WUHLING Extra 6 1997

by request

 

Discogs

Tracklist

1	Wohin	3:32
2	2nd Versuch	3:32
3	Speed	4:25
4	( Bean )	4:49
5	Smiley	3:25
6	Nur Noch Dich	3:57
7	Mit 17	1:19
8	Roberta	4:41
9	Dim De Dim De	3:13
10	DJ	3:31
11	Enno	4:57

DIRTY THREE Horse Stories 1996

Discogs


Artist Biography by Jason Ankeny 

Melancholy instrumental trio Dirty Three formed in Melbourne, Australia in 1992, led by classically trained violinist Warren Ellis, who began writing and performing music for art openings and plays and also tenured in the groups Blackeyed Susans, Paranoid, and the Nursing Mothers. After enlisting Blackeyed Susans guitarist Mick Turner and drummer Jim White -- veterans of Melbourne bands including the Sick Things, the Moodists, Fungus Brain, and Venom P. Stinger -- Ellis formed Dirty Three; at the group's debut performance, he used a rubber band to attach a guitar pickup to his violin, giving the instrument a distorted, feedback-drenched feel far removed from its original sound. Recorded as a demo, the trio's debut Sad & Dangerous appeared in 1994; subsequent tours in support of Pavement, Sonic Youth, and John Cale helped win Dirty Three a deal with the Touch & Go label, which issued a 1995 eponymous effort and 1996's acclaimed Horse Stories. In 1998, Dirty Three resurfaced with Ocean Songs; Whatever You Love, You Are followed two years later.

Celebrating their tenth anniversary, Dirty Three headed back into the studio. Initially, the trio had recorded songs for a follow-up to Whatever You Love, You Are in early 2001; however, the songs were scrapped. White went on to tour with Smog and Will Oldham. Turner founded his own label, King Crab Records, and worked with Marquis de Tren. Ellis joined his fellow mates Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds for a monumental world tour in spring 2002. Somewhere amidst all this activity, Dirty Three reconvened with producer Fabrice Laureau, chief of Prohibited Records, who recorded part of the soundtrack to Amelie. Together, he and Dirty Three arrived with the enigmatic, dark album She Has No Strings Apollo in February 2003. Cinder, which features appearances by Cat Power's Chan Marshall and Sally Timms from the Mekons, followed two years later.

Following the release of Cinder, all three bandmembers concentrated on various solo projects for the next six years. White moved to Brooklyn from Chicago; he recorded and toured with PJ Harvey, Nina Nastasia, Marshall, and Bonnie "Prince" Billy. Ellis joined the Bad Seeds full-time, and was a member of a Bad Seeds off-shoot band, the short-lived Grinderman. He also became Nick Cave's film-scoring partner. Turner issued a solo album, and focused on his career as a successful visual artist. Dirty Three secretly began working on another album in 2011 and emerged with Toward the Low Sun, their debut for Drag City, in early 2012. 

Tracklist  

1	1000 Miles	4:40
2	Sue's Last Ride	7:22
3	Hope	4:53
4	I Remember A Time When You Used To Love Me	6:11
5	At The Bar	6:39
6	Red	3:54
7	Warren's Lament	8:44
8	Horse	5:38
9	I Knew It Would Come To This	8:38

MORNING GLORIES Let The Body Hang 1997

Discogs

 Artist Biography by John Bush

The Morning Glories were formed in New York by vocalist and guitarist Christian Gibbs, bassist Nicholas Palumbo and drummer Kenny Savelson. Playing a grungy take on the blues, the band released a self-titled four-song EP in 1993 and a full-length album (also self-titled) on Headhunter/Cargo in 1994. The second album, Fully Loaded, appeared in 1995; Let the Body Hang followed two years later. 

Tracklist

1	Tattoo Ruins
2	Memphis
3	Little Blue Man
4	Methods
5	Slow Retreat
6	B.B. Gun
7	One Out Of Three
8	Peeling Off The Blood That Sticks
9	Hickory
10	Mascara
11	Expired

CALEXICO Spoke 1997

Discogs

Artist Biography by Mark Deming

Calexico take their name from a town on the border of California and Mexico, and the title certainly fits the band, who've been mixing musical approaches and cultural perspectives with elan ever since group leaders Joey Burns and John Convertino began working together. Fusing the dusty sounds of the American Southwest with spaghetti western soundtracks, Mexican mariachi themes, vintage surf music, cool jazz, and a broad spectrum of Latin influences, Calexico are an eclectic ensemble whose work is as distinctive as it is unpredictable.
Calexico's story begins in 1990, when bassist Joey Burns, a music student at the University of California Irvine, met percussionist John Convertino, who was playing drums with Howe Gelb's long-running band Giant Sand. Burns soon signed on to play bass with Giant Sand on a tour of Europe, and then relocated to Giant Sand's home base of Tucson, Arizona. During downtime from Giant Sand's projects in 1993, Burns and Convertino teamed with guitarists Billy Elm and Woody Jackson to form the Friends of Dean Martinez, a group that fused lounge-influenced pop melodies with the musical flavors of the Southwest. The Friends of Dean Martinez soon developed a loyal following on the alternative rock scene, and Burns and Convertino began collaborating with an impressive number of well-respected musicians, including Richard Buckner, Neko Case, Bill Janovitz, Lisa Germano, Victoria Williams, and Barbara Manning. 

Tracklist 

1	Low Expectations	2:36
2	Mind The Gap	0:52
3	Mazurra	1:46
4	Sanchez	3:18
5	Haul	1:21
6	Slag	2:28
7	Paper Route	2:00
8	Glimpse	2:39
9	Navy Cut	0:29
10	Spokes	3:37
11	Scout	2:09
12	Point Vicente	3:56
13	Wash	2:35
14	Ice Cream Jeep	0:30
15	Windjammer	2:38
16	Mazurka	1:19
17	Removed	3:51
18	Hitch	2:53
19	Stinging Nettle	3:40

RED STARS THEORY Life In A Bubble Can Be Beautiful 1999

Discogs

Artist Biography by Heather Phares

Red Stars Theory's core members are guitarist/vocalist James Bertram of 764-Hero and drummer Jeremiah Green, who played with Modest Mouse for a time. Much like their other two bands, the Washington State natives combined driving guitars and passionate vocals into cathartic indie-rock, but as their 1997 debut But Sleep Came Slowly showed, the group also added long, moody passages to their songs that evoked slow-core groups like Codeine as well as orchestral arrangement. The group's Touch & Go debut, 1999's Life In A Bubble Can Be Beautiful, featured a softer, gentler version of the band's emotive sound and guest performances from indie stars like Lois Maffeo. Their self-titled sophomore effort followed a year later.

 Tracklist 

1	How Did This Room Get So White	5:21
2	Combinations And Complications	5:33
3	Parts Per Million	8:41
4	Boring Ghosts	3:54
5	A Sailor's Warning	6:47
6	September	4:26
7	An Alarm Goes Off	10:06

ARMCHAIR MARTIAN Armchair Martian 1997

Discogs

Wikipedia
Armchair Martian, formed in 1993, is a trio based out of Fort Collins, Colorado.^[1] They are a punk and alt-country band influenced by Descendents, Hüsker Dü, and Uncle Tupelo. They have put out numerous recordings through four record labels, the latest being Suburban Home which released the Good Guys, Bad Band album (a compilation of out of print material) in 2007 and re-issued their Who Wants to Play Bass? LP. Singer Jon Snodgrass later moved on to form Drag the River.
The band has formed a close friendship with punk rock bands Lagwagon and Bad Astronaut, particularly main songwriter and vocalist of both groups Joey Cape. Both Cape and Snodgrass have been known to frequently cover each other's songs on numerous releases, including a split EP with Bad Astronaut in 2001 titled War of the Worlds.

Tracklist

1	Back In The Hammock	2:52
2	Xenophobe: A Car	2:58
3	Not Fine	2:50
4	Barely Passing	3:17
5	Feets	2:50
6	Communion	3:13
7	Blast	2:43
8	Lunar	1:59
9	Breaking Down	2:34
10	Truce	2:32
11	Jessica Suicide	3:16
12	Blue Monkey	2:46

THINGY Songs About Angels, Evil, And Running Around On Fire 1997

Discogs

Artist Biography by Steve Huey

Following the 1995 dissolution of the quirky art-pop band Heavy Vegetable, guitarist/singer/songwriter Rob Crow and lead singer Eléa Tenuta regrouped in Thingy, which turned into one of the restless and prolific Crow's main creative outlets. Both natives of the San Diego area, Crow and Tenuta added bassist Jason Soares (formerly of Loader, Rice, and Stacatto Reads) and quickly cut a seven-song EP, Staring Contest, which was released on Heavy Vegetable's old label Headhunter/Cargo in 1996. Its drummerless, mostly acoustic approach was a marked departure from Heavy Vegetable's short, fractured, progressive compositions and punk roots. It was only temporary, though, as drummer Mario Rubalcaba -- also of the Black Heart Procession and formerly of cult emo faves Clikatat Ikatowi -- subsequently came on board. The band plugged their instruments back in for their first full-length effort, 1997's Songs About Angels, Evil, and Running Around on Fire, which bore a stronger resemblance to Heavy Vegetable's work. Meanwhile, Crow and Soares both moonlighted as part of synth minimalists Physics; Crow also made some solo recordings, both under his own name and as Snotnose, and worked with punkers Fantasy Mission Force and indie popsters Optiganally Yours.
With all the side projects going on, it took Thingy awhile to craft its second album. The same quartet lineup finally released To the Innocent in 2000, this time on the Absolutely Kosher label. Rubalcaba subsequently left the band to move to Chicago, while Soares also departed to focus on Physics and its posthumous offshoot, Aspects of Physics. Rubalcaba's replacement was Brent Asbury, while Soares was replaced at first by Physics bandmate Cameron Jones, who also doubled as the drummer for Crow's other main band of the time, Pinback. Jones moved to Portland in 2001, where he founded Two Guys with his brother Ryan; he was replaced in Thingy by Kenseth Thibideau. Crow concentrated mainly on Pinback for the next several years, but continued to work on new material with Thingy, with a third album slated for some indefinite future date. 

Tracklist

1	Destroy All Music
2	SK5
3	Olive Drab
4	Thins
5	Honest
6	Fake
7	Numb
8	Cottingley Fairies
9	Nosebleed
10	Evil Shadow
11	Revolution In A Box
12	Homework
13	Drugs
14	Fine
15	Window
16	Hit Bottom
17	Semolina / Kessel Run
18	Cutest Baby
19	Wave Of Depression
20	Rental
21	Cut
22	Already Ivy
23	Nod
24	Light Drizzle

 

DIDJITS Hornet Piñata 1990

Discogs

Artist Biography by Steve Huey

Purveyors of revved-up, tastelessly funny trash-punk, the Didjits were an atypically straightforward part of the Touch & Go stable, as well as an utterly manic live band. Their sound was mostly speed-blur garage-band punk with a dash of AC/DC-esque hard rock, but their true inspirations were rock & roll wildmen like Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard, not to mention the guitar heroics of Chuck Berry. Most Didjits albums were virtual catalogs of rock & roll sleaze and vice -- sex, booze, drugs, violence, death, Satan, and the like -- all rolled into a smart-alecky, Midwestern white-trash act. Whether he was being jokey, offensive, or just plain bizarre, lead singer/guitarist Rick Sims' sense of humor could only be described as indelicate, leading to charges of sexism and racism from journalists with little patience for tongue-in-cheek political incorrectness. In truth, they sent up white-trash culture much more than they embraced it, but did so with such gleeful immaturity and abandon that they often made things pretty convincing.

The Didjits were formed in Mattoon, Illinois in 1983 by brothers Rick (guitar/vocals) and Brad Sims (drums). The two had grown up listening to first-generation British punk, as well as high-volume guitar bands like Sonic Youth and Big Black, and had each been in several local groups (including a new wave pop outfit) before teaming up. Adding bassist Doug Evans, the trio began playing around the local club scene under the alias Rick Didjit. Their frontman quickly distinguished himself with a crazed stage demeanor and a wardrobe of snappy suits. Their debut recording, Fizzjob, was issued in 1987 on the band's own Bam Bam imprint, but it was the as-yet unreleased follow-up, Hey Judester, that caught the attention of Touch & Go Records. Boasting tougher, beefed-up production, Hey Judester was picked up for release in early 1988, and launched many of the cornerstones of the band's repertoire: "Max Wedge," "Dad," "Skull Baby," "Plate in My Head," "Stumpo Knee Grinder," and others.

Now with a slowly growing cult audience, the Didjits returned in 1989 with the one-off single "Lovesicle," then completed their next album, Hornet Pinata, in 1990. Its key track, "Killboy Powerhead," a moderate success on college radio, was later covered by Didjits enthusiasts the Offspring. A not-so-official live album, Backstage Passout, captured a gig in London from the supporting tour. 1991's Full Nelson Reilly kept the band's creative prime going, but the following year Brad Sims went through something of a life crisis; he got divorced, remarried a short time later, and left the band to take a day job. The Didjits quickly replaced him with Rey Washam, who'd previously played with Rapeman, Scratch Acid, and the Big Boys, among others. Washam played on the 1992 five-song EP Little Miss Carriage!, but for the group's next tour, he was replaced by Todd Cole, who was soon made a permanent member. Cole made his recorded debut on 1993's full-length Que Sirhan Sirhan, which also proved to be the band's swan song. After one further single, "Headless," in 1994, the Didjits broke up. Sims joined spiritual kin the Supersuckers for several months, then played briefly with Fred Schneider before starting a well-received new band, the Gaza Strippers. Washam went on to play with Ministry and Lard, among others. 

Tracklist 

1	Killboy Powerhead	2:00
2	Captain Ahab	2:15
3	Long Lone Ranger	2:18
4	Gold Eldorado	1:57
5	Evel Knievel	2:16
6	Cutting Carol	1:45
7	Goodbye Mr. Policeman	1:30
8	Sweet Sweet Satan	2:46
9	Baby Ür A Dräg	2:20
10	Call Me Animal	1:49
11	Joker Express	2:27
12	Hooly Ghouly	1:27
13	Foxey Lady	3:19