THE VERLAINES Way Out Where 1993

 

by request

Discogs

The Verlaines Biography

by Jason Ankeny

  A literate and dramatic sector of New Zealand's Dunedin sound and Flying Nun circles, the Verlaines' disenchanted guitar pop has been an indie fixture since the early '80s. Formed around the jangly and excitable songwriting of vocalist/guitarist Graeme Downes, the Verlaines cycled through several lineup changes as they eked out albums over the years, retaining a consistent sound from their early singles (collected on 1987's brilliant Juvenilia) to '90s output like Way Out Where, to their tenth studio album, 2019's Dunedin Spleen.

Downes formed the Verlaines in 1981. The group's original roster also included guitarist Craig Easton, keyboardist Anita Pillai, bassist Philip Higham, and drummer Greg Kerr. Both Easton and Pillai quickly exited, and the Verlaines remained a three-piece for the remainder of the decade. The early lineup was in a constant state of flux, however, and of the original group, only Downes and Kerr remained by the time of their debut on the 1982 Dunedin Double compilation EP, recorded with bassist Jane Dodd. Drummer Alan Haig then replaced Kerr for the 1983 single "Death and the Maiden" -- the archetypal Verlaines song for many fans -- and the lineup was finally cemented with Haig replacing drummer Robbie Yeats; Haig first appeared on the 1984 EP 10 O'Clock in the Afternoon.

The Verlaines' full-length debut, 1985's Hallelujah All the Way Home, was originally submitted as part of a composition project for Downes' honors-level music class; he received an "A" for the record, which bore the heavy influence of his classical background in its exacting compositions, as well as its orchestral and brass flourishes. After the 1986 "Doomsday" single, the Verlaines resurfaced a year later with the excellent Bird Dog LP. A long layoff followed as Downes pursued his PhD, and the group -- with new bassist Mike Stoodley -- did not appear again until the 1990 album Some Disenchanted Evening. Yeats departed soon after and was ultimately replaced by drummer Gregg Cairns. After recording 1991's Ready to Fly, the Verlaines swelled to a four-piece with the addition of second guitarist Paul Winders; after Cairns quit, new drummer Darren Stedman was enlisted in time for 1993's Way Out Where. After this record Downes soon accepted a teaching position at the Auckland Institute of Technology, and after releasing Over the Moon in 1997 (the band's sole album for Columbia Records, distributed only in New Zealand) the band went on hiatus. Downes released a solo album, Hammers and Anvils, in 2001 for Matador but otherwise focused on his academic career for the next few years. In 2003, Flying Nun released You're Just Too Obscure for Me, a curated best-of collection named after the opening line of "Death and the Maiden." In the later part of the decade, Downes reunited with Stedman and Winders, added bassist Russell Fleming, and released a new record every few years under the Verlaines name. Pot Boiler saw the light in 2007 on Flying Nun, Corporate Moronic followed in 2009 for new label Dunedin Music, 2012's Untimely Meditations found them back with Flying Nun again. The Verlaines self-released their tenth album Dunedin Spleen digitally in 2019, ultimately working with North Carolina indie label Schoolkids Records for a physical release of the album in 2021. That year Schoolkids also released Live at the Windsor Castle, 1986, a limited vinyl-only edition that captured one of the band's early shows.

Tracklist

1		Mission Of Love	4:02
2		I Stare Out ...	3:25
3		This Valentine	4:41
4		Blanket Over The Sky	3:20
5		Cathedrals Under The Sea	3:24
6		Aches In Whisper	3:47
7		Way Out Here	3:32
8		Lucky In My Dreams	4:03
9		Black Wings	3:15
10		Stay Gone	4:10
11		Incarceration	3:37
12		Dirge	4:07

THE RENDERERS The Surface of Jupiter 1996

 

Discogs

 

Artist Biography by Paul Simpson

Active since 1989, the Renderers inhabit the dark side of the New Zealand indie scene, playing a brooding country/blues-influenced style of distortion-laced psychedelic space rock. Their songs range from sparse and shadowy laments to more upbeat (yet still tense and menacing) pop songs. The group's only two constant members have been husband-and-wife duo Maryrose and Brian Crook (of numerous NZ bands including Flies Inside the Sun, the Terminals, and Scorched Earth Policy), with contributions from members of the 3Ds, the Verlaines, Pumice, and countless other bands. After forming in Christchurch (also home to the Bats and Bailter Space) at the tail end of the '80s, the Renderers released their countrified debut full-length, Trail of Tears, on Flying Nun in 1991. A single called "Touch of Evil" followed in 1993, and the group made its American debut that year with the "Million Lights" 7" on Merge Records. The band's second album, That Dog's Head in the Gutter Gives Off Vibrations, appeared on Chicago-based Ajax Records in 1994, and was followed by The Surface of Jupiter in 1996. The group's final recording of the 1990s was A Dream of the Sea, which appeared on Siltbreeze in 1998 and was one of their most acclaimed albums.

 

Tracklist

1	Carnival Of Souls	4:12
2	Outer Mongolia	3:38
3	Darkest Way	4:47
4	Sleeping With The Devil	3:32
5	High Seas	5:50
6	Mercury	3:59
7	Without Eyes	4:24
8	Bottomless Pit	3:24
9	All Around The World	4:26
10	Moonflower	3:36
11	Like A Virus	4:05
12	Death Race	3:22
13	Drink	3:32

THE DEAD C The White House 1995

 

Discogs

Artist Biography by Fred Thomas

Long-running New Zealand trio the Dead C were early pioneers of noise rock, stretching traditional guitar and drum instrumentation into contained explosions of bleary improvisation and lo-fi recording. Active since 1986, the group quickly developed a signature sound based around meandering, blown-out approaches to more conventional rock sounds, crafting a catalog of records that obscured melodies deep beneath walls of murk, feedback, and otherworldly noise. Records from the Dead C's '90s catalog like Trapdoor Fucking Exit and The White House helped define a movement of home-recorded experimental artists and would prove influential on the next several generations of sound deconstructionists. The group remained productive without pause throughout the '90s, 2000s, and 2010s, releasing new material every few years with adventurous indie labels like Siltbreeze and Ba Da Bing. Later albums tended more toward instrumental pieces, but the band's sound stayed remarkably consistent, with latter-day albums like Armed Courage continuing the otherworldly tones they started with.

The Dead C was formed in 1986 in Dunedin, New Zealand by guitarist/vocalist Michael Morley, ex-Verlaines drummer Robbie Yeats, and guitarist/vocalist Bruce Russell, who also ran the Xpressway label. Early on, the trio developed a drony, protracted approach to the trappings of rock music, releasing their feedback-heavy lo-fi recordings first on limited-run cassettes. Their first widely available albums were put out by Kiwi pop flagship label Flying Nun. The label, mostly known for downtuned indie pop acts like the Clean and the Bats released the Dead C's DR503 in 1988 as well as 1989's follow-up Eusa Kills. This was a highly active period for the band and before 1989 was over, they would begin a long-running relationship with Philadelphia-based fringe label Siltbreeze by releasing Helen Said This, a mini-album with two side-long jams. The band was still releasing cassette-only albums at a steady clip, recording live shows, practices, and other less traditional takes on what could constitute an album, and releasing that material to a growing international fan base. Key releases from the band's early-'90s output included 1992's dense double-LP Harsh 70's Reality, an edited collection of live recordings released the same year called Clyma Est Mort, the shiftless and meandering 1993 release The Operation of the Sonne, and 1995's somewhat more structured collection of wintery meditations The White House, all released through Siltbreeze. By this point, the band were playing their first gigs outside of New Zealand, with short tours of the United States. Members of the group were also busy with side projects, including Morley's solo moniker Gate (which had been up and running almost as long as the Dead C) and a Handful of Dust, Russell's abstract duo with Alastair Galbraith. Other side projects also formed around the nucleus of the trio, including 2 Foot Flame (a trio that joined Morley with Mecca Normal vocalist Jean Smith and New Zealand songwriter Peter Jefferies), Cobweb Iris, Brown Velvet Couch, and collaborations with members of Sonic Youth. Live album Repent surfaced in 1996 and the following year the band issued sixth album Tusk. This would be the last release the band would issue with Siltbreeze, and it also marked a relative slowdown to their high-volume productivity, as their next album wouldn't arrive until 2000 in the form of a self-titled double-CD collection of sessions conducted from 1995-1999. This eponymous album was released on the group's newly minted Language Recordings label. Their second album on the label was 2002's New Electric Music. Issued in 2003, The Damned found a more widespread American release via the Starlight Furniture label. Around this time, the band embarked on their first-ever tours of Europe, playing a festival in Scotland in 2004 and dropping by the U.K. in 2006 for an appearance at All Tomorrow’s Parties. A 2005 12" with African percussion ensemble Konono No. 1 was released as the 18th volume of FatCat Records' Split Series. The Dead C began a long-running relationship with American label Ba Da Bing, which released "Relax Fallujah - Hell Has Come" (a 7" of early recordings) and the double-CD compilation Vain, Erudite and Stupid, which spanned their entire career up to that point. A split LP with Hi God People on the Nervous Jerk label also appeared in 2006. The Dead C's first albums for Ba Da Bing were Future Artists in 2007 and Secret Earth in 2008. These were followed in 2010 by the new album Patience and reissues Clyma Est Mort/Tentative Power and Dead Sea Perform M Harris. Thirteenth proper album Armed Courage, consisting of two side-long tracks, appeared in 2013, as did a split LP with Rangda. The four-LP live box set The Twelfth Spectacle was issued by Grapefruit Records in 2014. A limited 7" single titled "Palisades" was released by I Dischi Del Barone in 2015. The five-song double album Trouble appeared on Ba Da Bing in 2016 and in 2019, over 30 years into their career, the band's 15th album arrived in the form of Rare Ravers. 

 

Tracklist

1	Voodoo Spell	2:33
2	The New Snow	12:27
3	Your Hand	7:24
4	Aime To Prochain Comme Toi Même	0:56
5	Bitcher	6:32
6	Outside	17:58

 

RED HOT AND BOTHERED The Indie Rock Guide 1995

Track listing

1. "Sensational Gravity Boy" performed by Freedom Cruise
2. "Still Flat" performed by Built to Spill + Caustic Resin
3. "The Mirror Is Gone" performed by Lisa Germano
4. "Mouthwash" performed by Noise Addict
5. "Indierockinstrumental" performed by Folk Implosion
6. "Some Fantasy" performed by The Verlaines
7. "Little League" performed by Liquorice
8. "Hazmats *" performed by Babe The Blue Ox
9. "Mainland China *" performed by Juicy
10. "The Fontana *" performed by The Sea and Cake
11. "Sotto Voce" performed by Cradle Robbers
12. "Rex’s Blues" performed by Jay Farrar + Kelly Willis
13. "Empty Yard" performed by Grifters
14. "Miracleland" performed by East River Pipe
15. "Snail Trail *" performed by Heavenly
16. "Hopeless *" performed by Future Bible Heroes
17. "Servicing Man *" performed by Flying Nuns
18. "Quietly Approaching *" performed by Gastr Del Sol

* Tracks only available on CD release.