Happy New Year! We are geared up for Matinée's best year ever so get ready for some exciting news. In addition to reports on top new releases, this month we offer you two brand new Matinée artists, exclusive sounds, lists of 2004 favorites from Matinée artists and the results of the third annual fanclub poll!
The first of several new releases for 2005 is the fantastic new 'Chunnel Autumnal' CD (matcd036)
from international legends-in-the-making Pipas! This is a reissue of the sold out Pipas debut originally
released on 10" vinyl in 2001. At the time, Pipas were just another unknown South London duo writing songs to
record on their laptops but somewhere along the way they became an international sensation, selling thousands of
records, topping countless year-end lists, and charming live audiences in England, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Italy,
Denmark, Australia, USA and Greece. Needless to say the original pressing of 300 was not sufficient to meet
demand and as a result the eight songs that comprised the original 10" achieved a sort of legendary status with
many fans only hearing the songs live or on tape. This brilliant reissue CD adds three bonus tracks from the debut
Matinée 45, 'A Short Film About Sleeping,' collecting all Pipas songs previously unavailable on CD in one suave
matte finish digipak. The full tracklisting is: 1. Tout Va Bien; 2. Don't Tell Me That; 3. Wells Street; 4. Moss Oval;
5. Amsterdam; 6. Bye Bye; 7. The Bobby; 8. St. Pancras; 9. A Short Film About Sleeping; 10. Troublesome; 11.
Fingerprints. The CD is available from the Matinée mailorder as we speak and in shops
from January 24th, and you can listen to soundclips on the catalog and
sounds pages right now. Pipas play a record release show in Athens, Greece on
January 21st at Club MAD with support from The Occasional Flickers. More information can be found
here. Pipas at the Acropolis coming soon…
Our other new release is the wonderful 'Matinée Winter Warmer' CD (matinée
055) that came out last month to celebrate the beginning of winter. The CD contains ten wintery songs
especially recorded to keep you warm on those cold winter nights, but of course you can enjoy exclusive new
songs from Harper Lee, The Liberty Ship, The Lucksmiths, Melodie Group, and Pipas plus favorites from The
Fairways, Lovejoy, The Pines, Slipslide and The Windmills all year long. See the full tracklisting and listen to
soundclips on the catalog page. As with all the Matinée seasonal samplers it
sells for the price of a single so you really can't go wrong now can you? Get it at the mailorder
or your favorite pop emporium now!
Looking ahead, February is shaping up splendidly with a great new album from Lovejoy and new singles by The Happy Couple, Math and Physics Club and The Lucksmiths all ready for release.
The new Lovejoy album is entitled 'Everybody Hates' (matcd035) and it
is undoubtedly the best release yet from our Brighton friends. We have been talking it up for a few months now but
the wait is almost over because now it is just up to my pressing plant and our friendly UPS deliveryman to make it
happen. The first Lovejoy release since the classic 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?' CD (matcd018)
in 2002, the CD includes great new songs 'Everybody Hates Us And We Don't Care', 'Petrol Stars', 'America',
'Drug Autumn', 'Sandcastles', 'Sid Vicious', 'Nicotine & Love', 'Because You're Worth It', and 'This Could Be An
Ending'. We have posted three songs on the updated catalog page and 'Sid
Vicious' is also playing on the sounds page so hopefully those will keep you going
until we have copies in hand. The official release is mid-February but we will begin taking preorders at the end of
January so check the order page soon!
The 'Fools in Love' CDEP (matinée 054) is the debut Matinée release for our first
German act, The Happy Couple! Some of you might know them from their debut 'Four Seasons' 7" on the
Félicité Singles Club last year but if not get ready for some instantly classic
indiepop incorporating all the right influences but with a modern sound. Lead track 'Another Sunny Day' sounds
nothing like the band of the same name but perhaps a little bit like Sarah labelmates Even As We Speak? It
swings! 'Hopeless Case' and 'The Pop Kid' would have had a home on Subway Records in the late 80s and could
double as long lost Shop Assistants gems, while final track 'Don't Call It' is the one that would make Creation
Records mogul Alan McGee smile and remember his classic recordings from Revolving Paint Dream. Fans of Club
8, Pipas, Camera Obscura, and anything from the Pam Berry or Amelia Fletcher songbooks should also stand up
and take notice. You can get a taste of the wonders of The Happy Couple by listening to 'Another Sunny Day' on
the catalog or sounds pages, and check out their new
artist page too! The band also has a great website
of its own so pay them a visit to learn more about their secret world. We will have copies of 'Fools In Love'
exclusively at the Matinée mailorder in mid-February (official release at the end of the
month) but will take preorders from February 1st so check the order page soon! We now have limited copies of
their debut 7" too so make sure to add that to your order before they are gone for good.
As if one new band weren't enough, we are also very excited about our first American act in five years - Math
and Physics Club from Seattle, Washington! Longtime students of the Matinée sound know we have gone
awhile without signing an American band and our good friend Mike Babb at Microindie
Records even questioned whether the band tricked me by posting their demo from the UK in hopes of getting a
listen. In reality we are thrilled to have a band from the US on the Matinée roster and even though Seattle is roughly
1200 miles from Santa Barbara it's almost like having a local band compared to everyone else in England and
Australia and Sweden and Brazil and Germany. Of course they are brilliant too! Their debut release is the
'Weekends Away' CDEP (matinée 056) and it includes the wonderful title track
(now playing on the sounds and catalog pages) plus
'Sixteen and Pretty,' 'Love, Again' and 'When We Get Famous.' The sound is perfect jangle pop that is not a
thousand miles away from The Smiths, Trash Can Sinatras, The Lucksmiths or Magnetic Fields at times. We have
now added a Math and Physics Club artist page to the site, but you should pay a
visit to the band's own website too for more about them and
additional soundclips. The band has a buzz about them already and we have just sent the debut release off to the
pressing plant this week. Legendary Seattle radio station KEXP is playing songs
from their demo and has scheduled an in-studio performance for them this coming Saturday January 22nd at 6:00
pm pacific standard time (eight hours behind the UK, nine behind continental Europe, and something approaching a
day behind Japan and Australia). You can tune in as it is streamed
live, but the show should be archived if you are not in the US and can't be bothered to wake up for a listen. The
band also plays a live show January 28th at the Sunset Tavern in Seattle with Cantona. We will have copies of
'Weekends Away' exclusively at the mailorder in mid-February (official release
at the end of the month) but will take preorders from February 1st so check the order page soon because these
guys are already a shoe-in for best new band of 2005!
Joining our new Matinée bands with a fresh single in February are old favorites The Lucksmiths! Has it
really been 16 months since 'A Little Distraction' (matcd027)? The band marks
its triumphant return with the splendid new 'San Francisco' EP (matinée 057)
featuring new songs 'The Chapter In Your Life Entitled San Francisco,' 'Young and Dumb,' 'The Winter Proper' and
'I Started A Joke.' The lead song is a preview of their forthcoming album scheduled for release this Spring, while
the others are non-album tracks including a brilliant cover of the much adored Bee Gees' classic 'I Started A Joke.'
You can listen to the title track now on the updated sounds or catalog
pages. We will have copies of the 'San Francisco' EP exclusively at the Matinée mailorder in mid-February (official
release at the end of the month) but will take preorders from February 1st so check the order
page soon to reserve your copy. The single is co-released with Australian label Candle
Records and the band is celebrating the release with a series of Australian shows next month: February 5th in
Brisbane, February 12th in Sydney and February 18th in Melbourne. See the Lucksmiths
or Candle websites for details, and stay tuned for more news about the forthcoming album and possible dates in the
US and Europe.
Following that fantastic lot of singles, March will bring the debut album from Brazilian favorites Pale Sunday!
Entitled 'Summertime?' (matcd037), the album features ten great new songs
and is their first release since the much celebrated "A Weekend With Jane" EP (matinée 049)
in 2003. The full tracklisting for the album is 1. The White Tambourine; 2. Mary; 3. Sunday Morning; 4. Twiggy
Superstar; 5. My Punk Girl; 6. Sweet Goodbye; 7. A Safe Place; 8. 1978; 9. She'll Never Be Mine; 10.
Strangeways. We have added three soundclips to the catalog page and 'The
White Tambourine' is also spinning on the updated sounds page so check it out! More
release details next month.
Also scheduled for March release is the debut album 'Northern Drive' (matcd038)
from internationalists The Young Tradition! While the duo produced its classic debut single "California
Morning" (matinée 043) entirely through the post, they met to record this new
album and the results are stunning, incorporating broad influences ranging from classic indiepop to jazz to AM
radio softpop. Don't be scared…it's a magnificent mix and you can hear samples on the updated catalog
and sounds pages. The full tracklisting for the album is 1. Gone Are The Days; 2.
California Morning; 3. Pink Opaque; 4. Footprints; 5. Triangle; 6. Northern Drive; 7. Now You Know; 8. Whores; 9.
Endlessly; 10. Everything We Knew. More release details on this next month too! Also mark your calendars for the
debut live performance of The Young Tradition on Saturday March 18th in Vasteras, Sweden. We're not sure where
yet but will let you know next month.
In other news, thanks to everyone who voted in the third annual Matinée Fanclub
poll last month! The winner of the coveted "record of the year" award is 'All Things Can Be Mended' from
Harper Lee (37 votes). It seems to be a favorite with nearly everyone as it has shown up on numerous
year-end lists on music websites across the globe. Other top release honors went to 'Bitter Club' by Pipas
(30 votes) and 'This is Farewell' by The Fairways (24 votes). Congratulations!
As always, there was little consensus on the favorite song ever released on Matinée, with 130 different songs receiving at least one vote. Only ten songs emerged with four or more votes each this time: "T Shirt Weather" by The Lucksmiths (11 votes), "Train Not Stopping" by Harper Lee (9), "Untidy Towns" by The Lucksmiths (8), "California Morning" by The Young Tradition (8), "Sunday, Lovely Sunday" by Edson (6), "Barbapapa" by Pipas (5), "Killjoy" by Brighter (4), "Anita O'Day" by The Pines (4), "Jean C" by Pipas (4) and "Sorry To Embarrass You" by Razorcuts (4). Although the top votes tend to go to older releases on the label we are happy to see recent songs from The Pines, Pipas and The Young Tradition making a splash.
In the favorite band category, The Lucksmiths captured the number one spot (33 votes), followed closely by Harper Lee (29), Pipas (26), The Pines (14) and Would-Be-Goods (14).
The Matinée website (46 votes) and Pop Polar (13) won the best mailorder category; while IndiePages (15) and Tangents (7) topped the best music website/magazine list. We also asked your opinions about what bands, if any, should be considered for a future retrospective release along the lines of what we have done for The Visitors, Remember Fun, The Siddeleys, Razorcuts and Brighter. Nearly 70 bands were suggested, with the most votes cast for James Dean Driving Experience (8), Blueboy (6), East Village (6), The Orchids (6) and The Sugargliders (5). All I can say is at least one of these bands has contacted us already so we'll see what we can do…
Congratulations to all the Matinée bands and thanks very much to everyone who entered! The lucky winner of the five CD prize pack is Dimitra Liakou from Greece. Hurrah! Wish you had won? Join the Matinée Fanclub to stay hip to this sort of thing. See the archive page for a full poll summary.
We also surveyed all the Matinée artists at the end of the year regarding their favorite things of 2004 (bands, records, films, books, etc.) and as expected there was a great variety in the responses. See full responses from members of Airport Girl, The Happy Couple, Harper Lee, The Liberty Ship, Lovejoy, The Lucksmiths, Math and Physics Club, Melodie Group, Pipas, Simpático, The Snowdrops, Sportique, The Windmills, Would-Be-Goods and The Young Tradition on the archive page or simply by clicking here.
This update has gone rather long so we'll skip the usual reviews summary for recent releases and just remind you that brilliant albums from The Guild League, Harper Lee, Would-Be-Goods and The Fairways came out last summer and autumn and they are all widely adored in the music press so get straight on over to the order page to secure your very own copies. New reviews are posted now on the catalog pages. There are only 50 left of the Matinée 45 holiday ornament too and it is only available in the Matinée shop so if you want one act quickly!
We had a fantastic two months to end 2004 with the mailorder so thank you all for your orders. The top sellers for November and December combined are:
10. The Fairways - This is Farewell CD
9. Sportique - Love & Remains 7"
8. Razorcuts - A is for Alphabet CDEP
7. Harper Lee - Bug 7"
6. Would-Be-Goods - The Morning After CD
5. Sportique - Don't Believe A Word I Say 7"
4. The Guild League - Inner North CD
3. Harper Lee - All Things Can Be Mended CD
2. Matinée 45 holiday ornament
1. Various - The Matinée Winter Warmer CD
Until next month,
Jimmy!