Sonic Youth "Live in Dusseldorf, Germany 4/7/96" cassette (MGR Records/1997)

I am going to assume that everyone reading this blog listens to Sonic Youth or at least as aware of who they are and that sort of thing so I will refrain from any sort of write up about the band itself. Instead I will direct attention to this actual release itself. I have plenty of Sonic Youth bootlegs in my collection some official and some not, but this is the first one I ever bought. If I recall correctly I ordered along with some Afghan Whigs t-shirt through some mail order in the back of the old CMJ or Magnet. Sonic Youth has always been a band that has been supportive of bootlegs being out there, some have been authorized by the band and others have not. And honestly I have no idea where this one sits with them, it isn't even listed on the bootleg lists on the Sonic Youth website. This cassette came with a photo copied sleeve with no song titles or info inside (in true bootleg fashion) so I took it upon myself to make my own liner notes (see picture below). This bootleg comes from the Washing Machine  era of the band so with the exception of the band opening with "Teenage Riot" and "Sugar Kane" all of the material comes from Washing Machine as well as Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star. Official or not this is a great sounding, soundboard bootleg. The version of "The Diamond Sea" that closes out that set is just incredible.

Sonic Youth "Live in Dusseldorf, Germany 4/7/96" track listing
1. Teenage Riot
2. Bull in the Heather
3. Starfield Road
4. Washing Machine
5. Junkie's Promise
6. Saucer Like
7. Becuz
8. Sugar Kane
9. Skip Tracer
10. Skink
11. The Diamond Sea


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v/a "In A Lonely Place" 7 inch compilation (Four Letter Words/1993)

I am not sure if I have mentioned in this space but if you couldn't tell from my Blogger profile picture, I am a huge fan of the band Further. And this record was one that I thought would certainly be a white whale in trying to put together a complete collection of all the band's releases. (for those looking to help complete my collection listed at the bottom of this post is what I am looking for.) But to my surprise I was able to locate this rare compilation several years ago and somehow very cheaply at that too. This compilation from the wonderful indie pop label Four Letter Words is called In a Lonely Place and it features four exclusive tracks from Allen Clapp & His Orchestra, Kevin, Further and Six Cents & Natalie. I have written about Allen Clapp & His Orchestra in this space before and he is a pop song genius. The song here "The Apple of My Eye" is a lo fi slice of indie pop greatness. As far as I know the song was never re-recorded. Up next is "What I Did on My Summer Vacation" by an artist by the name simply Kevin. It is fuzzy, noisy guitar indie pop and I would like to hear more. I am curious if this is Kevin from  DiskothiQ or not. If anyone out there knows let me know. I just made that assumption due to the relationship of the bands and also that DiskothiQ has a song called "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" On the flip side Further kicks things off with a earlier version of the noisy pop gem of "Going to Glendora" which was later re-recorded for Sometimes Chimes. Closing out the compilation is "Sea Scout" by Six Cents & Natalie which is the lo fi and sporadic home recording project of Sean Tollefson of Crayon and Tullycraft. He released a bunch of cassettes and singles as well compilation appearances in the early 90s and later on released a few cds. "Sea Scout" was later re-released on the CD Show Me the Honey on the excellent label Blackbean and Placenta Club.. In a Lonely Place is a pretty nice cross section of what sums up my interests in indie rock, indie pop and lo fi.

So for those of you looking to assist in completing my Further collection here is what I am looking for. If you have any of these and are interested in selling/trading please drop me a line.
-Further /DiskothiQ Race For the Brass Turd (live) cassette (Sonic Enemy)
-Further Overrated/Beautiful Feeling 7 inch (No Guff Records)
-v/a Pop American Style double 12 inch (Flavour Records) *has the Further track "Day to Day"

v/a In a Lonely Place track listing:
1. Allen Clapp & His Orchestra "The Apple of My Eye"
2. Kevin "What I Did on My Summer Vacation"
3. Further "Going to Glendora"
4. Six Cents & Natalie "Sea Scout"

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The Castaway Stones "In the Devil's Garden" (Boa Records/1997)

Shame on me for not sharing something Pam Berry related in this space sooner. Pam Berry is probably known for her work in the highly influential American noise pop band Black Tambourine but she has also contributed to her wonderful voice to a plethora of other projects such as Glo Worm, The Shapiros, Belmondo, Bright Coloured Lights, and this project her The Castaway Stones. Musically, The Castaway Stones can be identified as pristine indie pop much like Glo Worm but mixed with stuff like Belle & Sebastian and some Comet Gain. I can also detect elements of stuff like Love and even Free Design. Pam Berry's voice is beautifully hypnotic and I personally can't get enough of it. The Castaway Stones were active in the late 90s releasing this single in addition to a few others as well as a wonderful full length CD Make Love to You. This single features what I do believe is the same version of "Rose in the Devil's Garden" that appears on the full length but the version of "Autumn" that is presented here is different. Regardless, this is a wonderful slice of indie pop, enjoy!

The Castaway Stones In the Devil's Garden track listing
1. Rose in the Devil's Garden
2. Autumn

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Blaise Pascal "Foreword" 12 inch (Cave Canem/1994)

It has been several days since my last upload so I figured to make up for it that I would share with everyone a full length. Fair trade? And this full length that I am sharing with y'all today is quite a rare indie rock gem from super obscure Canadian indie rock band Blaise Pascal. They existed in the mid 90s, did some touring with Pavement and in addition to releasing this full length Foreword on their own Cave Canem Records they also released the E-Filter CDEP (once again on Cave Canem) as well as contributing the song "Library" to the wonderful A Day in the Park compilation on the Now Sound. I have looked high and low but I am fairly certain that this is all the band ever recorded. Blaise Pascal played disjointed, lo fi indie rock that was definitely reminiscent of early Pavement but at times it was a bit darker sounding, dare I say Slint-esque at times. Guitarist/vocalist Nicolas Bragg has gone on to play guitar in the rather successful indie band Destroyer. Bragg himself was also the inspiration as well as name to a song by fellow Canadian, super cute indie pop band Cub. Foreword is a wonderful collection of loose indie rock tunes that ebb, flow and totally rock. If you ever are fortunate enough to find this record out in the wild grab it, supposedly less than 300 of these were made. For those interested I just spotted a copy on Ebay as a Buy It Now for $19.99. Worth every penny.

Blaise Pascal Foreword track listing
1. Forecast
2. New Lamps
3. Segue
4. Demilo
5. Only the Stars
6. The Right Bank
7. Restoration
8. Victory Church
9. Algiers

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