May 2000 Parasol Newsletter

Issue #31

Exciting news. June & the Exit Wounds will be making their first Chicago appearance (and I believe their first appearance outside Champaign-Urbana) on June 22 at Schuba's as part of a "Parasol Night." The show will be opened by Chicago trio, Autoliner, whose co-lead singer, Brian Leach, was just featured in the latest Amplifier magazine. Following second slotter June &TEW, Sarge's Elizabeth Elmore will take the stage for one of her wonderful solo-in-front-of-a-big-Marshall-amp performances. I'm sure she'll play some songs from Sarge's farewell CD Distant. Closing the show, and making the trip from North Carolina, is Doleful Lions. The band, fronted by Chicago area native Jonathan Scott, is following its well received The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here! CD with two more in 2000…Song Cyclops volumes one and two. Other stuff…our latest repress of Bikeride's 37 Secrets I Only Told America CD has a slight glitch… it isn't Bikeride. If you've purchased a copy in the past two months, please make sure there isn't a countryish band taking the place of our beloved Tony Carbone. Ex-Parasolite Lisa Bralts co-hosts a radio show on Tuesday nights from 10PM-12 Midnight (Central Time) on Champaign's community station WEFT. Hear a sampling of new stuff that comes into Parasol each week on www.prairienet.org/weft.

SPOTLIGHT

Elk City-Status CD
(AHA!-013) $11.00
The debut from NYC avant-pop outfit Elk City is a collision of smoky folk and classic New Wave. Compelling, passionate pop-band basics, nimbly handled guitars and bass and drums, immersed in a pool of shimmering analog synths and tweaked-out electronics, co-ed vocals that range from the cosmically ethereal to the wholesomely earthbound, an assortment of voices intertwined above the mix. For fans of The Velvet Underground And Yo La Tengo, Galaxie 500 and Luna, The Magnetic Fields and Mazzy Star, Sparklehorse and The Flaming Lips, there are also hints of the Quickspace and Novak camp but this isn't Neu!rock born of leafy London suburbs, Status is New York City to the max, the overwhelming hum of humanity in close quarters and the sound of the secret places where people have to go to escape it. Arising out of the implosion of Melting Hopefuls, a critically acclaimed mid-90's pop band that garnered rave reviews in SPIN, Melody Maker, CMJ and NME, Elk City began in autumn 1997 as a no-rules pop project. These folks have taken the Melting Hopefuls' critically acclaimed pop-song-writing skills and added a deep breath of atmosphere and experimentation…The born-to-be-an-indie-pop-single "Dreams Of Steam" infuses a sensual pop song with 100% humid atmospheres, maybe it's the title but it's like a sauna in there, some incredibly sultry sonics. Other highlights include the GBV cruncher "Groundbreaking", the Low-like hush of "Mysteries Unknown", and the Ween-like Moog mugging of "Chocolate Girl."

Matt Bruno-Punch & Beauty CD
(PAR-CD-055) $10.00
Can a three-minute pop song contain the world? One thing is certain: three minutes is ample opportunity for Matt Bruno to wrap enough melody and harmony around the listener's ears to evoke a smile and a little devotion. He arrived at pop from all angles only after studying the cantus firmus (also known as the piano) for many a year with the hope of becoming a composer, though always with a Beach Boys, Beatles or Who song in the back of his mind to interrupt the piano studies of Debussy and Gershwin. Matt's self-released Punch & Beauty CD drew accolades from the pure pop community, and appeared on many Top 20 fan ballots when it was initially unveiled in 1999. For the Parasol re-release of Punch & Beauty Matt has recorded two new songs-"On Top of the World" which leads off the album, and "I Wanna Be Beautiful"-adding to the original eleven. In the current Amplifier Wendy Shea raves, "'Simply Yours,' a goosebump-raising jangle anthem, and 'Let Me Really Love You' sound like sophomore Wonders after they moved to California and spent the summer hanging with the Byrds." And, Robin Wills writing in Bucketfull of Brains about Matt's performance at last year's IPO Festival said, "Matt is a truly gifted songwriter, his best recorded stuff fits somewhere between Eric Carmen and Brian Wilson…" The re-released debut from pop's newest maestro will be available the second week of May.

Camden-Reel Time Canvas CD
(GTA-009) $10.50
This Milwaukee post-emo/neo-space-pop outfit sounds like a whirlpool of the late 80s Creation Records roster, would've fit right in with bands like Ride and My Bloody Valentine back in the day, freaky and psychedelic like 'Dark Side Of the Moon' era Pink Floyd... 'Reel Time Canvas' is an amazing exercise in songwriting. Joyously fragmented pop with experimental production schemes the band has created an unpredictable atmospheric rock sound, guitars stretched between a classical gospel quietude and full-on ballistic bombast, majestic vocal balladry resurrecting the spirit of Jeff Buckley, with some unadulterated Morrissey-isms… A stormy gust of song and sound augmented with weird electronic trippiness. Iridescent mood rock akin to the work of Aspera Ad Astra, Radiohead, Mercury Rev, Swervedriver, Travis; recorded by Chris Walla of Death Cab For Cutie, and absolutely beautiful!

Snailhouse-Fine CD
(GTA-010) $10.50
Wooden Stars maestro Mike Feuerstack has re-released his acclaimed 1995 album Fine on Grand Theft Autumn. Intricately woven acoustic melodies and gracious, luminous vocals, eerie enough for goosebumps, gentle enough to cuddle with. A wholesome melancholy beauty for fans of Neil Young and Nick Drake, Pedro The Lion and Simon & Garfunkel, Will Oldham and Wooden Stars… Repackaged by Grand Theft Autumn in handsome screen-printed chipboard gatefold jackets, just like the originally release on Lunamoth (Canada), but different! As a member of Wooden Stars, backing songstress Julie Doiron, Mike shares a Juno Award (Canada's Grammy) for Best Alternative Album for 1999, that's pedigree for you! In May he'll be touring with Julie Doiron & Wooden Stars, performing her stuff as well as doing his own solo sets along the way.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...

…we're giving you a chance to buy Dust In My Head's Wind In My Heart CD on Parasol for only $2.00!! This album slipped through the cracks since its release in 1996, and we've not been able to adequately articulate its charms in the ensuing years. Ptolemaic Terrascope said about a recent Dust In My Head 7" single: "It's kinda like Television married to the Rain Parade if the latter's paisley arses were set on fire by a mischievous goblin. A stone killer!" Wind In My Heart is no less a "stone killer" and we want you to have it even if it means selling it cheap, cheap, cheap. We figure you'll tell your friends about this Japanese-sung 10-song album, with an enthusiasm that somehow failed us.

COMING SOON

• George Usher Group-Days of Plenty (Parasol) CD due in June
• Vitesse-Chelsea 27099 (Hidden Agenda) CD due in June
• Various Artists-Crane Alley (Mud) CD due in June
• Doleful Lions-Song Cyclops Volume One (Parasol) CD due in June
• Shalini-We Want Jelly Donuts (Parasol) CD due in June
• Bikeride-Summer Winners, Summer Losers (Hidden Agenda) CD in September, preceded by a new 10" vinyl EP in June
• Various Artists-Tested Charms: A Tribute to the Shoes (Parasol) CD due in the autumn 2000

SOME PARASOL RELATED ARTIST ANSWERS SOME QUESTIONS

Elk City's Ray Ketchem, Peter Langland-Hassan & Renee Lobue

1. Mixing session you wish you could have attended-
Ray: The Cars' first album Peter: Hendrix-Axis: Bold as Love Renee: Any Session of Steely Dan

2. Songs you think you probably shouldn't like but just can't help yourself-
Ray: Anything by Foreigner Peter: Billy Ocean "Carribbean Queen" Renee: unashamed

3. Favorite record that you can't find on CD-
Ray: Saxon-Denim and Leather Peter: Tootles the Train Renee: Ours

4. First Concert-
Ray: Cheap Trick Peter: Aerosmith Renee: Billy Joel

5. Favorite Bass Player-
Ray: Cliff Williams Peter: Brian Wilson Renee: Charles Mingus

Elk City's debut CD Status, just released on Hidden Agenda, is reminiscent of Galaxie 500 and Yo La Tengo, yet their artistic reach is far and wide. Look for Northeast tour dates in the summer to coincide with their impending success on college radio.

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