January 2001 Parasol Newsletter

Issue #38

This is the "artists speak for themselves" issue. No, not laziness on this editor's part. Just three engaging, and stylistically different capsules in the "Spotlight" section.

SPOTLIGHT

Twin Princess-The Complete Recordings CD
(AHA!-019) $9.50

As the 3rd millennium A.D. engulfs us, we are faced with the opportunity to abandon those aspects of culture that we may deem unwanted, embarrassing, distasteful, unenlightened, etc. Forms that have stood in place for centuries, cultural habits that attempt to pass for traditions--all of these are the undergrowth that can be burned away at this juncture. Among the seedlings that will inevitably grow up from the ashes, you are likely to find Twin Princess. Twin Princess is not a band. The members of Twin Princess are not trudging from club to club in a van, guitars and amps in tow. There are no rehearsals and there is no rehearsal space. They never discuss getting record deals or strategize how to become successful. It's merely an art project. They would be happiest if they could make one copy of their music and put it in a gallery. Were they interested in making demo tapes, they would only be sent to museum curators. Bootsy Holler is one of Seattle's most prolific and notorious artistes. Photographer, writer, painter, exhibitionist, clothing designer, metalworker, her works have infiltrated numerous strata in the city-her photographs appear in local magazines on a weekly basis, and various clubs, shops and restaurants around the region feature her art and/or metal installations. Kickstand is a well-known producer (NOT a DJ, he is quick to add-"I am not interested in entertaining escapist masses", he told me) who owns one of the largest collections of modern and vintage studio equipment in the Pacific Northwest (and often loans out pieces of it to other producers, free of charge). Together they create the sounds that become Twin Princess. The creative devices they use include: Role reversal-Bootsy engineers, Kickstand photographs, neither having had previous experience in those roles; using digital recording technology to turn a few seconds of sound from an intentionally abandoned piece into a new, unrecognizable hour of music, from which different microsections are spliced out to again be expanded into new songs, a technique Kickstand refers to as "crux n' paste"; in a controversial piece unveiled at the Experience Music Project this fall, Kickstand and Holler used the contents of dozens of diaries they had acquired from deceased persons who had left no heirs, scanned in and randomized, and set to music based upon the occurrence of letters pertaining to notes on a scale-A through G, flatted when starting a word and sharp-ed when ending a word-letting whim dictate the rhythms and meters. The music on this anthology represents the only examples of their work that they have allowed to be made 'permatemporary', a word they use to describe anything that is stored exclusively on a digital format. Bootsy explains: "there are parchment scrolls containing information that has endured being stored for centuries. Nothing that is stored in the digital medium is going to last much beyond the end of this century, nor is it intended to. We have become a society obsessed with saving every keystroke, every bank transaction, and as soon as they are stored we subsequently never refer to the stored information again. We simply move on and create more things to be stored." The Complete Recordings contains six tracks including both songs from the Twin Princess 7" single Althea/Sorry, and a cover of Nancy Sinatra's "Something Stupid."

NOTE: Kickstand=Ken Stringfellow.

The Mezzanines-Underground Aces CD
(MUD-CD-041) $10.00

The latest Mezzanines record, Underground Aces, blends sardonic reasoning with terse songwritersmanship to create a muddy manifesto of ambitious topography. This follow up to the first Mezzanines record does exactly that: follows it up, but in this case, more descriptively and at times brash, brimming with a feel and regeneration uncommon with today's "buck-a-day" rock bands. To say this is the tenth commandment of longevity would be understatement at best, but never in your life have you heard something just like this. With more reason, caliber, and small talk complacency than a couple of jive-ass turkeys, and the songs definitely show it. Imagine if the Small Faces were married in a shotgun wedding to Radiohead under the policing eye of the father (Pete Townshend), and their rock and roll son would be something like a post-punk Velvet Underground, who could do absolutely no good in school. Even if he tried. Listening to this treasure chest of rock jewelry, indie ingots, and powerpop doubloons actually makes you smarter and feel better about your looks. Adventurous, clever, and totally unseasonable, the Mezzanines have created yet another uncontrollably desperate incitement to the lower class of America. Purchase this record with the strongest money you have.

Toothpaste 2000-Va Va Voom! CD
(PAR-CD-066) $10.00

We recorded this stuff live in our rehearsal room, so it sounds just like us! We wanted to get away from the drum-machine, "I have written a new song & must record it at six in the morning" demo-type stuff like "Marcy Brown" & "Why, Why?" from the Bachelorette CD, those songs sound a lot better with the whole band blasting away! Oh, well, live & learn! We overdubbed harmonies, doubled lead vocals and big, guitar-hero solos later, and we're pretty pleased with the results! It's surely our loudest most rock CD, technically speaking, we recorded it on our wonderful Roland 1680 suitcase studio! We love that thing! We played all Danelectro guitars on this, Donna's groovy Aqua Marine CD-3 graces the CD cover, I played my cool longhorn bass and we also used the fabulous Dano 12-string throughout, especially on the Beatle-esque guitar fills and figures on "Who You Used To Be" and "Won't Love Again". The toys often ARE the songs, as is true of the Danelectros which are so cool that they inspire your playing and writing....high on this list is also the pink Guyatone harmonic distortion boxes that we got from Jim Mastro's (ex-Bongo!) great, great guitar shop. We used them on all the big rock numbers, like "The Band Played On" and "Schoolgirl Affection" and "Va Va Voom!" and they sound real good! "Schoolgirl Affection" by the way, was written by Donna about Nick Lowe, some 20 odd years ago today, which brings us full circle, I think! We hope you love this CD as much as we do, it was a lot of fun to do, which, in the end is why we do it & the only reason why anyone should do ANYTHING!

Coming Soon...

George Usher Group-Days of Plenty (Parasol) CD Just in!
Steve Almaas-Kingo a Wild One (Parasol) CD Just in!
Various Artists-Shoe Fetish: A Tribute to Shoes (Parasol) CD due in February
Jenifer Jackson-Birds (Parasol) CD due in February
Fonda-The Strange and the Familiar (Hidden Agenda) CD due in February
Waltz For Debbie-Gone and Out (Hidden Agenda) CD due in March
Bettie Serveert-TBA (Hidden Agenda) Mini album due in March

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...

…Elk City just returned from Paris where they played one live show, then lodged for a relaxing week in a fancy apartment provided by their French label Talitres. Upon returning home to New York they read about themselves in Entertainment Weekly: "If you like the smart, passionate pop on PJ Harvey's new Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea, check out New York City fave Elk City's recent debut, Status." Check it out indeed. Just $11.00 here at Parasol. Also, have you seen Spin.com's Top 20 of 2000 list? We love Top lists and this one especially, because Starlet's Stay On My Side makes the grade at #15. Editor Andy Greenwald reviewed it himself and included some feedback from the band members. We've been talking about this album all year and are ecstatic that so many of you are listening.

SOME PARASOL RELATED ARTIST ANSWERS SOME QUESTIONS

Steve Almaas

1. Mixing session you wish you could have attended-
"I wish I could have attended the sessions for Exile On Main Street by The Rolling Stones. For me, that album has the mystery. I believe the tracks were recorded in the south of France under rough conditions, and then the Stones spent six months mixing the results in Los Angeles. I'm really curious what they did for six months."

2. Songs you think you probably shouldn't like but just can't help yourself-
"I remember during the punk years really liking the song 'New Kid In Town' by the Eagles and not daring to say anything about it to my friends. Nowadays, I figure if it sounds good it is good."

3. Favorite record that you can't find on CD (or CD you can't find on vinyl)-
"I would like to have the first Beat Rodeo album on CD."

4. First Concert-
"The Grass Roots at the Minnesota State Fair, 1966. Their only record at the time was 'Where Were You When I Needed You.'"

5. Favorite Bass Player-
"Paul McCartney, he's my favorite rock singer too."

In mid-January Parasol is releasing Kingo a Wild One, a solo album from ex-Beat Rodeo leader Steve Almaas. The title cut will also be available on Parasol's Sweet Sixteen, Volume 3.

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