arDATE = new Array( "November 2004" ) arARTIST = new Array( "Guest Selections:", "Meryn Cadell", "Air", "The Nightblooms", "The Pastels", "Skinner Box", "Ellis Island Sound", "Bazille Noir", "Ghostwriters", "Various Artists", "Disc", "Locust", "Penny McLean", "Pigmeat Peterson", "Hugh Barrett and the Victors", "Mission of Burma", "Barbara George", "Don Julian and the Meadowlarks", "nlotic", "meryncadell", "thefatrooster" ) arTITLE = new Array( "Songs they like to sing...", "Angel Food For Thought", "10,000 Hz Legend", "Butterfly Girl", "Sitting Pretty", "The Playhouse", "Home Service", "Turblaser", "Music from No Man's Land", "E=mc2, or
Music To Fold Towels By", "Transfer", "Moring Light", "Lady Bump", "Everybody Loves A fat Man", "There Was A Fungus Among Us", "Trem Two", "I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)", "Heaven and Paradise", "Salem 66", "Come", "TBD" ) arTRACK = new Array( "t00", "2. Bumble Bee", "5. Radian", "1.1 Buterfly Girl", "1.3 Sit On It Mother", "1.2 Always Dear Iris", "WG73 & Bontempi Rain Effect", "1.1 Big Time", "Dance of the Spiritchaser", "Bruce Pavitt - Walking On Air", "2.4 Untitled", "12. The Girl With The Fairy Tale Dream", "Side A", "Side A", "Side A", "Side A", "Side A", "Side A", "1.3 Sleep On Flowers", "1.2 Come Sunday", "TBD" ) arDESC = new Array( "Bunny Number 1 every month from now on is for my guests, who request some tracks to appear in the jukebox. This month, I have three guests, click on each icon at left to see what they selected.", "Meryn Cadell, also a guest here this month. Here are three tracks from the first album. Meryn has a new album out and a new voice. I have not been able to find it in local shops anywhere, so we'll have to wait on that. I had heard Meryn's work very early on, when a friend gave me a copy of the tape 'Coarse Language,' which had a different version of 'I Been Redeemed' on it. When this debut disc came out, my friends and I were all over it. It is just so *right* in so many ways.", "More apt to cite stately rock paragons Burt Bacharach and Brian Wilson as their inspirations than Derrick May or Aphex Twin, the French duo Air gained inclusion into the late-'90s electronica surge due chiefly to the labels their recordings appeared on, not the actual music they produced. Their sound, a variant of the classic disco sound coaxed into a relaxing prozac vision of the late '70s, looked back to a variety of phenomena from the period — synthesizer maestros Tomita, Jean-Michel Jarre, and Vangelis, new wave music of the non-spikey variety, and obscure Italian film soundtracks. Despite gaining quick entrance into the dance community (through releases for Source and Mo' Wax), Air's 1998 debut album Moon Safari charted a light — well, airy — course along soundscapes composed with melody lines by Moog and Rhodes, not Roland and Yamaha. The presence of several female vocalists, an equipment list whose number of pieces stretched into the dozens and a baroque tuba solo on one track; all of this conspired to make Air more of a happening in the living room than the dancefloor.

Personally, this CD is my favorite, precisely because it is a bit more unusual and experimental than other efforts.", "From All-Music: The Nightblooms are a Dutch group who are profoundly affected by the British shoegazing scene — their combination of noisy, dreamy guitars and hazily sweet female vocals sits somewhere near that of Black Tambourine, the band that practically defined the American side of the genre. On the band's self-titled debut album, this sound is captured fairly effectively, coming out sounding open and organic; the band's songwriting, however, has never been as brilliant as some of its peers, marking them as a solid but ultimately second-tier act in a very appealing scene.

As usual AMG provides only partially correct historical facts. The track you hear on this page comes from a brilliant EP that predates the debut full-length by quite some time, and was only issued in Wales, with limited distribution in the UK and poor distribution elsewhere. This version of Butterfly Girl is exclusive to the EP, for god knows what reason, because the full-length's vrsions of all the songs are substantially inferior. It's the same story: band defines a great sound, but needs help in the studio. They hook up with a producer who refuses to let the band do what they do best. Instead, he makes them 'better'. How many times have we seen this before?", "Although virtually unknown outside of indie-rock circles, the Pastels were one of the most inspirational and enduring groups of their era, spearheading a movement towards a renewed sense of wistful musical primitivism and willful naivete known variously as 'shambling' and 'anorak pop;' in addition, their influence helped bring international notice to a resurgent Scottish musical community, with frontman Stephen Pastel's legendary 53rd and 3rd label helping to launch the careers of bands including the Jesus & Mary Chain, the Shop Assistants, BMX Bandits, the Vaselines and the Soup Dragons. Formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1982, the band initially comprised vocalist/guitarist Pastel (nee McRobbie), guitarist Brian Superstar (born Brian Taylor) and drummer Chris Gordon; they debuted that autumn on the Whaam label with the single 'Songs for Children,' but Gordon soon exited, the first of many subsequent line-up shuffles.

Ambition was never the Pastels' strong suit, and luck was rarely on their side; as the group's members — now including bassist Martin Hayward and drummer Bernice Simpson — devoted their primary focus to their studies, new music appeared only sporadically and to little notice, on a seemingly random series of labels. After 1983's 'I Wonder Why' was released on Rough Trade, they moved to Creation, where they hit their stride with the 1984 drone-pop gems 'Something's Going On' and ' A Million Tears.' After one further single, 1985's 'I'm Alright With You,' the Pastels split with Creation, moving to the tiny Glass label (which was fabulous in spite of its tiny stature). In 1986, their track 'Breaking Lines' appeared on the influential C-86 collection assembled by the New Music Express, transforming the anorak movement into an overnight media sensation quickly accompanied by intense critical backlash.

But where Astor got to contribute vocals to his earlier project The Wisdom of Harry (who we LOVE. L. O. V. E. Love.), Ellis Island Sound is, for the most part, all instrumental. There's nothing here as in your face as Orbital, none of the brutalist experimentalism of Aphex Twin. What you get instead is a simple, uncluttered soul wash - as laconic and dreamy as a sunny summer afternoon - which is probably the best time to experience this oddly beguiling music.

Static Caravan's reliability is almost a by-word in electronic coteries and learned circles. So when a gorgeous record like this lands in your lap, you know there's an envelope of gentle but never tentative caress of the lugholes in store for you. Ellis Island Sound reside snugly in the Static Caravan worldview, all tender intricacies and soft fidelities. An offshoot of the equally magnificent State River Widening, Ellis Island Sound bring us a more delicate assortment of acoustic instruments, electronic overlays and a myriad of evocative found sounds. The opening 'WG73' lilts away with the fragile guitar/piano interchange that deemed Vertical Form’s 'Corker/Conboy' project so essential in our world. At turns drifting towards folktronic slopes (check the sublime “Bontempi Rain Effect”) and analogue soundscapes (as on the Isan-ish 'Chop 3'), theres even a Weschel Garland / Hausmeister-ish turn to proceedings towards its lovely end on penultimate track 'Palmsville'. This is a heart-warming, shimmering album that’s as sumptuous a piece as we've come to expect from Geoff's excellent enterprise, a brilliant push, if ever there was one, to allocate more than the label’s customary 7 inches to an unquestionably sublime musical act.

Read more about Static Caravan [here].", "Jens Paulsen and Stefan Ebinger from Hamburg are exploring the wide range between acoustic and electronic music. With 'Türbläser', they present their debut 12-inch for Klein Records, taking a loan from Jazz, Electronica, Easy Listening and Soundtrack Music and creating a dark swinging hybrid beyond the usual styles of modern lounge discretionary. Jens Pauslen, 38 years old, Hamburg, releases electronic listening under the project name Patchwork, is taking care of an electronic music garden for teenager and plays guitar. Stefan Ebinger, 36 years old, Hamburg, plays piano, loves modern classical and experimental music.", "A legendary record among minimal synth collectors. This manages to pull off the cold starkly electronic sound with a bit of an organic feel to it.", "This compilation stands on its own merrit, but what makes it that much more is the inclusion of this track, 'Walking on Air' by Bruce Pavitt. Mr. Pavitt founded the legendary Seattle based label, Sub Pop. This compilation is a far cry from what he made for sub-pop, featuring the works of students from Evergreen College in Olympia, Washington. Bruce's track takes on the urgency and weirdness of the no wave thing that was going on at the time. All in all, a very mixed, charming record.", "Featuring ten extended songs and 105 locked grooves, 'Transfer' functions as an 'interactive' artifact that requires hands-on maintenance, allowing DJs (or anyone for that matter) with two turntables and/or two copies to build more extended compositions. 'Transfer' strikes a balance between utterly free digital noise and structured, rhythmic composition in which the sounds of CDs skipping are built into extended songs that veer from pounding tech-house to shimmering Steve Reich-esque pattern music. With the timeframe of locked grooves allowing only 1.8 seconds to work in, many of the locked grooves resolve into a hypnotic 4/4 techno minimalism paced at exactly 133.33 bpm, recalling the steady pulse of locked-groove vinyl fetishists like Thomas Brinkmann, but generated entirely from CD-based means.

Disc is a collaborative project between Jay Lesser (akaLSR), Kid 606, and Drew Daniel and Martin Schmidt of Matmos. Between these three camps, the members of Disc have previously released music on labels like Mille Plateaux, Matador, Vinyl Communications, Fat Cat, Diskono, Ipecac, 555, Touch and Go/Quarterstick, Lucky Kitchen, Kultbox, V/VM Test Recordings, Lissy's, etc. Disc has previously released three albums and a collaboration with K. K. Null on the Vinyl Communications label. This one, on Deluxe Records, is the prettiest. Visit [Deluxe Records].", "Locust's Mark Van Hoen occupies the shadier, more melancholic side of contemporary ambient, assembling records of unmistakable beauty out of shards of dark, somewhat foreboding textures and arrangements. A London native active in the film and commercial music business before concentrating full-time on recording for release, Van Hoen has produced a string of highly thought-of releases for the R&S subsidiary Apollo in a relatively short period of time. He's quoted Steve Reich, David Sylvian, Kraftwerk, and Brian Eno as early influences, but more recently has been attempting to pursue paths of creative conception opened up by John Coltrane and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Although earlier releases focused on sprawling, mostly beatless experimental soundscapes, his more recent work has incorporated elements of breakbeat styles such as trip-hop and jungle — mostly in terms of production techniques, as opposed to aesthetic qualities, and with decidedly Locust flair. Truth Is Born of Arguments was the first release of this sort, and included heavy, distorted percussion and complex, looping polyrhythms similar to (although much more sluggish than) those found in drum'n'bass.

Not always the ambient misanthrope, Van Hoen splits his creative activity between Locust and a number of ongoing collaborative ventures, among them Autocreation (techno) and Involution (post-techno experimental electronic), the latter with Seefeel frontman Daren Seymour. Van Hoen's also completed a number of remixes for Seefeel and As One, among others, and has recently incorporated elements of multimedia and performance art into his live appearances. Van Hoen also released the occasional recording under his given name, including 1996's Last Flowers from the Darkness and 1999's Playing with Time.

This remains one of my favorite MVH productions, but it must be heard in its original Apollo import edition; the US edition dissects the delicate mix and resequences all of the tracks, deleting the ambient interludes between. I've driven for many overnight hours with this beautiful album in the CD player. This track is among my favorites.", "One-time member of the smash hit disco band Silver Convention, Penny McLean broke with a solo album, Lady Bump. This single from the album was pretty much everywhere in New York in 1975, our sophomore year of HS, when disco really took over the streets. ", "The conglomerate of labels Federal, King and Deluxe produced some of the finest blues recordings in history, and launched the careers of some of the most famous acts we all know, such as James Brown, Otis Williams, The Platters, The Midnighters, and so many more. Here is Pigmeat Peterson, with the fabulous tune from 1952, 'Everybody Loves a Fat Man'. This will be very popular with my big-boy friends and their admirers! On a near-perfect 78 RPM disc. ", "In Chicago in 1961, radio station WLS had recently switched from a 'Prairie Farmer' format to teenage rock and roll. Dick Biondi, a wild deejay imported from Buffalo to do early evenings, used various phrases on his show. One of these, taken from an old Terry Noland song, was 'There's a fungus among us.' The phrase caught on in Chicago, and Biondi persuaded Hugh Barrett to do a remake of the song so that Biondi could plug it on his show. The version of 'There Was a Fungus Among Us' by Hugh Barrett and the Victors [Madison 164] did little nationally, but was heard constantly on WLS, making their top-40 list.

Kind of a marginal rarity; it's hard to find, but I don't know too many collectors clamoring for a copy of this. I found this at a flea market in Brooklyn and paid ten cents for it.", "The second in a succession of what I'm calling Pivotal Music, tracks that somehow altered my path and the paths of people around me. In the context of art overlapping punk, Mission of Burma stayed strongly within context, and at the same time, showed what was possible by movng outside of it. The power of this particular song, especially when seen performed live, had the potential to be overwhelming.

Of all the punk-inspired bands that came out of Boston in the early '80s, none were better than Mission of Burma. Arty without being too pretentious, capable of writing gripping songs and playing with ferocious intensity, guitarist Roger Miller, bassist Clint Conley, drummer Peter Prescott, and tapehead Martin Swope galvanized the city's alternative rock scene, and despite a too-short existence, set a standard for excellence that has rarely been equalled - a standard the band upheld when they unexpectedly reunited in 2002.

Burma's music is vintage early-'80s post-punk: jittery rhythms, odd shifts in time, declamatory vocals; an aural assault similarly employed by bands such as the Gang of Four, Mekons, and Pere Ubu - Burma's peers as well as their influences. Also, conspicuously present in the mix was the proto-punk of the Stooges and Velvet Underground (with just a dash of Led Zeppelin and Roxy Music), bands that inspired Burma's darker songwriting impulses and tendencies toward long-ish, repetitive jams capable of boring holes into your skull. What Burma added was a sonic texture through the use of extreme volume. Roger Miller's guitar enveloped the band in thick, distorted cascading chords, erupting into squealing solos and (intentional) squalls of feedback. With Prescott and Conley furiously bashing in support, the band's sound was extremely physical (ask anyone who saw them live) to the point of leaving the audience feeling slightly bruised, battered, but extremely happy.

After releasing an explosive single ('Academy Fight Song,' still one of punk rock's greatest songs) on Boston's then-hippest indie label, Ace of Hearts, Burma released two excellent records in just over a year: the Signals, Calls and Marches EP and their only full-length studio album, Vs. The former was poppier, but in a breathtakingly intense way; the latter dark and ominous, lacking in riff-heavy punch, but still delivering a wicked blast of aural chaos. Unbeknownst to fans, this was the beginning of the end. The massive volume, a key element in Burma's sound, had taken its toll on the bandmembers, especially Miller, who developed a severe case of tinnitus that hastened the band's demise. (Always the trooper, Miller played the band's final tour wearing a protective headset used on shooting ranges to prevent his ears from absorbing more punishment.) After a bittersweet farewell tour in 1983, the shows were released as a live LP entitled The Horrible Truth About Burma, an occasionally thrilling example of their considerable stage prowess.

Miller since went on to a career as a solo artist and with his non-touring band Birdsongs of the Mesozoic. Prescott formed the wonderful Volcano Suns, who released a half-dozen records all worth checking out, before starting Kustomized with ex-Bullet Lavolta singer Yukki Gipe. Clint Conley produced the first Yo La Tengo record and then left the music business. He went on to work as a producer at Boston television station WCVB.

In 2001, Peter Prescott's short-lived band The Peer Group played a show opening for reunited British art-punks Wire, and Roger Miller and Clint Conley tagged along to play an encore with Prescott, marking the first time the three had appeared on stage together since 1983. Later that year, Mission of Burma were featured prominently in Michael Azerrad's book on the indie-rock scene of the 1980's, Our Band Could Be Your Life, and Conley began writing and performing music again with the band Consonant. After The Peer Group folded, the three performing members of Mission Of Burma decided to stage a pair of reunion shows in early 2002. (Martin Swope opted not to participate; live sound and tape loops were instead handled by Bob Weston of the group Shellac). One concert in New York became two sold-out nights at the Irving Plaza, and a single night in Boston became four shows at three venues (including an 'open rehearsal' under the name Myanmar); the group also joined the lineup for the 2002 All Tomorrow's Parties festival in England, followed by short tours of the West Coast and Midwest. Along with playing a handful of live dates in 2003 (including the American edition of All Tomorrow's Parties), Mission of Burma returned to the studio for their first recording project since Vs., and Onoffon was released by Matador Records in the spring of 2004, who in a press release said of the album 'this isn't just a hot new release, it's a goddamn cultural event.'", "Barbara George's 'I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)' topped the R&B charts in 1961 and has proven a popular cover item ever since. The New Orleans native had never been in the studio before she brought her extremely catchy melody to Harold Battiste's fledgling A.F.O. label. Benefiting from her pleasing, unpolished vocal and a melodic coronet solo by Melvin Lastie (NOT Herb Alpert, as has been rumored in the past - despite the similarity), the tune caught fire, vaulting high on pop playlists. Amazingly, nothing else George did ever dented the charts, although she waxed some listenable follow-ups for A.F.O. and Sue.

This is definitely part of the soundtrack of my childhood, along wth countless other songs. These were the sounds of the early 60's, when my brother and sister were teens, and I was just going along for the ride in my stroller... Here is a beautiful copy of this classic 45.", "In January of 1954, the RPM Record Company of Los Angeles announced a new release by a vocal group known as The Meadowlarks. The tunes are 'Love Only You'and 'Real Pretty Mama' on no. 399. The sides had enough appeal to be chosen as the pick hit of the week by noted L.A. R & B deejay Hunter Hancock. Unfortunately for the group, the record buying public did not follow suit and the record faded away into a few West Coast memories. In late March a second attempt by the group on RPM no. 406 was released - 'Pass The Gin' and 'The LFMST Blues' alluding not to the closely resembled trademark slogan of Lucky Strike ('Means Fine Tobacco') cigarettes, but to the singer's plea to 'Lord Find My Sweet Theresa', or so the legend goes. This effort also met with little public acceptance. For the rest of 1954 the group was out of the public eye and mostly forgotten. However during the last days of the year 1954 Dootsie Williams announced the signing of the group to his Dootone Records label. The members were Don Julian on lead, Randolph Jones, Earl Jones, Ron Barrett, and Bill Pruitt. Before the first effort for their new label, the quartet paid their dues by doing a number of appearances in the L.A. area such as a February 1955 show at the Savoy with The Medallions, Marie Adams, and the band of Johnny Otis. The public it seemed, was ready for a new sound by The Meadowlarks. In June Dootone was ready to oblige.

Dootone no. 359 was released in early March of 1955 which featured two new songs - 'Embarrasing Moments' and 'Heaven And Paradise'. Almost immediately the record breaks out with the 'Heaven' side the one that most record buyers wanted. Within a month of its release the label was changed to read as by Don Julian & The Meadowlarks. In May the group stole the show at San Diego's Trianon Ballroom on a bill with Jessie Belvin, Marvin & Johnny, and Joe Houston's band. The record becomes part of a huge triple header on Dootone along with The Penguins 'Earth Angel' and The Medallions'The Letter'. In July Dootone releases no. 367 'I Got Tore Up' and another great ballad side 'Always And Always'. The second good seller for the group solidifies their hold as one of the biggest new vocal groups on the West Coast. In August at Chicago's Howard Miller Theater, one of the strangest bills of the mid fifties takes place with The Meadowlarks appearing with Pat Boone and Della Reese ! The talk of Los Angeles is the talented output coming from Fremont High School. First there was Etta James, then The Penguins, Meadowlarks, and Calvanes, with Dootsie Williams signing the three vocal groups to his label with much success.

In October of 1955 Dootone Records releases no. 372 by Don Julian & The Meadowlarks - 'This Must Be Paradise' and 'Mine All Mine'. Once again the side does well in the L.A. area but the rest of the country does not follow along. Dootone also releases an EP on 45 rpm by the group featuring a great rendition of 'Thrill Me Night And Day', as well as four songs on the landmark Dootone LP 'The Best Vocal Groups' with The Penguins, Medallions, and Calvanes. The Meadowlarks continue to be well received in the Southern California area as one of their 'own' and the group remains popular there. In March of the following year Dootone no. 394 is the next record by The Meadowlarks and Don Julian. The songs are 'Please Love A Fool' and 'Oop Boopy Oop'. In support of this new release the group does a long series of one nighters throughout the Southern California area. In October Dootone comes out with no. 405 - 'I Am A Believer'and 'Boogie Woogie Teenage'. The 'A' side shows that the Meadowlarks still have a super way with a ballad. The next spring would provide the group with their final recording for Dootone after a run of two and a half years. Release no. 424 consisted of the old pop standard 'Blue Moon' and a jump tune 'Big Mama Wants To Rock'.

For the next four years The Meadowlarks were still hanging in there as a vocal group, making sporadic appearances where their 'name' provided them with instant recognition even without current hit records to spur them on. There were two records for Art Laboe's Original Sound label with no. 03 - 'Please Say You Love Me' and 'Doing The Cha Cha Cha' and with no. 12 - 'There's A Girl'and 'Blue Mood'. In 1962 The Meadowlarks recorded two sides for the Dynamite label - no. 1112 - 'Heaven Only Knows', a throwback to their earlier efforts, and 'Popeye'. Dynamite no. 1114 was a two sided dance tune celebrating early sixties L.A. with 'The Slauson Shuffle' parts one and two. A reformed group now known as The Larks made a number of records for the Money labelwhich were mostly uptempo dance songs such as 'The Jerk'(no. 106), 'Soul Jerk'(no. 110), 'Can You Do The Duck' (no. 115), 'The Philly Dog'(no. 122) and 'The Skate'(no. 127), and also their own short lived label, the dance derived Jerk Records- 'Philly Jerk'(no. 100) and 'Shorty The Pimp' (no. 202). By the late sixties Don Julian and the remnants of the Meadowlarks faded from the public eye.

After wellmore than a decade, this was the end of the line for Don Julian & The Meadowlarks. They are remembered most fondly for the first three Dootone releases, especially 'Heaven And Paradise' one of the greatest vocal group sides ever recorded and one that seemed to capture the time in history like few before it did. For this reason it is part of every comprehensive oldies package of fifties R & B and one that shows in two and a half minutes what the appeal of this music is all about.", "nlotic is a friend from Live journal, and we've discovered that we've had similar life paths. His request is for Salem 66 (or pretty much anything with a 6 in it...I didn't ask. ;-)) and here we have the song that drove them as a big name in the local clubs back in '84. An early release in the Homestead catalog (no. 2) as well.", "We were talking recently about the band Come, and Meryn was talking about Thalia Zadek's band, while I was talking about this pre-Whitehouse no-wave slab of bizarreness. This is an impossibly rare LP, as are most from this group of people. Hardly 'pop', but strangely enough, the most accessible record ever put out by the label...", "TBD" ) arLABEL = new Array( "l00", "Sire", "Astralewerks", "Fierce", "Homestead", "Toxic Shock", "Static Caravan", "Klein", "Zero", "Everest", "Deluxe", "Apollo", "Atco", "Federal", "Madison", "Ace of Hearts", "A. F. O.", "Dootone", "Homestead", "Come Organisation", "TBD" ) arFORMAT = new Array( "f00", "CD", "CD", "EP", "LP", "LP", "One Sided 12-inch EP", "12-inch EP", "12-inch single", "Double LP", "LP", "CD", "Seven Inch Single", "78", "Seven Inch Single", "Seven Inch Single", "Seven Inch Single", "78", "EP", "LP", "TBD" )