December 1999 Parasol Newsletter

Issue #26

It's hard enough to choose one band name. Messrs. Leach, Ross and Curless are on number three. You may have caught up with them on name number two when they thought Life On Mars was a good idea. Apparently a bunch of other folks felt the same. A new moniker, AUTOLINER, has been tested and cleared; just in time for a re-press of the CD, a vinyl LP pressing co-released in Japan by SYFT, and more live shows. The short version: Parasol Recording artist Life On Mars is now named Autoliner. The album title remains "Life On Mars." From all of us at Parasol…Happy Holidays!

SPOTLIGHT!

Busytoby-It's Good To Be Alive! CD
(PAR-CD-050) $10.00

Busytoby's debut CD, It's Good To Be Alive, is a highly personal project from Wolfie's Joe & Amanda. Below, Joe Ziemba relates the story behind the album.

"…(It's Good To Be Alive) is an album recorded by myself and my wife to be, Amanda Lyons. This is an album that had to happen for me to get through many things in my life and come to the realization that if you step back and think about all of the people that love you in your life, everything can be ok. That's the most important thing I gained in the two years it took to actually create this album: by making it, I became a better person and I've got no other people in the world to thank but Amanda, the woman I love, and my family. With that in mind, I think I'll tell you what the album is actually about. The basic premise is this: Amanda and I, as elderly grandparents, reflect on our entire lives together while making our way through a box of old things in our attic. Throughout this reflection you, the listener, get to hear about everything, including our separate childhoods, the first time we meet, why it's important to love your family no matter what, the problems that occur within everyone as they slowly turn into adults, our engagement to be married, our marriage and life together, our children, and our slow descent into old age. At the end of the album, we both talk about what will happen when we die before we turn out the light in the attic and retire for a peaceful sleep, free of worries and problems. In the end, I've already gained everything I intended to from the making of this album. I wanted something that Amanda and I could listen to when we're 60 years old and still smile about. I also wanted something that could help me through a rough time in my life and hope it can do the same for other people, making them just as happy as it has made me. I also have something I can give to my parents and my sister to show them how much they've done for me and how much I truly appreciate having them. The idea behind all of this, of course, is that because of the love that can exist in your life, it's good to be alive."

Beezus-Dashboard EP
(Mud-CD-038) $5.00

On January 5, 1999, Beezus played their last show at the Metro in Chicago. Drummer Joy and guitarist Brian got married and moved to New York (it's ok fans, they were dating before the band formed). Elizabeth shifted her artistic focus to Villacoula which features Matt (bass/vocals) and Victor (drums) from Rectangle, and Loretta has yet to divulge her future musical plans. Elizabeth on her defunct band's posthumous release…

Beezus: all-girl pop-rock trio, started playing together in the fall of 1994. Music spanning a variety of sounds earned us comparisons to bands as diverse as Throwing Muses, the Smiths, the Go-Gos, early REM, and the Muffs. We put out two full-length CDs on Mud Records, Breakfast Was Weird in 1995 and Lives of the Saints in 1997. In fall of 1998, our long-held hope of finding a second guitar player was realized when one of us figured out that Brian Runk, our good friend and loyal fan, was the perfect 4th "Beezi". he started playing with us, and with him we wrote some of our best songs, and developed a fuller, more complex sound. Our new ep, Dashboard EP, features four of these songs, recorded with Rick Valentin from the Poster Children. We feel that they are our best songs ever, and think you'll agree.

Starlet-"Diary & Herself" b/w "Long Lost Love" 7"
(Par-036) $3.25

In advance of Starlet's first album in over two years we offer the new sad single with an album track A-side and an exclusive boo-hoo ballad B-side. Recognized as part of the "Åhus Scene" that was designated by the Swedish pop press as "the Mecca of Swedish wimp pop," Starlet comes from the same region as Club 8, Acid House Kings, Pop Race, and the Leslies. And, lead vocalist Jonas Farm's hometown, Malmoe, has been chosen as the "pop-town of year 2000" by the nation's Swedish Radio. While some may say wimp pop, and others will go for the all encompassing indie-pop, Starlet comes across on this single as a four headed Nick Drake channeled through the Smiths. Sadness and longing yes, but there IS a light here that never goes out. Guitarist/Vocalist Jonas Farm describes his contribution to the new album's songwriting this way: "When I learned to play the guitar, about 1992, I tried really hard to make songs that sounded like Popsicles' "Laquer," but it didn't work at all, and I found out that it was a stupid idea trying to sound like another band. Then I got every Beatles-album and made the same mistake. Now I just follow a feeling when I write a song, and subconsciously fragments of my influences of the time trickles through, mixing with me and the sound of me."

COMING SOON

Starlet-Stay On My Side CD due in December

Bikeride-Dogs EP 10" with 7 unreleased songs due in December

Various Artists-Step Right This Way CD due in January

Matt Bruno-Punch and Beauty CD due in February

White Town-Peek & Poke CD due in February

George Usher-Days of Plenty CD due in March

Great Crusades-TBA CD due in March

St. Christopher-TBA CD due in early 2000

Vitesse-TBA CD due in 2000

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…

…Seattle's Rocket Magazine just published a lengthy feature on Toothpaste 2000. Written by the venerable Chris Nickson (for credibility: my wife just finished a Nickson penned biography of Emma Thompson!) the article finally legitimized this long time Parasol recording artist in its adopted hometown. Nickson reports, "…'pop music' has always been a double-edged sword in the Great Northwest, where the sounds of Sub Pop were more accepted than, say, the Posies and their songcraft. Even for legends (albeit semi-legends) like Toothpaste 2000, Seattle hasn't been the easiest row to hoe. Getting gigs in this town has never been a piece of cake." He continues, "This isn't a band to be mired in the past; instead, the music is vibrant and polished, the writing better than ever. It showcases Frank's McCartney-esque bass lines and Donna's guitar work; it's still a rarity to see a female playing *lead* guitar." Always more popular overseas than in the USA it's time to hear T2000's new release Bachelorette!, and what us Americans have been missing.

SOME PARASOL RELATED ARTIST ANSWERS SOME QUESTIONS

Quickspace's Sean Newsham

1. Mixing session you wish you could have attended-" Sgt.Peppers!!!! Exile on Main Street - more for the crack than the mixing maybe..."

2. Songs you think you probably shouldn't like but just can't help yourself-"Charlatans records!!!! Maybe that has something to do with the Stones liking ?"

3. Favorite record that you can't find on CD- "Struggling to get a hold of the Beefheart compilation on vinyl at the moment - Sun Ra 7"s!!!!"

4. First Concert- "Showaddywaddy - don't ask..."

5. Favorite Bass Player-" Mark Pavement-man is pretty dam cool wouldn't you say...Kirsten ex-Novakian!!!"

Hidden Agenda/Parasol released Quickspace's second proper full-length Precious Falling in the U.S. in August of 1999, some ten months after its unveiling in the UK. In the meantime the band recorded PF's follow up, reputedly titled The Death of Quickspace… (though we don't know if the title is a harbinger of things to come) and released the Europe-only 7" "Lobbalongsong." Though arrangements are not settled yet with a US distributor, look for a UK release of Death in March 2000.

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