop bloggers was born. It’s funny that after many years I have actually met many of them, especially three that I always love to see at festivals together. That’s Alex of course, Manolo and Javi. Manolo had one of the best blogs in my opinion when it came to reviews of albums. His posts were long and he never shared an Mp3.  The blog was called 360 Grados de Separación. It is still online but he hasn’t updated much in recent times. He is missed. Javi in the other hand, the biggest Go-Betweens fan in the world, had his blog Lost and Found where he introduced to all his readers, this time in English, lots of obscure indiepop gems from the 80s. It was him, and of course the Leamington Spa series, that influenced me on what to recommend and showcase in this blog. Because, for new bands, there are TONS of other blogs and pages.

Then of course Mira el Péndulo was hacked by who knows who. The wordpress was hacked and there was no way to bring all posts back. Everything was lost. Not just what I wrote but also what my collaborators wrote. Because at some point I shared my blog with other friends that wanted to write some indiepop related posts. I remember Romina, from Argentina, that would correct my terrible grammar and write amazing posts about the sweetest sounding bands. Then there was JC, from Chile, who wrote smart posts that questioned the established taste of indiepop kids. One of my best friends José Emanuel, who I had a band with once and who was lately in Eva & John, wrote a bunch of posts about very weird and quirky indiepop bands. Then also Carlitos, from Peru and Eva & John, wrote a bunch of posts of the tweest kind. All those posts lots. I didn’t know what to tell them. I felt ashamed. I should have kept a backup, but I didn’t. I believe that’s the moment where I stopped believing in digital formats. That’s when I knew an MP3 collection was nothing, not even dust, it was nothing. Because all these things don’t really exist.

After a year without blogging I came back in 2008 with this blog, and then the rest is history. This is of course the longest blogging career I’ve had. As a Cloudberry cake chef. I didn’t think this was going to last this long. I came back because I was bored but what I was reading and because I couldn’t find any information about the bands I wanted to read about. Those days I was very close to my friend Emma. I thank her for pushing me to write again. She insisted I had to do it, and she even used to help me in writing interview questions. There’s one that is a favourite of mine, to the band Pink Noise. She wrote all the questions. It’s quite whack. She also answered all the questions a fanzine sent me as a Cloudberry interview. The questions were so boring, the usual questions people ask, so I let her be wild with her imagination. I think the Twee As Fuck crowd weren’t pleased with those answers about monkeys and razor-blade vinyl records. But well, that’s another story.

Anyhow, the thing is that I started blogging in Cloudberry Cake Proselytism in October 2008. It’s October 2013. That’s 5 years, right? Well, Happy Birthday to Me!!

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Have you ever heard The Candy Dates? Probably not. But they have an album that is a gem of indiepop. Fun, bright, smart, bouncy, and a treat to the ears. Sure, some of you might say they remind one to Throw That Beat in the Garbagecan!! And that might be true, these fellow Germans have that same taste for great pop music. But who cares, the Candy Dates are great in their own league and I recommend you getting their album Yep! that was released in both LP and CD. And trust me, it’s not that hard to track down!

The CD version was a sole release of Twang! Records (catalog TCD 5899) while the LP was a joint release between Twang! and Semaphore (catalog 27 777). I believe Semaphore was a Dutch label with an office in Germany also. Twang! was definitely a German label and had some nice releases.

The tracklist was:

1 Downtown Park
2 Six Tambourines
3 Big Big Kiss
4 Happy Hills
5 My Absolute Favourite Girl
6 Honey
7 Marlene
8 Top Ten Idol
9 Sophisticated
10 Brian On The Roof

The CD has an eleventh track, but it’s a 2 second one. So don’t worry about it! It’s a hidden track. Both the album and LP were separated in half, the first five songs were under the side called Cake One, and the last five songs were in Cake Two.

The album was produced by Andi Jezussek who was in a band called Breeder I believe.

The Candy Dates were formed by Gunnar Berndorf on vocals, drums and tambourines, Tobi Friedrich on vocals and guitar, Jockel Staron on vocals and guitar, and Lothi Berndorff on vocals and bass.

The band, as the label, were based in Berlin. The record was released in 1992 and the artwork reminiscing Roy Liechtenstein was made by the band themselves with help from Pat on Riesen for the layout. The photo of the band on the back cover was thanks to Frank Wegener.

There are some thank you notes on the CD. It says:

Thank You:
Robyn Wills, Andy, Frank, Pat, Manu & Uwe, Daniel Sprock, Herr Hanich, Hopek, Ralf Bieneck (DT 64), Antje Tiemeyer (RRB), Malum, Peter Perett, Raymond D. Davies, Joe Nolte.

Cool thing on the CD is something a lot of people are missing these days. All lyrics printed so one can sing along!

But let’s get back to that Thank You list. Is Uwe the Uwe from Firestation records? Probably but probably not. But Herr Hanich. That one we know. That’s Matthias Hanich who was also in Angry Flowers and later in the Groovy Cellar. But most importantly Matthias Hanich had been in a band with Gunnar Berndorf in the mid 80s. Yes! In 1984 they had been together in a band called The Artpress.

A little bio found on Facebook says:

The Artpress, whose melodic and beautifully constructed power pop made the band an instant success in Lower Saxony and other parts of Europe, released their one and only piece of vinyl under a long term deal with Worldcup Records in 1988(?). Due to management and distribution problems the single entitled “Mystery Girl“ c/w “Get Smart“ only reached 101 in the pop charts. Both numbers are up-tempo, guitar-fuelled with a wonderful 60s mod feel. This is your second chance – so don’t miss it.

They were based in Göttingen and the band members were: Harald Fischer, Matthias Hanich, Gunnar Berndorff, Ronald Kruschak
(Carsten Richter, Ralf Fricke, Jörg Waltje).

I also tracked down that Tobias Friedrich had a band afterwards called Viktoriapark who released an album in 2008 called “Was Ist Schon 1 Jahr?” and also another album called “In Teufels Küche”.

I also found out that Gunnar wrote a book along two other authors, Barbara Berndorff and Knut Eigler. This book is called Musikrecht and shame on me that I don’t know much German so I cant tell what it is about!

And that’s about all I could find about this fantastic band, that I don’t know much about, but did record this one fantastic album! I really recommend tracking it down if you can. And if you know anything else about them, if you ever saw them playing live, if you happen to have any more unreleased songs or anything, please share. There’s a nice comment section right here!

Edit: Andreas again comes to the rescue with some new insights:
Regarding your blog entry for The Candy Dates (and The Artpress), Gunnar Berndorff is also the drummer for The Groovy Cellar who’ll play Berlin Popfest on Saturday (and whom, along with Most Wanted Men, I’ve put on as supports both in Berlin and Hamburg in the past). He’s actually a colleague, i. e. a lawyer, and “Musikrecht” translates into “music law” (part of media law). A very nice guy, too.

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Listen
Candy Dates – Six Tambourines

Almost October now. This year has gone so fast! There are no more festivals left for me, though I know some of you will be heading to Berlin Popfest, the last stop of indiepop vacations this year. How I wish I could join you!

Today I finished sending all pre-orders of the Boyish 7″, three days before the release date. Now onto emailing all the mailorders, tell them I have a fantastic new record out. I feel by next week things will get a bit calmer as I still need to order all the boxes, inserts and polybags, put them together and then store them. These things take time, especially as I have the new Pro Evolution Soccer, which is taking me quite some time at nights, after work.

Next weekend I’ll be heading to Providence, Rhode Island. I’ve never been, and I’m just going to check out. Seems like a nice, little, quaint town. What to do? I’m open for suggestions. I’ll just be there for Saturday and Sunday. Need to check if there are any good record stores. From the top of my head, Small Factory were from there, right?

Indiepop-wise New York is quiet. Aside from a future meeting with Shelflife boss who is visiting town, I feel the city doesn’t offer what London offers to indiepop people. I get terribly jealous all the time. I did buy tickets to see My Bloody Valentine, $70. Yes, plus all those crazy fees (one is called convenience fee) then it was like $80. I guess I convinced myself that I have to see them live once, at least. Before they die (?).

The indiepop-list is back, and after a few hiccups (like a silly issue with the illustration used on the website) it’s up and running smoothly. I even posted three replies to it in a single day. I don’t remember replying to threads so many times in the past. So that’s quite an achievement. Of course my friend Mr. Hyde Murphy was cheeky like always, and questions the $7 price for the 3″CDs at Cloudberry. Though explained over and over, and with facts, in this blog, breaking down the price, the guy is still clueless. But what to do, some people are not good at maths or the real world.

I do want to recommend a book this time on the blog. It’s been out for some years now but I only knew about it after Henrik from Twig recommended me the documentary about it. The book is called “Last Shop Standing” and it’s written by Graham Jones. It was such a refreshing read, with lots of anecdotes about the music industry. On top of it all there’s a chapter about The Cherry Boys, yes, the ones that wrote Kardomah Café. So Graham was their manager, so he tells the whole story about them and also some tidbits about the band that followed, Exhibit B. Both great bands, both great guitar pop bands that I always enjoyed. So that was quite a treat! Also in the book Graham discusses lots of issues about the “industry” like MP3s for example. I tend to agree with all his views. I love that these kind of views about how great physical records are actually get published. We do need to make a stand!

And the other discovery this past week was a compilation by Said Liquidator that I found on Discogs. I didn’t have a clue that it existed but it’s a 2 CD compilation with all their recordings, even live recordings. It seems it’s only a 200 copy release so better head there before it sells out. Really enjoying it as I only knew the fab “Third Man” and “Say What You Feel”. I especially love their “Liquidator Jingle” song. Maybe I should try to track them down for an interview!

Other good releases of late are the new Proctors album and the Go Violets EP. I don’t own these yet, but hopefully in the next couple of weeks I will. Today I’m listening once again to the Homecomings “Homecoming with Me?” album on Second Royal. It’s so ace. The Japanese seem to be making a stir in the indiepop scene now. Lots of great new young bands springing from out of nowhere in the streets of Tokyo and beyond!

And I know, you are wondering when The Rileys album will be out. Well next week I hope to tackle the artwork, it’s very close to be finished and after that I’ll send it to press. Sorry it’s taken a bit too long but you know it’s only me running the whole thing and with two new releases this month I’ve been swamped!

But hey! Let’s move onto our very obscure band of the week!

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The Herbs. I’m sure you know The Raw Herbs. But The Herbs? I didn’t use to know them until many months ago I found them through that great blog that is From a Northern Place. A blog that though lacking writeups (wish they had some!) offers a track from an obscure record, and drives me into hours and hours of indiepop investigation!

With The Herbs though I hit a wall quite fast. I couldn’t find anything really. Even Rupert at Turntable Revolution wonders about them back in 2010.

So I’ll tell you what I gather from my little detective work.

The 7″ EP was released by a label called Andy Harper Records. Did Andy Harper had a big ego? Or maybe he was one of the nicest patrons? Or even perhaps he was part of the band? We don’t know. There is no catalog number though so it’s fair to assume this was the one and only release in the label.

The record included four songs. On the A side we had “New York Nightmare” and “U Boat”, whereas on the B side “Strum City” and “One Down and 2 To Go, This City Sure has Sold It’s Soul”. That last one has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

I live in New York, so I’m pretty curious about the first track. So if anyone could share it with me?

The record was recorded in 1990 at Tony’s during the month of March and April. The cover photograph was taken by Graham Buckerfield. With all those palm trees and the 4×4 on the street I would dare to guess it’s been taken in Los Angeles. Definitely not New York.

You might think this record was American with all these nods, but this sounds totally British. The three first songs are credited to someone with a last name Healey. The last song is credited to Healey/Russell.

And that’s it. I hit a wall. Sure, 45rpm is the speed of the record if you care much for that. I do. Sometimes.

I don’t own this 7″ and it seems it hasn’t popped up much on eBay. It’s not even listed on Discogs. But I would love to have it, or at least listen to it in it’s entirety! I also wonder if they had more songs. If they fitted 4 songs on a 7″ something tells me they did have many more songs recorded.  Also, where were they from? Did they play many gigs? I would love to know more about them! If anyone out there knows more let me know!

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Listen
The Herbs – Strum City

Welcome to another exciting blog post at the most amazing indiepop blog of the galaxy. What do we offer you? The latest reviews of the latest MP3s of the coolest labels that will link us to their facebook page. Some years ago we used to receive some free physical records from labels but these days we are so content with an MP3 and a mention. We’ll copy/paste some press release. In a best case scenario, if we are feeling terribly excited about your music we’ll write some lines about your band telling how original you are but at the same time mentioning four or five influences we think you have so it’s easier for people to try and download you and them at the torrents and p2p secret networks. Why not, that’s the future isn’t it?

What’s new? We have two new releases for you. Because Cloudberry living now at the city that never sleeps, well, we don’t sleep either. This month we come with two new 7″s, one by Greek, by way of Edinburgh-Scotland, band The Occasional Flickers and Tokyo’s Boyish. I’ve talked a bunch about both bands and both records in the blog so I’ll spare you about that this time. The important news is that you can order them both right now and I’ll ship them to you immediately. The official release date for the Flickers was the 15th and for Boyish the 30th, but they are already at home waiting to be sent to a new home.

This week I received the last Kill People You Like fanzine. You can see some photos of how gorgeous it is here. Not much on it written, but design-wise, passion-wise, and craftmanship-wise, this is a must have. Included two is a unmissable CD with lots of great tracks, many of them exclusive to this release. Among my favourites on the CD are the Flowers and Eva & John songs. Also there’s a mini-zine I wrote for them that for some reason I wrote in Spanish. I thought as the people behind the fanzine were Mexican, well I better write it in Spanish. They were so kind though to save me the trouble and they translated the whole thing for me before publishing! At the time I’m writing this the zine might be already sold out but I believe some mailorders may have some copies (?).

New York now is a bit quieter after the demise of Dominican indiepop stalwarts Franny & Zooey. It’s been a bunch of months that I’ve had a share of indiepop in the city, going to many venues just following this quintet. Yesterday JJ, the guitar player, left for Santo Domingo until probably next year, so no indiepop for us in the city for a while. Their last show happened on Wednesday and it was quite a success even though the venue, The Flat, behaved really like assholes. And not only was their lack of help but their crazy prices for beers. I’ve never seen a place selling a Bud for $6. Not even in Manhattan. The good news about this gig was that it was the American debut of Astrid’s Northern Spies. If you read the blog now and then you’d know that she comes from Sweden and played at one of the train shows at Indietracks. This time she was a little less talkative (fair enough there were less people as she was opening at 8:00pm), but again she dazzled us with her amazing voice. It’s always a treat to listen to her songs. I was very happy to have skipped everything I had to do this day just to be able to be on time.

But before I stop writing this “short” post in a very busy week, I want to salute team Indietracks for announcing that the festival will be back next year!! Yes! So July 25 to the 27. Have you marked your calendars? I hope so. I plan going for my fifth year in a row. This time I will go back to the Alfreton Travelodge, like the first two years! Back to that seedy Little Chef for breakfast, to that picnic table at the entrance to share wine with Andreas and Nana, to have beers there with the French and the Swedes. Exciting times ahead! Book your hotels soon because it seems all prices are going up! I got a double room for 96 pounds. These days it seems they are going for 130 pounds or so. The Premier Inns are going crazy and charging almost 300 pounds for their Ripley location. What will you do? I hope you don’t end up camping!

The important thing is, you better come! And which bands will play? No announcements yet, but if I’m allow to guess the obvious, I think The Flatmates will play, don’t you think?

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Today I fly all the way to Australia. Where exactly? I don’t know. Or to be more exact, I don’t remember as I was once in touch with Kieren Fitzpatrick from the band but those were the days of Myspace and well, all that correspondence between us is lost in the midst of a Myspace inbox.

It was back in 2009 when I contacted him trying to find more information about his old band Love Minus Zero. It was the days when I wanted to do that sort of Australian “Sound of Leamington Spa” series. As I’ve said many times it didn’t happen because Egg Records wanted to do it and I didn’t want to clash with anyone. I can be very diplomatic. In any case I did ask Kieren to do an interview for the blog, I wrote some questions but sadly I never got any answers. What I did get were a bunch of unreleased songs that sounded amazing.  The songs were:

– Whose Side are You On (demo 1988)
– Then It’s Gone (demo 1988)
– Porcelain (demo 1988)
– That Brings Me Down (unreleased single 1989)
– No Tomorrow (unreleased single 1989)
– Mary (unreleased single 1989)

If there were more unreleased recorded songs by Love Minus Zero I wouldn’t know. But these sounded great.

The first time I ever head them was through the song “Fade Away” that was included in a Waterfront Records compilation called On The Waterfront (catalog DAMP 31). On that compilation it was the A3 track, and the A4 track was also theirs, it was “Into the Night”. The credits for these songs according to Discogs are:

Bass: Gregory Kasch
Drums: Je Genua
Guitar, Vocals: Kieren Fitzpatrick
Guitar: Michael Royce

I sadly don’t own either this compilation or the one record they released. It seems not too difficult to track their 12″ and I should try to get it on my next paycheck. It was an eponymous EP released in 1988 on the Green Fez label (catalog FEZ 308). Credits as follow:

Artwork By – Jane Cameron
Bass, Vocals – Gregory Kasch
Engineer – Tom Colley
Guitar [Guest Musician] – Brad Fitzpatrick, Michael Royce
Piano, Organ [Hammond] [Guest Musician] – Damon Giles
Producer – Love Minus Zero, Tom Colley
Trumpet [Guest Musician] – Peter Dudman
Vocals, Drums – Joe Genua*
Vocals, Guitar, Twelve-string Guitar – Kieren Fitzpatrick
Written-By – Love Minus Zero

From the guest musicians we gather:
– Brad Fitzpatrick seems to have been involved in The Bam Balams too. I assume he is Kieren’s brother (?). If so, they were based in Sydney and so can it be safe to assume Love Minus Zero hailed from that same town? I think so.
– Damon Gilles is better known for have been part of The Moffs who recorded many records under their 60s sound being my favourite “Another Day in the Sun”

And the tracklist was:
A1 Wondering Why
A2 I Am Your Friend
A3 I Believe
B1 Beware
B2 Come On

All different songs from the Waterfront Records compilation. That’s why perhaps Kieren wanted to release some sort of album when I was in touch with him.

There’s also another Love Minus Zero track on yet another Waterfront compilation. On Waterfront catalog DAMP 43, on the “On the Waterfront Volume 3” compilation the song ‘Wondering Why’ was included. But this is just the same as the one in the EP.

And that’s all there is about them. Now that Myspace disappeared I don’t know where to contact Kieren. I wonder if he will find this, and maybe perhaps remember the interview! Would be great to know the story of the band. But if anyone out there know anything about this obscure Aussie band, don’t doubt to share!

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Listen
Love Minus Zero – Fade Away

How was I supposed to feel the past weekend? I did travel upstate to Beacon, a charming and quaint little town, to visit their one and only attractive, dia:Beacon. A fantastic museum with pieces by renowned artists like Stella or Flavin, names that I remember like yesterday from my days in university. Everything was huge in the museum. Every piece. Every installation. Even the museum was huge. High ceilings. Stairs. Basements. Even the parking lot. I love traveling by train. That’s one thing I love about Europe, though there I end up going to a castle, or to a cathedral. But better not compare, it’s all different here. I traveled in good company this time around, and on top of that had cheap and tasty dim sum. True, I never had cheap and tasty dim sum in any of my European train travels.

I did have Chinese food once on a train travel in Europe. We were in Swansea a year and change ago. I was still in love, and I believe she was too. I hear these days she moves in with her new-ish boyfriend. Moving fast and big steps  my lucky mittens. How things change in so little time and how easy it is for some people. Anyhow, she taught me that time what was a water chestnut. I didn’t know it’s name before even though I had had it many times before. I think I thought it was some sort of crunchy potato kind of. If you are Peruvian you might be familiar with ‘olluco’. I thought it was something similar to that. That’s why I remember that day having Chinese food at around 6:00 pm, like a proper American because we had to burn time until the next Swansea-Cardiff train at 7:00pm. It was empty the restaurant. And there was no fortune cookie.

At the Beacon Dim Sum place it was different. When leaving there was a big bowl with tons of fortune cookies for one to take. How much fortune one can get?! I asked myself. I looked around. No one was checking. I grabbed a handful of fortune cookies and put them in my tote bag. To my surprise many of my friends that day did the same when leaving the restaurant. I guess, a lot of fortune is always a promising thing.

But the fact is there was no fortune. On Friday I headed to Erik’s to watch the game with a bunch of Peruvian friends. The game that we had all been waiting. Peru-Uruguay in Lima. At the Estadio Nacional. We had no injured players, most of our players starting in their clubs and giving fine performances. Only Zambrano from Eintracht Frankfurt was suspended, but it wasn’t much of a worry. We were supposed to win this game and be very close to qualifying. But, if we tied or lose our chances were going to disappear. Guess what. We lost. 1-2. Unbelievable. A game that we had in our pocket for the first 42 minutes when Uruguay barely crossed the midfield. When we created chances. When there was a penalty the referee didnt give us. When Pizarro once again failed to deliver an easy goal opportunity against Muslera. The fact is, we Peruvians are not made for clutch time.

When we need to win, when we need to make the kill. We don’t.

And that’s how I felt the whole weekend. The whole week. Heartbroken. Not by a girl like a year ago but by my national team. A team who got nervous, who kicked the table before it’s time. Who got exasperated and got red carded. When things were so close, when things needed cold blood, and good decisions, and to think with the head and not with the heart, that’s when we lost the game.  Some people in the many forums I read, blame it to a lack of world-class quality in our players, but I don’t believe that’s it. I don’t want our players be like Luis Suarez acting like everyone is breaking his leg after a little foul or provoking every opponent. That’s not fair play. Or Lugano jumping with his elbow on the opponents head to every loose ball. I don’t want that. That’s not class. That’s dirty. That’ not good. But I do want them to keep calm, and not break into desperation when everything is against us including referees and the mafia driven Conmebol. I hope this lesson is learned by the younger kids that will take on qualifying to Russia 2018. Because I’m very sure we will make it. We have a good generation coming up and we don’t need a effing visa to go to Russia unlike the EU who treats us a little less than terrorists. So we’ll make it, just keep the hope and don’t despair.

Of course my certainty and hope for the next qualifiers don’t take away my disappointment right now. We were close once again like in 1997 when we were eliminated by goal difference in favor of the arrogant little strip of land called Chile and I cried in front of the the TV alone when we lost that game in Santiago. Again a clutch game. And we lost it. The TV showing how the Chilean police hit our players at the airport. The Chileans attacking our players with racist chants and holding little black plush monkeys. You see European friends, you ban and disqualify teams like that. In South America no one cares. It’s all about money. And yeah, Chileans believe sometimes they are descended from those Aryan gods the third reich went looking in the Himalayas. The world a lot of times doesn’t make sense. I know.

That’s how I feel at 29. Happysad and very hopeful. 2018 will be the year when I’ll see Peru again in a World Cup. I may just as well skip traveling next year to Brazil and instead save that money and go to UK for Indietracks, for Indiepop, my other passion. Footie and girls are not all in this life you know.

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cantel : The raised section of the medieval war-saddle, high to keep the knight in the saddle.

Interesting, I love the medieval times, the crusades, castles and all that. But I doubt their name comes from there. Let’s check if as a last name it makes more sense.

Cantel: This very interesting name is early medieval and job descriptive, and refers to a bellman, one who rang the ‘Chanterelles’ – the trebles, or who sang the treble in a choir. The derivation is from the Olde French, the word being introduced by the Normans after 1066. There are at least five modern alternative spellings including Chantrell, Chantrill, Cantrell, Cantrill and Cantwell, sometimes the name is a diminutive meaning ‘Son of Cant or Chant’. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Philip Canterel which was dated 1203, in the “Staffordshire Assize Court” during the reign of King John, known as “Lackland”, 1199 – 1216.

I wonder if any of these entries shed some meaning about the band The Cantels. The truth is that we know a bit about them already because I wrote about their previous incarnation, The Capitols, some time ago.

One of my interesting ideas about their band name comes from the A side of The Capitols single. The name of the song was “Who Can Tell?”. So if you get ‘Can Tell’ you get Cantell. That’s almost as Cantels, right? Just an idea.

The only member I’m sure that was on both The Capitols and The Cantels was Sue Emilon.  But maybe there were more. I still don’t know who was Jimbo on The Capitols 7″.

The Cantels only released one 12″. It wasn’t an album but a max single. The A side had “I Want to Be Alone” and “Emily”. The B side had “Poor Misguided Fool” and “Pictures in Your Mind”. On the capitols we know Sue wrote all the songs. Here she wrote 1 and 4 and co-wrote 2 and 3 along with Simon Vincent (though on Discogs it credits it to a S. Maragah).

We do have names for the band mates on the back cover, but not last names. All of them start with an S. Coincidences? Sue played guitars and sung. She also played the piano on “Emily”. Steev drummed. Simon played guitar. Spencer bass. And Simon Vincent played organ.

There are some nice liner notes, some thank you notes, that read like this:
Thanks to Jane, Simon V, Rob and Anna, Phil Savage, Trevor, Simon Romer
Love and Thanks to Jane for giving me the Words to Emily

The record was released by Bubble Records in 1988, catalog Bubble 001, so I assume it was self-released.

The only other sort of clue is that they hailed from Moseley in Birmingham. I’ve never been there but I’ve read both The Rotter’s Club and The Closed Circle by Jonathan Coe, so it is kind of familiar to me.

And that’s really all I could find about them. I often ask myself if these names were fake names or not. On The Capitols I got to know that Tank was really Pete Byrchmore. Here in the Cantels it’s already puzzling that all have names starting with S. Also Sue Emilon was already using this same name when she was in The Capitols when everyone was using fake names.  Emilon being more of a French saint name.

Do anyone out there know anything else by this enigmatic band that? Did they record more songs? Did anyone catch them live? Whatever happened to them? I don’t want to leave them alone!

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Listen
The Cantels – I Want to Be Alone

It’s Sunday already. Indietracks’ last day. How should I feel? Honestly I feel gutted. I wake up with a sort of melancholy and nostalgia for previous years when the partying lasted much longer. Yesterday was a ‘fail’. There was no dancing. There was rain. It’s true, last year it was raining but the situation was different. I was a very happy man when nothing would ruin my vacations at Indietracks and then later at Wales. This year I was much more my usual self.

At least I’ll have free breakfast I thought. Make it before 11am again. I woke up late but I managed to be around 10:30am at the pub within the hotel. To my luck Cristóbal and the rest of my Spanish friends were there still.

After enjoying my necessary proteins and brown sauce for the day we headed towards the hotel entrance were Camera Obscura were getting ready to leave Derbyshire. They were all leaving, along with Francis McDonald on a big gray van. The only member of the gang that was staying for one last day of Indietracks was Lee. Andreas from Alpaca wasn’t shy at all and in the meantime, while they were waiting talked with Tracyanne and gave her a very nice present, the latest Alpaca Sports 7″. It made me grin of happiness, I know how big of a fan he is, I remember the day here in NYC when he played me twice the whole new album from a NPR stream. I thought there were some good songs on it, but he thought it was all so perfect!

To our surprise, to us who were around 10 people at the entrance waiting for our cabs, we received a present from Camera Obscura. A big box full of alcoholic treats! Wine bottles, beer cans, cider. Even water. Are we lucky or what? At that moment we decided that after Indietracks we would all meet at night, at the tables outside the pub of the hotel for our Indietracks after-party. We had now all that we needed.

Olaf and me got a free ride on Sam’s, from the Cosines, car. Jordan from Flowers rode shotgun. After a stop at a supermarket for some cash, and were I saw one of those low-life English men all beaten up after a drunken night that I only thought you see at the movies, we went all the way past Golden Valley campsite and to Indietracks grounds!

I remember Sunday to be very quiet at first. I met with Astrid, John and Amanda while they had very late breakfast by the vegetarian cafe. There were still no bands playing. Then I saw Kajsa and she was buying these long candies. Then to check the merch table where Michael from Pebble Records was giving me a hand. The Secret History records all were sold out. Same as the Flowers 7″s. I should have brought more of those, less of the t-shirts I thought.

The bar, the beer. The warm beer. There were owls too. Pet owls. Or exhibition owls. I don’t know. But there were some by the entrance. There were some by the bar too. I touched one of them on the head, and the belly. Carefully. I was afraid to being pecked and bleed out. I was just curious. I don’t think I’ve touch a bird since I had parakeets when I was six or so. And these were huge.

The first show I managed to see were Alpaca Sports at 3pm. The fifth time I see them within a year. Sometimes it goes like that doesn’t it? There are bands that you think you’ll never see and then boom, all of the time. I knew what to expect then. A flawless set of indiepop bliss. This time though there were some differences. Like their New York shows they would get help from friends. They got Miguel from The Felt Tips to play guitar and two of the Understudies to play bass and drums. Andreas always ambitious looking for a bigger sound. And why not? If it sounds better. I get goosebumps everytime I hear a song played live that I’ve released. I don’t think it’s because of self-importance, or a big ego. Sure there’s pride. But I’ve listened to these songs on repeat so many times that I feel they are almost my own. I know the lyrics by heart, especially when they are sung so clearly by a band. And that’s what happens to me with Alpaca Sports. But here there’s an exception, there’s the song “He Doesn’t Even Like You”, that I also feel like mine. When in NYC we listened to this song so many times. I would have loved to release it of course. I accompanied the band to record a video around the city. Times Square and places. I think I was supposed to appear on the video, but I’m glad I was cut off the final version. I would have looked so silly and unglamorous on it. Anyhow, that song is amazing and great to dance to it. Anyhow, the gig. It went too fast! I was standing next to Emma and her starcrushed eyes for Andreas. I was filming the whole thing. A few steps from me the Italians were singing all the songs, chanting them like tifosi. Everyone having a fantastic time. Dancing even. The French crowd was also at the front row. Jennifer was also filming but mainly Miguel. The intricacy of Miguel’s guitar playing was like always awing. Such a talent! And of course a great addition to Alpaca Sports sound this time. First time they all played together and again they managed a tight show, a fun show, and I can never say I’ve ever seen Alpaca Sports under-perform. They’ve always been the stars of every festival I’ve been.

So at the main stage we had to run for Flowers. Funny that Flowers always tell me they have the chance to see Alpaca Sports but for a reason or another, being at the same place at the same time, they can’t see them. This time because they were immediately after them and they had to set up their stuff. Though, now at Berlin Popfest I’m sure they’ll all see each other. Anyhow. Flowers. I’ve seen many nice reviews written about their gigs, the future that awaits for them, their growing popularity, and all. The surprising thing is, they are as lovely and as humble as I first talked to them. Like if they were still just a CDR band, giving their songs for free on bandcamp. Which they do of course. But they are so down to Earth that is surprising. No egos whatsoever. And perhaps that’s their secret for being so powerful on stage and for connecting with the crowd. A crowd that relates to their noisy guitars and Rachel’s inspired vocals. Powerful like always, they charmed us all. Friends of mine at the festival would come up to me later and tell me this was the best concert at Indietracks. I found Jordan just after and got their latest 7″ on Fortuna Pop, a record that continues to build the myth around the band. This is when I meet Remi, a Japanese fan. Perhaps the only Japanese fan at Indietracks this year. I introduce her to Jordan and we take photos. She happens to know Cloudberry too. I’m grateful. It made my day. I love her last name, it’s almost tsunami.

Church now. The Soulboy Collective are doing their sound check. The church is packed. When I turn around, because I took the front row seats I notice that everyone is either German or Spanish. You can’t ask for a noisier crowd! They play 6 songs. According to Olaf this is the longest set they’ve ever played. Last time he saw them in Germany they only played 3 songs. A shame indeed. Because their songs are truly beautiful, with great girl/boy vocals and classy arrangements. A very unique band, that sounds much different to any of the bands in the indiepop scene today. I guess at this time most people were watching Another Sunny Day on the train. The fact is, they missed one of the best gigs at Indietracks. Jürgen almost hiding behind the mixing desk and singing there shyly, and then in front a friendly and bubbly Lex, charming us with her big smile, and why not mention the guitar player with his thin mustache and Fred Perry wardrobe that was having the time of his life jangling along! I believe it was when they announced that they were playing “It’s All Because of You” that all the Spanish went nuts. Or was it with the last song? I can’t remember. Anyhow, it was pure beauty and because I was so charmed by it I left my shyness away, said hello to them and asked them to join me in a bunch of photos. Things a fan does.

Indoor stage. Making Marks. I believe they have only just arrived do Indietracks. I haven’t seen them around. When I got to the shed they were already on stage prepping up their instruments. From far away I said hello to Ola and then to Nina. I didn’t see them after the gig after. I wonder if they enjoyed themselves at Indietracks. I guess they did. The one thing that struck me about this show was the in-between songs, Ola telling the best stories and jokes this festival. After their show, I wouldn’t have been surprised that the stock Fika Records had brought of their 7″ sold out. A lot of people now were telling me this was the best show at the festival. For me, it was the moments when they played My Little Pony songs, that one song Ola loves telling it was a hit on MTV in Norway, that’s the best one. But don’t get me wrong, Making Marks, albeit a bit different, also have great songs. This “Barcodes” one is a true hit! And the crowd noticed, and the crowd loved it.

7:20pm. Getting a bit tired by now? Not at all. Back to the church. I have a mission in life. And that is to see The Fireworks. I had met already Shaun earlier on the day and had a bit of an incident with my Wedding Present t-shirt. But now it was time for watching Matthew’s band. A band that now counts with Emma and Isabel! Last time I saw them at Indietracks was a different lineup. I think I like this lineup much better I must say. In any case the show was a blast of throwback pop. It sounded like I was transported back to 87, listening to demo tapes of obscure bands. The Fireworks could have been one of them. Wearing anoraks and Pastels badges. Noisy, ringing guitars, bouncy basses, catchy songs, all the ingredients you need to make yourself a good band. I know Matthew for some time now, and we always have a good laugh, but whenever I see him singing, with a guitar, it is just so strange. I can’t never picture him. In fact I have forgotten the image of him playing already. I do know he is wearing a hat. And that must be it. I need to see photos. I just can’t picture him. And who cares, if they are so good live and I forget their looks or their dances or their mannerisms.  What I care is that I want to see them live again. They were really fantastic! You all better get their debut 7″ on Shelflife if you haven’t!

Time for dinner. I think I’m getting the last pieces of chicken the burrito place has. From the hill I see the main stage, The Wake are playing. I find Jennifer and we go and sit in a quiet place. We munch away, catching up. I have barely talked to her during Indietracks. I think she has been spending too much time at the stationary train.

Walking back towards the shed. On the way there Liz from The School stops me. “Do you want to be on stage with Helen Love?” she asks me. I had met Helen Love a bit ago, I stopped her and told her I was a big fan and took a photo, etc etc etc. Things I do. And now I can be on stage? Seriously? I am all up for it I say. Shooing glitter guns? Of course, even better. Let’s do it. She says to meet by the left entrance to the stage. To stand there and that she might need more people. I see Viktor around. He is a big fan too. I tell him about it, and he is up for it. And then by the front row there’s Joanny, Clemence and Amanda. They are up for it too. Kajsa is also up for it. Isabel starts putting glitter in our faces. I’ve never felt so manly in my life.

Helen Love is on and it’s being so MUCH fun. We are all jumping, up and down like atomic beat boys. Singing the songs. More like shouting the songs. It feels everyone knows them by heart here! This is an apotheosis already. We are all having the best time, dancing, almost pogoing. She plays all the classics, from “Girl About Town” to “Happy Hardcore”. It’s like she knows what we all want. It’s one of the gigs I’m going to treasure the most. And then suddenly they tell us is time for us to go in. So people start going in. And then suddenly the bouncer says that’s it. Stop. No more. And Joanny, Victor, Clemence, Amanda and me are like ‘what’s going on?’. We were asked to do it. It seems other people cut in line! Some unknown indiepop fans. Kajsa and Isabel got in. Marianthi too. Tim and Liz. What’s going to happen to us. We talk to the bouncer, and suddenly they say 4 more people or so can come in. Sadly Amanda is left out. But the rest of us go in. And then when “Does Your Heart Go Booooooom?” is about to start we all join Helen Love on stage, we shoot glitter guns and we dance like possessed people. This is all so well documented on Youtube mind you. We have the time of our lives. I remember this moment still vividly. I never expected I would do such a thing. Will I blame it on the beer or on my love for Helen Love? I dont know. Then the gig is over, I run and pick up a setlist and give Helen Love a BIG hug. For me, Indietracks has ended. I don’t want to watch any other bands. This is the memory I want to keep.

Now it was time for dancing. And I don’t know but there were no indie discos this year. I saw a post by Dennis on Anorak forum stating the same. I wasn’t alone in this. But what can I say. If I complain I get the whole British crowd against me like that one time at London Popfest when a club night didn’t care about us the indiepop people. Anyhow, at least this year they played some cheesy pop songs, and well, I’m into that too, especially when I want to just dance and be foolish. So sure, I can handle Madonna then. That’s when they played that song that I talked it was Magneto’s “Vuela Vuela” but in French. But no, it was Desireless’ “Voyage Voyage” the original. This is when we all did the train dance to some tropical sounding song. This is when I showed off some dancing skills without falling to the floor. Carl, Amanda, Amanda 2, Amanda 3, Joanny, Astrid, and more were all putting the dancefloor on fire!!!

Funny fact here. I see a guy on the dancefloor wearing a t-shirt that says Peru, with a llama. Guess what? I introduce myself and take a photo with him. Yeah, things a drunk person does.

Then by midnight of course they tell us we have to go. Hugs, kisses, time to say goodbye. Take the last train. Some making out happens in front of me. I get to talk to Graeme for a little bit, tell him to play another show! And then the ride is over. Long wait for a taxi. Pierre and me take the last one to show up almost at 1:30am. At the hotel people are bringing the box out that Camera Obscura gave us as a gift. We are all at the table, maybe around 20 of us. We are happysad. We talk for many more hours. We are leaving Derbyshire very soon, as soon as we wake up possibly. It’s all going to be so sad. But hopefully there’s next year to get our spirits high again. Be back at Swanwick Junction, because as they say in thee modern times, Indietracks I <3 you.

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Listen
Northern Spies – Swanwick Junction