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culture club- fo’ real, this band rocks the house. every single song is really good. boy george is theshit! seriously!
new radicals – known for their one hit "you get what you give" their album maybe you’ve been brainwashed too is masterfully arranged and performed (except a couple duds). (don’t know his name) has a lot of soul and talent for a white dude.
"bob" wrote:(don’t know his name) has a lot of soul and talent for a white dude.…Greg Alexander is his name, he now spends his time writing songs for and producing people like Ronan Keating, Melanie C., Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and even good old Rod Stewart, sounds like wasting his talent, but earning a lot of money, it is what you prefer in life….
Agree with you on "You get what you give", killer song (but which Stones song did he rip off there
)Another hugely underrated band: Prefab Sprout……..
"you get what you give" isn’t even my favorite song on the disc. I like the first song "mother I just can’t get enough" and the third song, the slowburning "I think I just gave away the ending".
There’s another song that goes "our love is real like the flowers we smoke to get high" who smokes flowers?? great song.
I heard their song "someday we’ll know" in the bathroom of a restaurant today. I think that might have been a minor hit. Mandy Moore covered it for a walk to remember soundtrack.
The only song I don’t like is "Technicolor lover" and maybe a mostly instrumental one but I think they’re the same song.
Nikki Sudden
has been a member of the Swell Maps, a British band of school boys. Their music was filed under ‘punk’ but they played music, so very special, innovative, rough and imaginative that they are still counted to other musician’s influences (J mentioned them when asked about influences, also Evan Dando or Sonic Youth
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In the early 80’s the Swell Maps parted and Nikki started to record his own kind of music (surely over 20 albums until now), full of wonderful, rough and melancholic ballads and rock songs, full of charm. His shows are also always worth seeing. And I like it how he’s completely nonchalant about being not well known at all :aliensmile:Epic Soundtracks,
Nikki’s younger brother was also a Swell Maps member and continued to be a drummer in some bands, but in the early 90’s he released several great singer/songwriter albums. On his album Rise Above, J added some drums and Sonic Youth appeared as well. I’m still shocked about Epic’s sudden death in 1997
FC-I like the Nikki Sudden song on the Neil Young tribute The Bridge;he did a cool cover of Captain Kennedy
I`m going to talk about…
THE SPINANES
Formed in the early 1990`s in Portland Oregon;Rebecca Gates(guitar/vocals) and Scott Plouf(drums)(I could be wrong but Plouf`s brother was the drummer with The Wipers in the mid 80`s) are the members.I`m trying to think of how to descibe their sound
all I can say is you have to hear them,Rebecca is a good songwriter with a knack for catchy hooks.
In 1992 they recorded 3 singles for Imp Records(which have been collected in a comp called The Imp Years on Merge records).
In 1993 they released their first album for Sub Pop called Manos(a few other Portland bands were signed around this time like Pond,Hazel,and Sprinkler)Manos is their best album in my opinion,for a two peice band they got a full sound(this was before the current days of bass-less bands like the White Stripes,Yeah Yeah Yeahs,Sleater Kinney,Jon Spencer,etc.)Brian Paulson did fine production(he`s worked with Slint,Uncle Tupelo,Wilco,Archers Of Loaf,and Dinosaur Jr on Hand It Over)some of their best songs are here:Sunday,Noel Jonah And Me,Spitfire,Uneasy,etc.
In 1996 they released Strand;Rebecca`s voice had improved from sounding naive on Manos to more confident and sultry;Elliot Smith guested on a couple of tunes like on the duet Madding.Great tunes here as well:Valency,Azure,Lines And Lines,Oceanwide,etc.
In 1998,Arches And Aisles was released;Scott Plouf was gone(he joined Built To Spill and debuted with them on Perfect From Now On in 1997)Rebecca had relocated to Chicago;she added some friends to back her up,including a bassist.Sam Prekop of the Sea And Cake guested on Reach v Speed;more fine songs here like Kid In Candy,72-74,Den Trawler,A Sucker`s Trial,etc.
in 2001 Rebecca released a solo album called The Ruby Series(I assume The Spinanes name was retired)a continuation of Arches And Aisles it included songs like The Seldom Scene and I Recieved A Levitation.
At last word Rebecca now plays drums for Califone;I sure hope this does`nt mean the end of her own music
Dump…aka James McNew from Yo La Tengo.
For all the people out there who like YLT, no one talks about James’ solo stuff. His debut, Superpowerless isn’t that strong, but there is some good stuff. I Can Hear Music is OOP and I’ve never found it.
A Plea for Tenderness is awesome. Tons of great songs. Haven’t heard his Prince-covers album. And this year’s A Grown-Ass Man is also great. It should definitely be in my top five favorites of the year. James sings with a pretty high pitch voice, so if you’re not into that then beware. It’s also lo-fi since he records it all at his house on a 4-track I think.Dump are cool
I have A Plea For Tenderness(found it in a delete bin )my 2 fave songs from it are So Long and Positively Jeff Oliphant 
The YLT mp3 site(sunsquashed) had awhile back a live recording of James by himself covering Lois` Shy Town,man I love that song :aliensmile:the rentals.
-I shit you not. this is probably the best band you’ve never heard. or at least they’re really good. it’s matt sharps pet (former weezer)I`m going to talk about…
SILKWORM
(not obscure but still underated so hey!
)Silkworm were formed in 1987 in Missoula,Montana;they were previously known as Ein Heit;the lineup:Andy Cohen on guitar/vocals,Joel Phelps on guitar/vocals,Tim Midgett on bass/vocals,and drummer Ben Koostra(who soon left in 1989 and was replaced by Michael Dahlquist).
Their sound is steeped in Wire,Mission Of Burma, and the Gang Of Four with the rootsiness of The Band,Rolling Stones,and Neil Young thrown in.Andy and Tim have cool voices;Andy at times angry and sarcastic and Tim sounds vunerable but not defeated.
In 1988 they released a cassette called Advantage and in 1989 one called Girl Harbrr.
In 1990 they relocated to Seattle which was a busy scene of grunge bands;Silkworm might not have fit in though it was a better scene than back in Montana.
In 1992 they released L`ajre for the Temporary label though they did`nt recieve much attention until 1994`s In The West for C/Z Records,a popular indie label at the time,it was also produced by their Montana homeboy Steve Albini who became a big fan of the band.
Also in 1994,they released Libertine for the El Recordo label with Albini again on the knobs,it included their classic Could`nt You Wait
Soon enough they signed to Matador Records and in 1996 released Firewater;Phelps was out of the band by this time and they paired down to a trio.Albini again was present and Firewater remains in my mind their best album;16 songs in 1 hour and hardly a bad song in the lot,HIGHLY RECOMMENDED :aliensmile:
In 1997,Developer was released,also for Matador but also their last for Matador.
In 1998,Blueblood came out on Touch And Go records;they also had moved from Seattle to Chicago where Andy is studying Law.
In 2000,Lifestyle came out,also for Touch And Go;Kelly Hogan contributed some fine backing vocals(Kelly played in Georgia with The Jody Grind and Rock*A*Teens and is part of the alt country scene in Chicago,also does backing vocals for Neko Case)
In 2002,they released Italian Platinum,on Touch And Go again;Kelly Hogan appeared again and Matt Kadane from Bedhead and The New Year played some keyboards.
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