Missed Out Music
Sometimes an album gets lost in the shuffle. We remind you that good music never goes away.
The Pulsars are considered a member of the brief "geek rock" explosion of the mid-nineties. Bands like The Rentals, Cibo Matto and The Magnetic Fields would fit nicely into this equation. The Pulsars 1997 debut [now out of print] will most likely fade into analog oblivion.
The Pulsars came under my radar while working my boyhood dream job at the local Record Swap. The self-tilted album sat idle in the used bin until one of my co-workers said, "This record will change your life." It did. Their short-lived career, no thanks to poor marketing on behalf of the now defunct Almo Sounds label, was an integral part of my exploration into rickety old synthesizers.
Chicago natives Dave and Harry Trumfio, along with unofficial third member Theodore 3000 [sequencer], crafted one of the most instantly accessible debut albums of the 90's. Songs like "Runway," "Suffocation" and "Tunnel Song" are instant lost classics of Chicago rock lore. One could easily dismiss the album as cheap knock-off of early 80's nostalgia, but people in the "know" discovered a warm, funny and rocking experience of hit after hit after hit.
These days Dave Trumfio spends his time producing bands like OkGO, while brother Harry became a dentist. There was a long rumored second album floating around that never saw the light of day, as Almo by then had folded. If anyone knows the whereabouts or existence of said item, please let us at HEAVE know.
Posted by Joe Roth on Nov 06, 2007 @ 12:00 am
And Now You Have...
Each week we try to enhance your "have you heard of this band" knowledge. Get to know Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltsin.
Philip Dickey probably doesn't care that I'm writing about his band right now. Dickey, the drummer of Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, once said, "Internet fame doesn't make sense to us. I don't think our lead singer has an email address." SSLYBY may not like the Internet, but the Internet surely likes them. Their 2005 release, Broom, received critical acclaim from just about every online media outlet; with some claiming that it was the record of the year...
Posted by Wes Soltis on Nov 05, 2007 @ 12:00 am
Your Listening Pleasure
A small taste of new music. Babyshambles, White Williams and A Place to Bury Strangers in this week's YLP.
A Place to Bury Strangers – To Fix The Gash In Your Head - LOUD. That's the best way to describe this Brooklyn three-piece. APTBS combines Joy Division, Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine into a powerful wave of distorted sound. Kicking off with a catchy drum machine beat, "To Fix The Gash In Your Head" abruptly lashes out with grinding, fuzzed-out guitar until the verse mellows out with a whispery JAMC-style vocal delivery...
Posted by Jason Prechtel on Nov 02, 2007 @ 12:00 am
Record Numbers
People actually still buy CDs. HEAVE gives you the weekly numbers.
Think all the way back to the year 2004, when Kelly Clarkson jumped and faux-moshed her way into America’s collective heart, telling some low-down bastard that she’s been better since he’s been gone. You remember that, right? At the time, it seemed like Clarkson was poised to become the only legitimately successful “American Idol? alumni, what with Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hicks hard at work entertaining the crowds at Danbury Fair...
Posted by Ryan Peters on Nov 02, 2007 @ 12:00 am
Major Motion Audio
Sure that new movie might look good, but how is the soundtrack?
Bee Movie is the story of; you guessed it, a bee. Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld) has just graduated from college and has chosen making honey as his career. When he goes outside the hive and finds out that humans eat honey, he decides to sue the humans.
The soundtrack may not have much in the way of non-instrumental non-original music, but what it does have is the Archies’ classic “Sugar Sugar? and Sheryl Crow’s rendition of the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun...
Posted by Cory Roop on Nov 02, 2007 @ 12:00 am