CAVITY Drowning 1996

doom/sludge

by request

 

Discogs

Tracklist

1	The Saver	5:14
2	Marginal Man Blues	2:08
3	Butterscotch	3:13
4	Leech	6:24
5	Crawling	4:36
6	Perseverance	5:03
7	Drowning	6:29
8	Burning My Eyes	4:58
9	Chase	2:22
10	O.T.D	0:43
11	Chloride	7:00
12	Inside My Spine (Part 2)	5:45
13	Slug	7:25

CAP'N JAZZ Shmap'n Shmazz 1995

Title also known as Burritos, Inspiration Point, Fork Balloon Sports, Cards In The Spokes, Automatic Biographies, Kites, Kung Fu, Trophies, Banana Peels We've Slipped On, And Egg Shells We've Tippy Toed Over

Discogs

Artist Biography by Steve Huey

Short-lived but highly influential, Cap'n Jazz helped transform emo from a deeply underground punk subgenre into a more widely accepted subset of indie rock. Not terribly popular or well-known outside of the Midwest, Cap'n Jazz's main contribution was stylistic -- along with Pinkerton-era Weezer, they helped shift emo's always-elusive musical focus from post-hardcore prog-punk to an arty but more accessible punk-pop. Their discography was as scant as it was rare, but that very obscurity helped build their underground legend through word of mouth, until a double-CD retrospective was finally issued several years after their breakup. By that time, most of the members had moved on to other, better-known emo bands, most notably Joan of Arc and the highly successful Promise Ring, which helped spread Cap'n Jazz's influence far beyond their original audience. The first incarnation of Cap'n Jazz was formed in Chicago circa 1989, when brothers Tim (guitar, vocals) and Mike Kinsella (drums) teamed up with bassist Sam Zurick and guitarist Victor Villareal; all were still in school at the time. The band went through several name changes and added guitarist Davey von Bohlen, but took a few years to get serious about pursuing music. Eventually, they earned a cult following around Chicago and the Midwest, honing a sound that was at once complicated and sloppily enthusiastic. Frontman Tim Kinsella's cryptic wordplay and naïve, amateurish vocals became the group's focal points; although some found those traits polarizing, they gave Cap'n Jazz a distinct personality.

During the early '90s, the band recorded several singles for tiny independent labels, and also contributed tracks to several indie and emo compilations. In 1995, they issued their first and only album, Shmap'n Shmazz, on the tiny, poorly distributed Man With Gun label; the album also had an incredibly lengthy alternate title, which most fans ignored. It quickly became a collector's item. Not long after its release, Cap'n Jazz disbanded to pursue other projects. In 1998, three years after the band's breakup, the Jade Tree label assembled a generous double-disc Cap'n Jazz retrospective titled Analphabetapolothology. It contained the band's complete recorded works -- the entirety of Shmap'n Shmazz, material from their early singles and split releases, compilation tracks, unreleased demos and outtakes, and several songs from their farewell concert in Chicago. Davey von Bohlen maintained the highest profile of any ex-Cap'n Jazzer, moving to Milwaukee and founding the Promise Ring, which became one of the most popular emo bands of the '90s; he also fronted the acoustic-oriented side project Vermont. Tim Kinsella founded Joan of Arc, which fused emo and avant-garde post-rock in adventurous and sometimes difficult ways, and also included Mike Kinsella and Sam Zurick at various times. In between drumming gigs behind his brother, Mike Kinsella went on to front his own emo projects, American Football and, later, the mostly solo Owen. Victor Villareal was the quietest, resurfacing in the mostly instrumental Ghosts and Vodka, which also featured Zurick. Following Joan of Arc's breakup in 2001, Tim Kinsella reunited with all the former members of Cap'n Jazz -- except for von Bohlen, who was still committed elsewhere -- under a new name, Owls; the quartet released an album that year. Kinsella subsequently began a new outfit, Friend/Enemy, which later included Zurick. Another reunion occurred in 2010, complete with concert dates and a reissue of Analphabetapolothology. 

Tracklist  

1	Little League	3:57
2	Oh Messy Life	2:03
3	Puddle Splashers	2:07
4	Flashpoint: Catheter	3:21
5	In The Clear	1:58
6	Yes, I Am Talking To You	2:32
7	Basil's Kite	2:36
8	Bluegrass	1:08
9	Planet Shhh	3:00
10	The Sands Have Turned Purple	2:45
11	Precious	2:39
12	¡Qué Suerté!	3:04

BUDDHA ON THE MOON Stratospheric 1997

Discogs

Artist Biography by Stewart Mason

Buddha on the Moon is the nom de plume four-track of H.K. Kahng. Obviously inspired by artists on seminal British indie labels like 4AD and Sarah, this resident of Houston, TX, creates one-man-band recordings mixing shoegazer atmospherics, twee pop melodies, occasional dabs of space rock hypnotism, and a production style that's more low-key than lo-fi.
Kahng debuted Buddha on the Moon in the early '90s, releasing the EP Alles Ist Gut! on his own Farrago label in 1993. The "Broke" single came out in early 1994, followed by the 10" EP Translucence later the same year. Buddha on the Moon also began pursuing a sideline career around this time, doing trippy space rock/trip-hop remixes of singles by fellow indiepoppers like the Electrosonics. Two more singles appeared in 1996, "Yard Sale" and "On Holiday." In 1997, Kahng temporarily paired up with Warren Defever of His Name Is Alive and other assorted projects; Defever co-produced and remixed the 1997 EP Crepe Paper Airplane, giving it a suitably psychedelic sound missing from Buddha on the Moon's other releases.
Kahng finally released his first full-length album, Stratospheric, later in 1997. A masterful blend of all the influences exhibited on the earlier EPs and singles, Stratospheric is probably Buddha on the Moon's finest hour (or 38 minutes, anyway). Kahng followed it up with 1998's The Last Autumn Day, a similarly high-quality album mixing new material with remixed and rerecorded tracks from the four years of EPs and compilation appearances that had preceded Stratospheric, and as such functions as both a fine album in itself and a handy history lesson.

Kahng put Buddha on the Moon on hold at least temporarily in 1999, forming a new duo with his wife Nancy called the Imaginary Friend. Their first EP, Whimsy, recalls the ironic synth-pop bounce of early Magnetic Fields and features a cover of a Magick Heads single. The dreamier Letters Home followed the next year.

Tracklist  

1	As You Said	4:32
2	Summershines	5:14
3	Now That You're A Star	4:14
4	Judas Iscariot	5:32
5	Coastal Hwys	5:07
6	Norfolk Windmills	5:37
7	Of The Clouds	3:06
8	My Own Private Undoing	4:32

PURE MORNING Two Inch Helium Buddah 1996

by request

 

Discogs 

 

Tracklist

1	Scum	3:24
2	All The Guests Smile So Sweetly	3:23
3	Stunted Boy	3:40
4	Funky Hospital	2:48
5	Slow Ambulance	3:06
6	Dirge	3:41
7	I Don't Want You Around	5:10
8	Foxhole	3:19
9	Game Over	3:50
10	Fun	3:10
11	Dinky	4:53
12	Harrison	4:00

 

SOUTHPACIFIC

33

1998

Constance

 1999

Discogs 

Artist Biography by Scott Thill

One of so-called post-rock's more addictive and compelling instrumentalists, southpacific was on the indie music map for only a few years, releasing two albums of broad, sweeping noise set to beats bordering on the minimalist. They weren't exactly everyone's cup of tea, either: Some critics complained that they were too derivative of deconstructionists like Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine, while others argued that they were just plain boring. But there's no such thing as bad publicity, someone once said, and the fact that opinion on southpacific was so polarized hints at the particular skills they displayed throughout the late '90s.
The group's nucleus, Joachim Toelke, Graeme Fleming, and Phil Stewart-Bowes, met as friends in the spring of 1996 after Toelke moved to Ottawa after recently returning with empty pockets from the United Kingdom. Fleming spent most of his early musical career in his basement, melding the sounds of Bailter Space, My Bloody Valentine, and Swervedriver into a style that southpacific would later call its foundation. Fleming already had a few recordings (as many others did) under the name of Saturnine. Meanwhile, Stewart-Bowes and Toelke were deep into the British flavors of Seefeel and Bowery Electric. The diverse musical interests of its various members gave southpacific a cross-genre feel that immediately registered with a public quickly tiring of bubblegum pop bombast. Ironically enough, southpacific started playing shows in 1998 with a female singer in tow, but unloaded her when they found out she couldn't sing in key. The band pushed on, hoping to land at a label like Creation, which was deep into classic rock by the time southpacific garnered attention as the newest math rockers (à la Tortoise) or space rockers (à la Slowdive) on the block, much to the band's chagrin. They admittedly borrowed some of both genres' characteristics for their compositions, but all of them chafed at the comparisons, especially Fleming, who hated space rock with a passion.
After a well-received live show, a friend of the band sent Bailter Space's label, Turnbuckle, a cassette. Turnbuckle responded positively and signed southpacific up for the band's first album, 33. Most of that initial release was recorded in a ski chalet that belonged to Fleming's parents, a perfect setting for an album full of aural soundscapes. Even after finding out that they had done everything backwards, the band was satisfied with Fleming's magic hand in the recording process, and 33 was released to minor acclaim in November of 1998. There was enough momentum behind southpacific following 33 that Turnbuckle generously pulled out the checkbook and allowed the band -- which had relocated to Toronto -- to log some time in an actual studio. But creative differences and annoyances dampened the recording process: Many of their sonic experiments were watered down because of technical issues (amps humming too loudly, different recording gear) and group friction (the band deferred much to Fleming, who had the luxury of recording at home, rather than in an expensive studio), leading to a good deal of stress and conflict.
Then the ceiling came down. The buzz that had been built up on the strength of 33 dissipated once Turnbuckle abruptly folded. Rather than hitting the shelves in its stated release date of February 2000, southpacific's best album, Constance, was delayed months, by which time the anticipation had all but disappeared. Although the album was promoted heavily on the university circuit and received excellent airplay, it shuffled from distributor to distributor until it landed some time later at Symbiotic. By that time, Fleming decided he had seen enough and left the band, and Toelke and Stewart-Bowes soon followed suit. Toelke moved on to form Frihavn, while Fleming went back to the chalet and recorded a slew of songs that he refused to let anyone listen to. But although the members remained friends, southpacific itself remains just a memorable footnote to the continually unfolding post-rock exegesis. 

33

Tracklist

1	Nova	3:47
2	Datura	4:24
3	Life Illusion	3:03
4	Soundbarrier	5:02
5	Interconnect	3:54
6	Time Between	3:27
7	Reverbium	10:07

Constance

Tracklist

1	Blue Lotus	4:15
2	Parallel Lines	4:19
3	E10 @ 182	7:11
4	Alamo	3:12
5	Analogue 9	5:34
6	Round (Forget What You Feel)	2:19
7	Built To Last	3:54
8	A Better Life Since	1:50
9	Stay Ahead, Far Behind	5:16
10	Pintail Gate	5:28
11	Automata	3:24
12	Instrumental	5:47
13	Telegraph Hill	4:55
14	Aria	4:13

 

 

SUPER THIRTY ONE Eye Heavy 1996

shoegaze

Discogs

Tracklist

1	Walls	4:16
2	Be Seeing You...	2:01
3	Walled In Too	2:40
4	Tational Pull	5:26
5	Elacca	2:41
6	Number Six	3:14
7	Blue Green Envy	4:05
8	Eye Heavy	7:19
9	Her Eyes In Five	2:46

10 One Last Breath 3:27

SIANSPHERIC Somnium 1995

Discogs

Artist Biography by Gina Boldman

SIANspheric's music is part noise, low-tech, and guitar sounds with a minimalist attitude. The band is comprised of Steve Peruzzi (vocals, bass), Sean Ramsay (guitar), and Matt Durant (drums); their debut CD, Somnium, was issued by Sonic Unyon in 1995. There's Always Someplace You'd Rather Be followed in 1998.

Tracklist

1	Turbulent - Hydrodynamic	5:18
2	This Window	4:52
3	Watch Me Fall	6:25
4	Broken Man	6:37
5	Flow, Ebb & Die	4:16
6	The Stars Above	4:54
7	Needle	6:30
8	I Like The Ride	5:48
9	Zoe	3:48
10	Where The Planets Revolve, I Wish I Was There	21:18

 

ROCKETSHIP A Certain Smile A Certain Sadness 1996

Discogs

Artist Biography by Jason Ankeny

Sacramento, CA-based indie-pop favorite Rocketship was the brainchild of singer/guitarist Dustin Reske, who formed the group in 1993 with bassist Verna Brock, keyboardist Heidi Barney and drummer Jim Rivas. After releasing the classic single "Hey Hey Girl" on the influential Bus Stop label, the group recorded 1996's acclaimed A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness for Slumberland; the original line-up then dissolved, with Reske continuing Rocketship essentially as a solo project. The "Honey, I Need You" single followed in 1997; two years later, Reske resurfaced with the ambient-influenced twelve-inch Rocketship's Garden of Delights. 

Tracklist

1	I Love You Like The Way That I Used To Do	4:42
2	Kisses Are Always Promises	2:46
3	Heather, Tell Me Why	3:28
4	Let's Go Away	6:24
5	I'm Lost Without You Here	2:56
6	Carrie Cooksey	4:33
7	We're Both Alone	4:35
8	Friendships And Love	4:38