We're back! Happy June everybody and sorry for the two-month gap between updates but we had a small dose of regular life getting in the way of label life this Spring. We'll not let that happen again.

Foremost, I am pleased to announce not needing to fire myself because the long-delayed 7" from The Snowdrops is now out! Sneaking into the released column as of May 26th, the 7" is a double A-side (matinée 029) featuring "Mad World" and "Don't Buy Anything" and the band is a collaboration of Keith Girdler (Beaumont, Blueboy, Arabesque, Lovejoy), Dick Preece (Lovejoy, Beaumont) and Pam Berry (The Pines, Shapiros, Glo Worm, Castaway Stones, Black Tambourine, etc.). Among the biggest celebrants are the band themselves, who have planned a special record release party in London later this month (see details below), and have launched a new Indiepages website as well. We have also created a Snowdrops page in the Artists section of the Matinée site so do some surfing to catch up with all Snowdrops happenings because they are geared up for new recordings and yet another new release later this year.

Join The Snowdrops to celebrate their first platter at a special Matinée single launch party in London on Saturday, June 21st. It should be a stellar affair with background music assembled by the band plus the debut presentation of something called the Lips like Belmondo soundtrack. We've no idea what it is either but it certainly sounds promising. Arrive early for freebies in a variety of flavors plus jamzines and records at wallet-friendly sums. This event kicks off at 6pm upstairs at the Blue Posts Pub (corner of Newman and Eastcastle Streets; TCR tube). Everybody is welcome, and it is free!

Also now ready for public consumption is the debut long-player from London's Slipslide! Entitled "The World Can Wait" (matcd025), the album is the first release since the band's well received "Sleeptalk" single 18 months ago. Since then, they have expanded to a four-piece and honed their craft on 11 songs exhibiting heartfelt lyrics and classic songwriting within the three minute pop formula. Lead vocalist Graeme Elston (The Love Parade, Pure, Eva Luna, Astronaut) penned nine of the 11 songs, including standouts "Baked Alaska," "Palm House Crawling," and "The Right Time". New member Matthew Hawes wrote and sang the other two, showcasing his own wry humor and a splendid smokey croon. This is one brilliant debut album worthy of a place in your collection next to treasured classics from Aztec Camera, Orange Juice, The Colourfield and Go-Betweens. The official release date is June 23, but we have copies available now exclusively through the order page.

To commemorate the release, Slipslide play a special album launch gig at The Dublin Castle in London on Tuesday, June 17th. This is a Club Fandango night and the band is onstage at 10pm.

Three April releases are shining very brightly as we type. "Communiqué No. 9" (matcd024) is the latest mini-album from London pop veterans Sportique, described as "near perfect pop" by the esteemed editors at Pennyblack magazine. We tend to agree. Their first release since "Modern Museums" (matcd015) last year, the album includes eight new songs and is released in conjunction with WIAIWYA Records of London. For a taste of the album's brilliance, check out "Other Peoples' Girlfriends" and "Angry Street" now playing on the sounds page. We should have limited copies of the 10" for all you vinyl purists soon.

The debut release by Brazil's Pale Sunday appears to be a hit, with praise coming in from virtually every corner of the globe. Entitled "A Weekend With Jane" (matinée 049), the EP features four tracks reminiscent of indiepop classics from the Creation and Sarah rosters. We had the pleasure of meeting Sineval and Fabricio of the band while in Parati, Brazil last month and cemented plans for future recordings so rest assured they will be back in the new release category soon! For now, check out the new Pale Sunday page in the Artists section and if you haven't purchased your copy yet, have a listen to the title track up now on the sounds page and you should be convinced.

The recent "A is for Alphabet" CDEP from Razorcuts will serve well as an introductory sampler to the band or a companion to the essential "R is for...Razorcuts" retrospective from last October. We listened to all of you who loved the album and asked for more, negotiating the release of four additional Razorcuts classics from their long out-of-print archives, including two songs from the highly sought-after 7" on the Caff label which was limited to just 500 copies in its original 1990 release. The respected Tangents webzine summed it up best, saying "This EP is as essential as anything you'll find this year or any. If the sound of Razorcuts doesn't move you then you're already dead." Indeed. If you still are not wise to the brilliance of Razorcuts, check out some songs on the updated sounds page.

The "Club Life" CDEP (matinée 044) by Simpático and the "Northern Angel" CDEP (matinée 046) by The Liberty Ship are also still fresh on the new release racks. Check them out on the catalog page where you can listen to sound samples and read all the latest reviews. The Liberty Ship support their single on June 21st with a live performance in Nottingham. Sponsored by superb fanzines Do Something Pretty and Tasty, the night also will feature live sets from Fosca and The Hellfire Sermons plus deejay sets from Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian and Ian Watson of London's "How Does It Feel" club night. It all takes place at Junktion 7 in Nottingham and doors are at 7:30 pm.

In forthcoming release news, we are delighted to finally announce details of our secret "Matinée 50" compilation! Conceived over two years ago, we invited every band on the label to record a cover version of a song released on Matinée sometime since the label began in 1997. To our delight, every current band on the label delivered a superb contribution and we are finalizing the artwork now to prepare for its official release next month. The album is a labor of love showcasing the tremendous artists with whom we have had the honor of working during the past six years and, with 20 brilliant, exclusive tracks, is an essential release for all fans of the label and our bands.

The tracklisting (with original bands noted in parentheses) is: 1. Gregory Webster - Untidy Towns (The Lucksmiths); 2. Melodie Group - Emmanuelle Béart (Would-Be-Goods); 3. The Guild League - Between Delta and Delaware (Airport Girl); 4. The Snowdrops - Summerness (Melodie Group); 5. The Visitors - Sad Kaleidoscope (Razorcuts); 6. Airport Girl - Three Sixty Degrees (The Windmills); 7. Pipas - You Kill Me (Harper Lee); 8. The Lucksmiths - Falling Off Of My Feet Again (The Siddeleys); 9. Sportique - Goldmining (The Visitors); 10. The Windmills - Striking Out On Your Own (Airport Girl); 11. The Pines - Darling, Don't You Think? (The Fairways); 12. Harper Lee - Motorway (Monterey); 13. Slipslide - Wildest Dream (Melodie Group); 14. The Fairways - Sunday Lovely Sunday (Edson); 15. Would-Be-Goods - Southernmost (The Lucksmiths); 16. Lovejoy - Drug Autumn (The Windmills); 17. Pale Sunday - Just Friends (Sportique); 18. The Liberty Ship - Desert Song (Kosmonaut); 19. Simpático - Train Not Stopping (Harper Lee); 20. Kosmonaut - Northern Angel (Liberty Ship).

We are launching the album next month in conjunction with our friends at Shelflife Records, who are celebrating the release of Shelflife 50 - a special compilation of Shelflife bands covering other Shelflife bands. A happy coincidence, or part of our grand plan for world indiepop domination? We'll never tell...

The centerpiece for the album launch will be at the upcoming Pop Holiday in San Francisco. Featuring 21 bands playing over four nights (July 10th - 13th), the event should be one of the greatest pop spectacles of the year. Matinée artists Pipas and The Lucksmiths headline Thursday and Saturday nights respectively, while Gregory Webster of Sportique and Razorcuts fame will delight the crowd with selections from his esteemed back catalogue on Sunday.

Other featured bands include Aerospace, The Radio Dept., Even As We Speak, The Salteens, Free Loan Investments, The Frenchmen, Evening Lights, Tullycraft, Boyracer, The Sprites, Honeybunch, Bart Davenport, The How, From Bubblegum to Sky, The Mosquitos, Lil' Pocketknife, Origami and The Crabapples.

We will be at all shows and we are working to coordinate a special Matinée show on Saturday afternoon with some surprise guests. Watch this space for details very soon!

Also in conjunction with Shelflife, we have arranged a set of West Coast dates for Pop Holiday participants Pipas, Aerospace, Evening Lights and The Frenchmen. The dates are as follows:

Tuesday, July 8th: Los Angeles, CA at the Garage (with the Arrogants)
Wednesday, July 9th: Santa Barbara, CA at JoJo
Tuesday, July 15th: Portland, OR at the Blackbird (with The Radio Dept.)

Pipas and The Radio Dept. also play Wednesday the 16th in Seattle, WA at Chop Suey. Special thanks to Tim Hinely at Dagger and Chris McFarlane at IndiePages for their assistance with the Portland and Seattle shows.

Moving back to forthcoming releases, also scheduled for July is the highly anticipated return of Airport Girl with their "Do You Dream In Colour?" CDEP (matinée 037). The superb title track is an orchestral gem featuring violin, keyboards, tambourine and other grand percussion. "Easier To Smile" is a singalong rave-up recorded one Saturday afternoon last August in Nottingham and featuring among its guest musicians Graeme Elston of Slipslide on backing vocals and Jimmy Tassos (that's me!) of Matinée on bongos. The song features ace tambourine, shaky egg and handclaps in addition to the usual sort of Airport Girl brilliance and it's the sort of song that sticks in your head and makes you dance every time you hear it. The EP also includes the trumpet-driven hit "When You Fall" previewed on last summer's "Matinée Summer Splash" compilation (matinée 040) and a sad lament known as "Been Waiting." It is a triumphant return for Airport Girl, who follow this release with a new album for Matinée and Fortuna POP! in September.

A slight setback with The Young Tradition single is now remedied as we are moving forward with a format change to CD single. It seems that we couldn't get an acceptable test pressing for the 7" vinyl so instead of crossing our fingers for a fifth time, the band recorded a new song and we will now release the single in full digital format. The new tracklisting includes original tracks "California Morning" and "All Up To Me" plus a new recording called "Isolation" which is a cover version of the classic song originally recorded by Poundsign! We will announce the release date for the CD single shortly. Meanwhile, we welcome your suggestions for something to do with the 2000 7" labels printed for the original release.

Trudging through the Matinée art department are the "True Love Waits, Volume 2" CDEP from The Pines, the "France On A Bicycle" compilation, and our newest retrospective project, "Singles, 1989-1992" from Brighter! Although they should require no introduction to regular readers of this site, Brighter were a three-piece who recorded for Sarah Records just over a decade ago and introduced the songwriting and vocal talents of Keris Howard (now practicing as Harper Lee) to the world. More information on these releases in the next update.

Speaking of Harper Lee, they are one of several bands in the studio recording new songs for Matinée release later in the year. Joining them on the new release shelves will be The Lucksmiths, Airport Girl, The Windmills, Pipas, Lovejoy, The Liberty Ship, The Snowdrops and maybe more so save up your dollars, pounds, euros, yen, and kronor for a great season of new releases.

In press action, check out part one of a sharp interview with Gregory Webster just up on Pennyblack Magazine. Meanwhile, Kosmonaut chewed the fat with our friends at In Love With These Times, while Speck Fanzine published an interview with Would-Be-Goods and Pennyblack caught up with Harper Lee.

You can read a recent Matinée interview with Indiepop.it by breaking out your Italian dictionary and clicking here. If you want to see an English translation instead, check the Archive page.

We've added more than 60 new reviews to the site since the last update. Some of our favorite quotes about the new releases include:

"This is what indie pop should be about. It's fast and fun and near perfect pop." Pennyblack

"Definitely an exciting record all around! MTQ = 8/8" IndiePages

"I'm enthralled and, once again, left eager for their next record! Hurry hurry, Jimmy Matinée! Single Of The Week." Mundane Sounds

"These guys are a shoe-in for best new band for 2003!" IndiePages

"This EP is as essential as anything you'll find this year or any. If the sound of Razorcuts doesn't move you then you're already dead." Tangents

"Indie pop doesn't get much better than this." All Music Guide

"Set against the sleeve art of bare branches in the winter forest it's all a reminder of why you fell in love with this band in the first place." In Love With These Times

"The versatility you'll encounter within this EP's thirteen minutes is remarkably refreshing, and helps to diversify The Liberty Ship from the ever-congested English pop crowd." Splendid

"The title track is just as jangly as the first single was, but less Byrds and more East Village. And it's definitely a contender for song of the year!" IndiePages

"The best thing about this ep is that, like the album, there is no padding whatsoever - if you like the Sweeney thing, then every song will merit being put on yr headphones and listened to in bed while the night sky tries to fight off the street lamps and car headlights." In Love With These Times

"'Club Life' extends further Jason's music, it's his most complex effort yet, but also keeps him travelling in the direction that's so close to my heart." Pennyblack

For anyone complaining about the lack of decent releases so far in 2003, I have to respectively disagree. In addition to the nine (!) Matinée releases, the following gems are spending lots of time on the stereo this month:

10. The Set Designers - 5 Songs By (Penpal)
9. The Foxgloves - I Dreamt That Love Was A Crime (Foxyboy)
8. The Liberty Ship - Cabin Fever (Sunday)
7. Ballboy - You Can't Spend Your Whole Life... (SL)
6. The Saturday People - No Photos Exist (Foxyboy)
5. Clearlake - Wonder If The Snow Will Settle (Domino)
4. The Pines - Rainy Day (Foxyboy)
3. Camera Obscura - Suspended from Class (Elefant)
2. The Lucksmiths - Camera Shy (Drive In)
1. The Radio Dept. - Lost and Found (Shelflife)

Thanks to everyone for your continued support of the Matinée Online Shop. A combined April and May hit parade follows with Razorcuts taking top honors:

10. Pipas - A Cat Escaped CD
9. Harper Lee - Everything's Going To Be OK CD
8. Melodie Group - Updownaround CD
7. The Guild League - Private Transport CD
6. Simpático - Club Life CDEP
5. Razorcuts - R is for...Razorcuts CD
4. Sportique - Communiqué No. 9 CD
3. The Liberty Ship - Northern Angel CDEP
2. Pale Sunday - A Weekend with Jane CDEP
1. Razorcuts - A is for Alphabet CDEP

Look for the return of monthly updates with the next news coming very early in July before all the San Francisco festivities. We will update other pages throughout this month so check back for the latest news. Until then, take care!

Jimmy
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