A good weekend working on the fanzine and the MacGuffins compilation! Exciting times indeed! And that’s not all, there’s some great music discoveries and news too!

The Church Grims: what a song is “Plaster Saint”. The Church Grims were fantastic. And Firestation Records will be releasing on CD and vinyl “Yankee Mags” a new compilation of all their tracks. This is great news as the Egg Records release is quite hard to find these days! I’ve tried to interview them in the past, and I really hope it happens soon!

Rorschach: and this band I have interviewed in the past! Firestation will be releasing on CD the compilation album “Beautiful Ignorance”. On Soundcloud they are sharing one of the tracks that will be included, “Gabriel”, which you’ll see is terrific. This one can’t be missed. It will be out on March 27!

The Orchids: Firestation seems to be on a roll! The Berlin label will be re-releasing the album “The Lost Star” by the amazing Glasgow band The Orchids. What a band! This album came some years ago on Pebble Records. Actually 10 years ago! Time flies. I remember this as if it was yesterday. Firestation’s release will be on vinyl only.

Even as We Speak: Shelflife is another label that is back with great stuff. The news this time is that they will be releasing the legendary Australian’s this June. It will be an album and it will be called “Adelphi”. It will be a co-release with the Spanish label Discos de Kirlian. If you want to have a taster they have shared the song “Forgiving”.

Lake Ruth: this New York band sounds amazing. For a reason or another I still haven’t seen them live. You can only blame me. But there is good news, the Augsburg label Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten, who as you know has great taste, released a few days ago a 10″ vinyl EP called “Crying Everyone Else’s Tears”. It is one not to be missed!

—————————————————————–

When you think of records produced by John Rivers, you probably think of The Pastels, Close Lobsters, The Brilliant Corners, and more. Great C86 bands. I was checking other records John produced and found one by a band called Tell Tale Hearts that came out in 1986. I had no clue about it. But the year and the producer was indicating me that I should investigate. So, I did.

Then I find out that the three songs on the 12″ record were recorded at Woodbine Studios in Leamington Spa. That must be a good thing, right? Mighty Mighty recorded there, the Jazz Butcher too. And Leamington Spa, well, we all know these compilations called “The Sound of Leamington Spa”. I must be in the right track. I am going to like their music.

The three songs on the 12″ single were “The Eight Till Late” on the A side and “Falling Down” and “Jingly Jangly Sperm” on the B side. So far I’ve only found the last track, “Jingly Jangly Sperm”, which does sound very good! I need to order a copy of the record. Are the other two songs as good?

The record was released by Edens Doorbell (EDD1), which seems to have been the band’s own label. There are no other releases listed.

Discogs lists them on a tape compilation called “The Perfect Squash Vol.2” that Evermore Music (EMC 004), from Northampton, put out. It doesn’t say the year though. The band appears on the B side, the last song, which is “All Men Are B#####s”. The only other band I recognize from this compilation is the Deep Freeze Mice. I believe the band Tall Tale Hearts also hailed from Northampton as there is a contact address on this tape’s sleeve.

I believe too that the band appeared on another tape compilation called “The Holy Bible” that Heartache Records from Rugby released back in the day. On this 1986 tape the band appeared with the song “Jingly Jangly Sperm”. Other bands in it include The Wedding Present, The Jazz Butcher and Spacemen 3.

I mention Spacemen 3 for a reason. You see Tall Tale Hearts was formed by Ade Rhodes on bass and vocals, Mark Refoy and Tim Sansom on guitar and vocals. The connection is of course that Mark Refoy was in Spacemen 3. He was also on Freelovebabies, Slipstream, Spiritualized, Syndromes, The Tempest and This Parade. First he supported many gigs of Spacemen 3 with his own Tell Tale Hearts throughout 1985-1986. Then he would join Spacemen 3 and played his first gig with them on July 20th, 1989 at the Imperial Pub in Rugby. Actually I suggest anyone reading this piece to check out an article about the Rugby scene written by Graham Holliday for Medium. Lots of interesting details of that time in there!

The photo I’m using for the post comes from the fanzine Cradle to the Grave. I wonder if anyone has this zine. If it has any more information about the band.

Something that is pretty obvious too is that they took their name from the famous short story by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Tell-Tale Heart”.

“The Tell-Tale Heart” is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1843. It is relayed by an unnamed narrator who endeavors to convince the reader of the narrator’s sanity while simultaneously describing a murder they committed. The victim was an old man with a filmy “vulture-eye”, as the narrator calls it. The narrator emphasizes the careful calculation of the murder, attempting the perfect crime, complete with dismembering and hiding the body under the floorboards. Ultimately, the narrator’s feelings of guilt, or a mental disturbance, result in hearing a thumping sound, which the narrator interprets as the dead man’s beating heart.

I believe they had other songs, at least ones called “Avalanche” and “Home and Dry”. There was also at least two demo tapes by the band.

The only other interesting bit I found was that the band disbanded in 1987.

Lots of course written about Spacemen 3. But about Tell Tale Hearts next to nothing. But at least I have some sort of idea now. Now it is just a matter of finding a copy of the record, and hopefully someone can fill in the blanks. I’m sure someone remembers them? Were there more songs? Why just the one record?!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen
Tell Tale Hearts – Jingly Jangly Sperm

A short post for Friday. Weekend is ahead and will be able to work on thee art for MacGuffins retrospective (exciting!) and finishing the fanzine too. I think the fanzine should be out by mid-April. I’ll keep you updated with any news!

In the meantime find some good new music here!

Lawnchair: this Long Beach, California, band already surprised me with their music just a few weeks ago. Now they have released a new song called “Recess” which is really good. Lo-fi indiepoptasticness!

Bez: this must be the first time that I feature a band from Poznan, Poland! This dreampop psychedelic band released a CD album last July and it was called “Bańki mydlane”. It has 8 songs of swirling guitars with the great vocals by Siasia Wylzynska. The band is also formed by Sebastian Olko on guitar and synths, Mateusz Gawinecki on guitar, Mikolaj Meller on bass and Filip Skitek on drums.

Frio: “Idem” is a two song single released by the German label Entes Anomico. Frio is the name of the Argentinean band that have written these songs. There is very little information about this release. But I must say that the song “Drama” is really good. Will it get released in a 7″? a tape? Again, no info. All very cryptic here!

яблоня: this Russian band from Moscow has already graced the blog in the past. Now they are back with a new song called “еврокафе ” which is a strange mix of synthwave and indiepop!

The Empty Shell: do not confuse them with the great Irish 80s band Empty Shell. This Indonesian band from Bandung adds “The” to their name and their style is very different. The 3 tracks from their debut EP “Faint Light” are proper dreampop/shoegaze. The songs are being released by Ocean Records I suppose just in digital platforms for now but soon there will be a 3″CD.

Hazy Sour Cherry: the London label Damnably will be releasing the album “Tour de Tokyo” on vinyl sometime this year. The band formed by Tsuzumi, Jun, Karin and Poppo Professor hail from Shimokitazawa in Tokyo. They are a fun effervescent pop combo. The 11 songs on the album are worth playing!

—————————————————————–

Moon Boot is a snow boot brand first created as après-ski wear in the early 1970s by manufacturer Tecnica Group of Giavera del Montello in Italy. They became a popular fad in the years following the Apollo 11 moon landing, and resurfaced as a retrofuturistic fashion trend in the early 2000s. They received additional exposure through the nerdy protagonist of the 2004 film Napoleon Dynamite.[

A rush of ringing and chiming guitars and French vocals is what I got when I stumbled upon the track “J’aurais Préferé” by Les Moonboots. But who were they?

The song is a bit odd. It clocks 1:43 minutes, and around the minute mark, that beautiful rush of jangly guitars stop and comes a different guitar style. Mysterious indeed.

This song I found on Youtube, on my friend Heinz’s account. I would find that this song was included in a tape called “Quatre-quarts”, a compilation released by Le Tatou Colérique (C94) in 1994. I had previously talked a bit about this comp, as the band Les Fleurs were also showcased on it. But I couldn’t say much as there really is not much information about it, nor about the label. We do know though that Les Moonboots contributed 3 other songs to it, “Un Mauvais Moment”, “Je Suis Combié” and “Le Piongeoir”. 4 in total then. And aside from them, as I said Les Fleurs were on it but also Caramba Encore Raté and The Village.

According to Discogs this is the only compilation the band appeared on. Sadly there seems to be no other information about them. It’d be great to find who were behind this band, but that seems to be impossible. I guess I will need my French friends to help me with that! So yeah, any details please share them with me!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen
Les Moonboots – J’aurais préféré

Quite busy days but managed some new indiepop finds from around the world!

Laveda: from Albany, the capital of the state of New York, comes this shoegaze girl/boy duo. The band will be releasing their debut album “What Happens After” on April 24. It will be available on vinyl and at this moment we can preview four tracks out of the 10 that will be in the album. These are “Ghost”, “Better Now”, “Dream. Sleep” and “if Only (You Said No)”.

Away Forward: now a dreampop band from Toronto. They also have an album and it is out now digitally. This album is called “Catching the Sun” and consists of 9 songs. And all are very nice! The fuzzy and sweet vocals come courtesy of Lisa Nighswander, Greg Chambers plays bass, Andrew McAllister guitar and Paul Boddum drums. Good stuff!

Smith Gardens: “Hugh’s Muse EP” is the latest release from this indiepop combo from Washington D.C. The band formed by Hunter on bass & keys, Niko on drums and Blake on vocals and guitar have been going since 2016 and I believe this is the first time I am listening to them! This new EP has four tracks of classic indiepop, 90s flavoured, and it is very enjoyable!

Girlatones: Meritorio Records from Madrid are picking up many great Australian bands. It is no surprise then that they’ve got Girlatones now in their roster. They will  be releasing a new album called “Horn if You’re Honky” on March 20th. it will have 10 poppy songs. How do I know that? Well, there are 3 songs we can preview on Bandcamp, “Respond to Love”, “Get to the End” and “Pop Stars”!

Go Get Mum: as I was saying, many Aussie bands are finding a home in Madrid’s Meritorio Records. Alvaro’s label is releasing a 12″ mini-album (or EP if you want), of 6 songs for this Adelaide band. We can preview 2 songs out of six, “Moving Day” and “Freeman”, both terrific!

—————————————————————–

The term “billycart” originates from the Australian billygoat-pulled cart of the 1880s. Originally, a simple platform with four wheels and a moveable front steering column, the billycart was adapted to become a self-powered vehicle which children would race; the challenge being, to travel as fast and/or far as possible with the least initial momentum.

Two songs on the Candle Records compilation “Clippings” (CAN2501) from 1998 were the introduction to the lovely-sounding band Billycart. And I want to listen to more by them of course.

“Cherish” and “Mrs Kelly” appear on this CD alongside bands that are not that well known like Bowl-A-Rama, The Foots or Falcon 500. True, The Lucksmiths appear in it too, but they might be the only “household” name on this record. Both songs are credited to Patrick Woodward. Though he wasn’t alone in the band. The band was formed by Patrick and Kellie Sutherland. They were both recorded by Angus Kinston who had worked in other Candle Records compilations.

We also know that on “Cherish” Patrick Woodward got the help from Darren Hanlon and Ryan James. Darren Hanlon of course had been in The Simpletons who also appear on this compilation. He is more famous through his solo work I believe, releasing many records in this century. Ryan James in the other hand was also on The Simpletons but also in The Mabels, another band that appears on this record. It seems it was a small scene where everyone was playing in each other band.

Kellie Sutherland. She would later be much more known through the band Architecture in Helsinki. According to an article on the website The Age, Billycart was based in Sydney, and one weekend in 1997, the band went to play to Melbourne. She loved the city. Then she started going back all the time, and eventually, thanks to knowing clarinet, an instrument she taught herself by duplicating the parts on a record by the indiepop band Kissing Book from Portland, she ended up joining Architecture in Helsinki. I suppose Billycart was over then.

I couldn’t find out what happened to Patrick Woodward. Did he continue making music in other bands? Would be great to know. In any case I’d love to find out more about Billycart. If they by any chance recorded more songs. What I’ve heard, I really liked!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen
Billycart – Cherish

This weekend I put the final touches to the fanzine. I should be printing it the next week!

Music finds too of course. Sharing them with you now!

Cold Beat: we know them as one of the best bands in the US and so it is great to see them back again with a new album. It is called “Mother” and it will be released on CD and vinyl on February 28th! It sounds as you can expect from them, great melodies, pop sensibilities mixed with post punk attitude. 10 songs which you can preview already on Bandcamp!

Fragile Animals: this shoegaze band from Brisbane has just released a new digital single called “Only Until It’s Over”. It is a very nice dreamy song with girl vocals. The lyrics are posted on the Bandcamp for singing along!

Pop at Summer: I love this Bandung, Indonesia, band. They make shiny sunny pop! I once worked with them in the past, including them in a compilation. Many years ago. I can’t help to be happy to see that they have just released a new song called “Sunny Day Parade”. Play it on repeat!

Zoo Gazer: the Xuzhou, China, band has just released a new 5 song EP titled “Hiding in your Room”. I have heard this cool band that loves classy and elegant pop before. The five-piece have crafted here a very good record, but sadly is only available digitally. Maybe some of the very good indiepop labels in China will pick them up?!

Un Día Soleado: this is a very interesting cover of Another Sunny Day’s (the band is actually named after the classic Sarah band) “I’m in Love With a Girl Who Doesn’t Know I Exist”. It comes all the way from Argentina and is a true mystery. The band is based in Viedma, Río Negro, and they are on the Hikikomori Discos label!

—————————————————————–

You know that lately I’ve been checking out a bunch of Japanese indiepop bands. I love them. It is also true that I don’t own many of their records, which is a shame. I should try to catch up. For example, the album and 7″ Dizzy Joghurt released would be great. I’d love them to be part of my collection. Not only that. I’d love to find more information about them. Possibly interview them. Their music was fantastic and I belive they deserve to get some attention. Not that I think my blog is read by millions of people, but still some do!

Oddly enough the first release by this Japanese indiepop combo was their album. It was titled “Inside Out Upside Down” and was released by the fine K.O.G.A. Records (K.O.G.A. 042). It was released on both vinyl LP and CD and included 14 top tracks: “Nonsense is Good”, “Maria”, “All the Way”, “Not All Are Need”, “Sunday Girl”, “Get Back to Smile”, “Weekend”, “Do As You Like”, “Wake Up”, “Plastic Drop”, “He Versus My Mind”, “Here Come all the Shine”, “Terminal” and “Anorak Co-La Mix-Version”.

The next year, 1999, they would release the “Dizzy Joghurt Theme” EP. It came out on 7″ vinyl and also as a CDEP. It was released by K.O.G.A. as well (K.O.G.A. 070). For those that have the 7″, you’d know that it came with three songs “Dizzy Joghurt Theme”, “Over Again” and “Rainy Sunday is Over”. The first was on the A side while the other two were on the B side.

The CDEP version had a different tracklist. So, yes, “Dizzy Joghurt Theme” was first, but then we find “How Do You Do It?” and “In My Eyelid”, and then in reverse order there’s “Rainy Sunday Is Over” and “Over Again”.

There’s a scan on Discogs of the 7″. It is very low-res but I think I can figure out the band members. They were
Hitomi & Kanako – vocals guitar, tambourine and keyboard
Makoto Otsuru – bass, backing vocals
Hirokazu Ohashi – drums, percussion
Mikoto Akutsu – guitar

“Dizzy Joghurt Theme” and “Over Again” are credited to Hitomi & Kanako while “Rainy Sunday is Over” to Hirokazu Ohashi. We know the band produced these three songs. Then I find a scan on Amazon (of all places!) of the CDEP back sleeve. Thanks to this I know that “In My Eyelid” was penned by Hitomi & Kanako, but most importantly that “How Do You Do it?” is actually a cover of The Impossible’s original! Wow! I wrote about The Impossibles on the blog a year or so ago I believe!

All songs on the EP were recorded and mixed at Rinky Dink Studio in February 1999. They were produced by the band and they were engineered and mixed by Tsutomu Oikawa. They were mastered at AST studio by Hikari Mitsufuji. The art for the sleeve is credited to Akiko Ito and the design to Kanako Matsuzawa.

Happily the band recorded more songs and they lie scattered among various compilations.

The first one dates from 1996 and it was a 7″ compilation called “Anorak Must! 2”, what a great title! This record was released by 15 MINS P.F. (FIFII-005). The band contributed the song “You’ll See, Take Your Time”. That same year the band contributed one of their best songs, “Anorak Co-la” to the “Anorak Must! 3” flexi compilation! This was also released by 15 MINS P.F. (FIFII-006).

In 1997 they had their song “You’ll See, Take Your Time” on the compilation “Dave Parasite Presents… Japan Punk Kills You!” which was released on CD by the American Pop Project (AmPop 201CD). Then again on the 4th of the Anorak Must series, “Anorak Must! 4”, which was now released on tape by 15 MINS P.F. (FIF2-008). They had the song “Not All Are Need” on this one.

Then in 1998 the band had their song “Here Comes All the Shine” on a CD comp that accompanied the well-known Indies Magazine on it’s 16th issue. The CD was just named like that, “Indies Magazine Vol. 16”. This was released by Rittor Music (ICB-016). That same year their song “Nonsense is Good” appears on the American compilation “Pure Spun Sugar” released by Candy Floss (CF-017) and the American Pop Project (AmPop 201).

Lastly in 2003 the band contributed two songs to a very good compilation called “Good Girls Don’t! (K.O.G.A. Records 10th Anniversary Compilation Album Vol. 1)”. (KOGA 159). To this CD comp the band contributed two songs, “Nonsense is Good” and “Dizzy Joghurt Theme”. There are many great bands on this record, I hope to cover many of them in the future.

Interestingly it seems Hitomi & Kanako did solo recordings later on, appearing on compilations like “Ring Her Bell!!!”, “Indies Magazine Vol. 44” and “Flowers Are Go! Vol.4 – Under Flower Records Sampler”. Not sure about the other members. Were they involved in other bands?

Not much more information about them. I wonder why they spelled Joghurt that way. Why they didn’t release more records. What are the band members doing now. From where in Japan were they from. And many more questions I’d love to ask them. So I ask you all, help me! Would be great to know more about them!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Listen
Dizzy Joghurt – Anorak Co-La