Back now from France, from vacations, from castles and bakeries, from boulevards and gorgeous cathedrals, from museums filled by impressionists and  supermarkets with quality wine. Back to the Big Apple then since yesterday night. With jet lag. Tired. Exhausted but having having had such a good experience in France that I can’t wait to return.

I didn’t get around to see any indiepop bands. I did see many of my good friends living there, the Pale Spectres, Alpaca Sports, Cristina Quesada, Carlos from Eva & John, Yves from Hands and Arms, Jennifer and Miguel who came from England, and Joanny from Another Sunny Night. I bought two 7″s by Les Autres almost before leaving. I got the new CD from Pale Spectres that they have made for their tour around Paris, Nantes and Rennes this week. But that was it. I only visited one record store and it was just a chance encounter. I didn’t even plan to go record shopping. Quite terrible from an indiepop lover, but I was already so thrilled by all the castles, the châteaus, I saw.

Now it’s time then to start working on the label again, on the new releases. I’m still hopeful that any day now I’ll receive the Pale Spectres masters from Spain. There is also a 7″ by a Swedish band that I will announce very soon. We are just trying to figure out the artwork and then we are go. It should be a 4 song EP of pure jangle bliss.

I should start working on the new fanzine. I know, I’ve been saying that for some time. But I should do now. There’s many things I want to do and so little time! But at least I try to blog once a week. I actually missed blogging last week.

The Twee.net poll seems to be still open. I guess Peter is busy traveling and haven’t had the chance to count the votes.

Some good news I saw today was that My Light Shines For You have published their first video ever. It’s for the song “Why?“. I had a lot of fun watching it. It’s very “Heavenly”.

Also do listen the latest from Lost Tapes. “Girls“, it’s a beautiful slice of indiepop. I have received all their new recordings their other day, for the album they will be putting out on Mushroom Pillow later this year, but I haven’t had the chance yet to listen to it. But if it’s anything like this, then it’s definitely a cracker.

Maybe I’m missing some other news! Did I mention that Sunny Summer Day from Indonesia, our Cloudberry friends, will be playing NYC Popfest this year too? Maybe I did! I feel like being away two weeks I have lost track of most of the news! But next week I think I’ll be up to date with everything that’s going on. Hopefully do a review too of all the new unknown bands I’ve seen on the Indietracks lineup. Maybe there’s a surprise there!

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I arrived around 9pm yesterday at home. From Charles de Gaulle airport, a stop in Keflavik airport. Then the line of immigration, the airtrain, and then the subway on the E, to the street and then to the N. Waiting for me at my mailbox at home was a record I’ve been hunting for a long time. And when I finally saw it at a decent price on eBay, I bidded right away. I never thought though that I was going to be lucky enough that I ended up being the only bidder!

Released on their own Sticky Label (Sticky 001), Fetch Eddie’s one and only 7” included two songs: on the A side we had “He’ll Love You Till You’re Pregnant” and on the B side “Too Much to Ask For”. It was 1987 and indiepop was in perhaps it’s best moment ever.

From the back sleeve we know that Fetch Eddie was Pod on vocals, Aaron James on lead guitar and vocals, Lucy Lloyd on bass, guitar and vocals and Johnny Rimshot on drums.

The 7″ was produced at TVM by Mike and the band. The design and the cool drawings on the artwork were done by mini cine. That’s what we find on the back sleeve, but on the labels the production credits are for Good Fortune. From the labels we find out that Pod  was actually a P. O’Donnell. Not sure what his first name is.

This is definitely a great single if you can find it. Upbeat, a bit punky even, but all so catchy! If you ever see it, get it. I see there’s a copy available now on Discogs (though a bit pricey!).

I keep digging and I end up in a website I’ve visited many times before: Tamworth Bands.

It was on that page that I found out about so many bands like Bash Out the Odd, Space Seeds, Great Express or Emma Gibbs Loves Badges. What I find though there is that the band, after releasing this single changed their name to Fetch Eddie The Baby’s Gone Blue. Or was this their real long name since the start?

The photo on the Tamworth band would suggest they changed their name as I can’t see a girl, a Lucy in it. Also only two band members seem to be listed. Pod and Aaron. But then, a clip from the Tamworth Herald says:
Plumbing Eddie’s Depths
A NEW BAND, sporting the name ‘Fetch Eddie The Baby’s Gone Blue’ made their first demo on Saturday and we hope to look at them in more detail shortly. Among their tasteful numbers is one called “He’ll Love You ‘Til You’re Pregnant”. Lovely.

So I am almost 100% sure the long name was their original name now.

There’s a gig list too, and it seems they played many many times with Emma Gibbs Loves Badges. The only other band I know they played with were The Wonderstuff.

Other songs listed from Tamworth clippings are “Memories”, “Disguises”, “Mean Tin O Beans”, “Keep on Running”, “No Good For Love”, “It’s Your Turn”, “Teachers Lemonette” and “Steamroller”.

We also learn that they worked on a demo for CBS. Don’t know what happened with it. I believe it’s the one called “Mean Tin O’ Beans” and there’s a review from Tamworth Herald:
It’s took a very long time for this new demo to finally surface but all the wait seems worthwhile. This new four tracker will further convince those of us that are committed to the band and should hopefully win over many that are not. Best of the four are the two tracks in the middle – ‘Teachers Lemonette’ and ‘I Think That I Love You’. The former is an unexpected joy, a bubbling 50s rockabilly jaunt with some stylish rhythm work, the usual amazing vocal and a surprise burst of harmonica at the end, ‘I think That I love You’ is let down slightly by a lack-lustre muffled production but still retains its basic high-energy, high-jinks sound and remains to my ears the nearest thing any local band has come to a piece of pure pop. The tape is completed by the punchy title track and a splendid acoustic version of ‘Mar. Sharp’. All in all a perfect introduction into the multi-faceted talent of a multi-faceted band. The business.

Then in August of 1990 it seems Aaron left the band and with that the band split. It was said that they were going to carry on, but it seems that didn’t happen.

I don’t have much more information, but definitely check out the Tamworth bands page were there’s a lot of information from the Tamworth Herald.

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Listen
Fetch Eddie – He’ll Love You Till You’re Pregnant

Tomorrow vacations! I will be away, so no blog posts, until the first week of April. I won’t be able to post any orders either. All orders for Cloudberry Records will be posted upon my return on the 28th.

A bit of a shame that I will be in Europe a couple of days after Madrid Popfest. I missed it by some days. It happened just this weekend, but when it was announced I already had my plane tickets for France and all sort of plans put together. Not an indiepop trip, as there are no gigs while I’ll be there (I will miss Pale Spectres and De Montevert just by a few days, shame!), but will hang out with friends and do a lot of tourism.

Speaking of Madrid Popfest there were a couple of bands in the lineup that were totally new to me, and now while I’m at work, swamped with so many things to do, I started catching up with them. The first band that I had never heard about was Sierra. They had a sold out 10″ on the venerable Gramaciones Grabofónicas label that was released in December of 2014. This solo project (expanded live with Clara, Arturo and Antonio) is driven by Hugo Sierra who had been in bands like Prisma en Llamas or Margarita. I saw Prisma en Llamas in 2013, at the Madrid Popfest and it wasn’t my sort of thing. Strangely (and happily), Sierra is much more up my street. Very influenced by la Movida, as well as contemporary Spanish pop, there are some really good lyrics and catchy melodies. See if I can get lucky and find a copy of his sole record.

The other band that was totally new to me was Rubella. They hail from Manchester and are formed by Carmen Rus, Simon Gilbert, Adam Marsden and John Wilkes. I believe they’ve released nothing so far but they have a bunch of songs on their soundcloud. The Madrid Popfest website describes them like a mix of Marine Girls and Le Mans and I think they are dead on with that. I really like their song “Overcoat” were they also reminded me of Po! and that is always a great thing.

I wonder how was this edition of Madrid Popfest, would love to hear from fans. I saw some photos and I think everyone had a great time. Wish I had been there!

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Here’s another band I’m looking for their sole 7″, Kiss Me Twice!

I know about this band only recently, thanks to Joel from Portugal who shared with me their 2 songs from their 7″. I don’t know when it was released, though I would guess sometime in the late 80s. It was released in a label called KMT and the catalog number was KMT-701.

The songs on the record are “Suzanne” on the A side and “Real Love” on the B side. Kevin Anthony is credited as a composer for both songs, and Marc Anthony as a co-author for the B side. And no, it’s not Jennifer Lopez’s Marc Anthony. I’m actually thinking these two names might be pseudonyms, as they really don’t sound like German names.

The other thing that seems pretty obvious is that this was a self-release. The label name, KMT, can definitely translate to Kiss Me Twice. The 701 part is a mystery though.

The black and white cover, mostly gray, has a photo that I believe is of Alain Delon, though I can’t pinpoint from which movie. But maybe I’m wrong.

The only other information I could find online was that they hailed from Reinfeld.

Reinfeld is a town in the district of Stormarn, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated near the river Trave, approx. 8 km east of Bad Oldesloe, and 14 km west of Lübeck. It belongs to the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. The Danes ruled in Reinfeld from 1762 until 1864. After a short period under Austrian rule as a result of the Second War of Schleswig, Holstein became a province of Prussia in 1866. Reinfeld became officially a town in 1926.

I’ve been close, I’ve been in several towns in Schleswig-Holstein, Lübeck for example, but never there.

If anyone know anything about them, their members, any other releases, what years were they active, what happened to them, etc, etc, please get in touch! Would love to know more about this band!

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Listen
Kiss Me Twice – Suzanne

Next week vacations!! And this week we are celebrating with the release of The Suncharms!! I’m really happy with the support that we’ve received, especially now since the postage prices went up. On top of it all, Japanese fans, will get a special edition of our CD with an Obi strip plus liner notes translated to Japanese. Very happy about this, it means a lot!

Aside from this very exciting news, things are a bit quiet at Cloudberry but as soon as we return from vacations we will be announcing some news. That means future releases. We do have the Pale Spectres 7″ waiting for a long time, and it will come out, but we have some exciting news coming from Sweden this time. Hopefully I’ll be able to announce the next Cloudberry Cake Kitchen release as well.

Now it’s mostly time for me to think about France and all these places I will visit. And all the friends I will see! In the meantime though, let’s review the few American bands that  are playing Popfest and that I didn’t get the chance to review last time.

1 – Bent Shapes – I heard about them not too long ago as I saw that they were releasing an LP for Slumberland. From what I see on their bandcamp they hail from Boston and this LP on Slumberland called “Wolves of Want” is their 2nd album after “Feels Weird”. I haven’t listened to the whole discography, this is just a quick look, a hasty listen to get an idea, but from the two only songs I could stream from their last album I’m not sold. I don’t dislike it, but I don’t love it. A bit generic for my taste I’d say, and much more influenced by American pop than UK pop (the one I’m a sucker for, so that’s why perhaps I’m not hooked). For those of you who love this sort of sound they are also playing on the 12th here in NYC at Union Pool. And for Popfest they will be playing the free Saturday show at Baby’s All Right! at 3:45pm.

2 – Catholic Easter Colors – they come from the unlikely Alabama. I have heard about them first through the indiepop mailing list and today I’m finally listening to their songs on Bandcamp. I expected slow songs, because of their name taken from a song by Northern Picture Library (though they spell it ‘colours’), and they deliver that. The sort of music for rainy days, gray skies, and all the sort of melancholia you can imagine. Don’t know how it will translate to being played live, but it will definitely be a challenge for the band. Some good ideas here definitely though the songs on bandcamp sound and feel very demo-ish I think. They are playing early, opening the Sunday gig, at 3:45pm at Littlefield.

3 – Lake Ruth – More 60s than 80s. Even though they are from NYC this is the first time I hear about them. There are only 2 songs on Bandcamp, the second song “The Prisoner’s Dilemma” is really nice! It’s not something that fits in the Cloudberry sound, I know that, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy this beautiful piece of pop. The opening track is good too, I especially like the title of it, “The Inconsolable Jean-Claude”. Though you know if they had changed that choppy guitar for a jangly guitar, I would have loved it more, but who am I to say! This is a good discovery and definitely want to check them at 4:30pm on Sunday at Littlefield.

4 – Eureka California – Never heard about them so I got surprised to see that they have many releases on their bandcamp. They are also playing this March 9th there in NYC, at Palisades in Brooklyn. The thing is that they are more of a garage band than an indiepop band. So not sure why they play Popfest. I guess to have some variety? Anyhow, they play Sunday, at 6:00pm at Littlefield. Wish they played later so I could escape to get some dinner.

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The kidneys are bean-shaped organs that serve several essential regulatory roles in vertebrates. They remove excess organic molecules from the blood, and it is by this action that their best-known function is performed: the removal of waste products of metabolism. Kidneys are essential to the urinary system and also serve homeostatic functions such as the regulation of electrolytes, maintenance of acid–base balance, and regulation of blood pressure (via maintaining the salt and water balance). They serve the body as a natural filter of the blood, and remove water-soluble wastes which are diverted to the bladder. In producing urine, the kidneys excrete nitrogenous wastes such as urea and ammonium. They are also responsible for the reabsorption of water, glucose, and amino acids. The kidneys also produce hormones including calcitriol and erythropoietin. An important enzyme renin is also produced in the kidneys which acts in negative feedback.

I leave my record boxes to a side this week. I will pick an obscure band from a bunch of songs my friend Joel from Portugal has sent me during the past weeks. This time around I chose an obscure band from the north, from Finland. They were called The Kidneys and they only released one 7″.

Two songs appeared on this 7″ on Strawberry Records (SBS 007). The songs were “Alphabet People” and “Smile” and both are nice jangly popsongs, very much in the style of the early nineties, like Mrs. Kipling or Sundress for example. It’s no surprise then that this record came out in 1991.

The sleeve of the record seems nothing special, plain white, and a sticker with the name of the band on the front. Don’t know what’s on the back sleeve as I don’t own this record. We do know that the lyrics are credited to Jukka Hiltunen. Who is Jukka Hiltunen? There is a Finnish actor of the same name, born in 1965 and that has appeared in Hollywood movies like The Beach or 28 Days Later. Is this the same Jukka? Age wise it could be, in 1991 he would have been 26 years old.

I inspect the Strawberry Records discography. The only band I really know from it is “Bird in The Bush”. Other bands that are totally new to me are The Undertakers, Terrortones, The Innerspacemen among others. Doubt that with those names they are very poppy. But who knows.

I’ve never know much about the Finnish scene. There are and have been amazing bands, but never in big quantities. Definitely The Kidneys is a good surprise. Even a bigger surprise was finding a promo video for this song on Youtube. It is said that this video was directed by Jimi Tenor.

That’s all I could find about them. Does anyone know more about them? Did they record any more songs? Any other releases? Maybe compilation appearances? Would be nice to hear more from then!

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Listen
The Kidneys – Alphabet People