October 2000 Parasol Newsletter

Issue #35

There are two music fests happening at the end of October and I'm trying to attend both. This year the CMJ Music Marathon is October 19-22 and will feature three Parasol-related artists, all on Sunday the 22nd. Bettie Serveert is playing with Luna at Bowery Ballroom, Elk City is showcasing at Luna Lounge, and Elizabeth Elmore revisits Brownies. In addition, local Champaign-Urbana good persons, Absinthe Blind, are making their debut CMJ appearance on Thursday October 19th at Don Hills at 7PM. Look for me, the very tall guy, standing next to Parasol recording artist Mark Bacino, who is hosting me, and paying for all of my taxi rides (is that really true, Mark?). Later in October The Monsters of Pop festival is taking place in Nashville. From October 26-28 you'll be able to see: Howie Beck, The Bees, Pat Buchanan, Chris Collingwood, The Features, Frisbie, Great Lakes, The Honeydogs, Neilson Hubbard, Brad Jones, Will Kimbrough, The Lilys, Bill Lloyd, Luna, Mayflies USA, Mazarin, The Posies, Millard Powers, Ross Rice, The Shazam, Skirt, Starclock, Starlight Mints, John Stiratt, Matt Suggs, SWAG, and Waxwings. How is this directly related to us? Participant Neilson Hubbard is releasing his new CD Why Men Fail on Parasol. This wonderful pop album was originally recorded for Counting Crows' vanity label E Pluribus Unum (through Interscope), and when they decided to not release it (hmmm…ever heard that one before?), we became the lucky suitors. Why Men Fail will be available via Parasol Mail Order at the end of October, and at Neilson's live performances, prior to the worldwide retail release in January 2001. Since the last newsletter we received all of the songs for our first full-length Holiday compilation, and we made contact with Erik Voeks! Erik's song "Christmas Singles" leads off the CD and is now the title track. Elizabeth Elmore from Sarge follows with a version of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" and Doleful Lions close the CD with the traditional favorite "Auld Lang Syne." In between are a mix of originals and covers from Mark Bacino, Angie Heaton, George Usher Group, Vitesse, White Town, Friends of Sound, Elk City, Philo, Kayla Brown (Feaze), Toothpaste 2000, Signalmen, Shalini, and Matt Bruno. Look for more track-by-track detail next month. Also coming in November is a 6-song EP from Ken Stringfellow's side project Twin Princess, and the new St. Christopher album Golden Blue.

SPOTLIGHT

Mike Levy - Fireflies CD
(PAR-CD-058) $10.00

Mike Levy has an ALL-STAR-pop-music- pedigree. As a member of the Sneetches he recorded CDs for Creation, Bus Stop, spinART, and others. Five years ago Mike embarked on a solo album for Bus Stop, and after some fits, starts, and down time, we climbed on board at the beginning of 2000 to see the album through to the finish. Six months ago we had a line-up of comparisons in mind that must've included The Beatles, June & the Exit Wounds, maybe Linus of Hollywood, and I really can't remember the rest. None of us can. Fireflies has become an album that we're going to compare future records to. Other former Sneetches members Matt Carges, Alec Palao, and Daniel Swan contribute musically to Fireflies, which features sweet, melodic ballads and upbeat guitar-tales, crystallizing the essence of sixties pop and seventies soft-rock, while introducing a subtle tension that makes the song quiver with delight. The songs are mainly piano driven, not overtly flashy like Ben Folds or Elton John, but stylishly contained. My personal favorite is the second song "New Day," which sounds like something off the second Korgis album. Korgis?! And that's the point. The songs sound familiar, but in that my-favorite-song-on-an-obscure-album sort of way. Mike chose "Away From My Head" for inclusion on Parasol's Sweet Sixteen Volume 2, though any from Fireflies would have represented the album well. This is destined to become Parasol Records' best seller…at least until the next June & the Exit Wounds CD is released.

The Beauty Shop - Yr Money Or Yr Life CD
(MUD-CD-044) $10.00

My first taste of the Champaign-Urbana based The Beauty Shop was the band's self-released (y'know, burned 100 at home, then more, then more) Grief EP. The cover art was so disturbing I almost couldn't bring myself to play the CD. While the little man on my shoulder whispered "don't judge a book, blah blah blah" I held out for a few more days. When the local buzz got loud enough to drown out those aggravating voices I finally put in the CD and…well, it was quite good. And listening again it was great. It kind of reminded me of Johnny Dowd's first album. Stark, dark tales of death, or so they both sounded like to me. I forgot about "the cover" and at the urging of Parasol's headmaster Geoff, went to see them live. He was right. They were great. And, how to describe great? The singer, and de facto bandleader, John Hoeffleur, has some kind of charisma. It's the look in his eyes. The look of a guy who designed "the cover." John picks up The Beauty Shop story in his own words: "The Beauty Shop is kind of a weird band. I mean, I'm a weirdo for sure, and it's weird that a regular guy like (drummer) Casey is in a band with me, because he's real nice and I'm mean, and he's vegan and my diet is beef, exclusively. It's an odd match. Casey can build Robots, I'm a wizard with cardboard. I built a few dogs to pick up girls with and a ten-foot tall piece of toast and two bong costumes for Halloween. And then you look at (bassist) Ariane, who's from Indiana (!), is a girl, is Filipino, is 4'11 I think, and we're all playing country-rock music or whatever it is. I use a beat up acoustic, Casey's got like two drums, and we're playing kind of sedate music, and that was something really new to some people or something. The Grief EP was recorded at a time of pretty dismal morale for various personal reasons, but one factor was certainly the slow death of Casey's cat, who during recording lost control of one front leg. We just watched this poor cat kind of limply slide its front limb across the hardwood floor." Whew! Yr Money Or Yr Life contains tracks from the Grief EP, plus newly recorded material. The Beauty Shop has been compared to Leonard Cohen and Uncle Tupelo, and cites Chris Whitley and the Gun Club as influences. I stand behind the Johnny Dowd comparisons and love the ghost tales, the drinking tales, the death tales, all of them. "Death March" can be sampled on Parasol's Sweet Sixteen, Volume 2.

Coming Soon...

Neilson Hubbard - Why Men Fail (Parasol) CD due in October
Friends of Sound - Rock-Ola (Hidden Agenda) CD due in October
St. Christopher - Golden Blue (Parasol) CD due in October
Various Artists - Christmas Singles: A Parasol Holiday Collection (Parasol) CD due in November
Mezzanines - Break It Up Now! (Mud) CD due in November
Twin Princess - Complete Recordings (Hidden Agenda) due in November
Bikeride - Summer Winners, Summer Losers (Hidden Agenda) CD due in November

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...

…Parasol Mail Order is taking pre-orders for Kissproof World, Jane Wiedlin's fourth full-length solo album. After a very disappointing release of the 1995 debut from her guitar-driven punk-pop project, froSTed, Jane was crushed. While her pursuit of the perfect pop song and passion for the creative process never dimmed, she knew there had to be another way to get her music into the world. The release of, Kissproof World finds Wiedlin taking total control: from songwriting, performing and production to promotion and distribution, which includes selling the CD in advance exclusively online through Parasol. The album's release marks the entrance of her Painful Discs label into the music industry scene. Visit www.parasol.com/janewiedlin to hear audio samples and view other Jane Wiedlin merch.

SOME PARASOL RELATED ARTIST ANSWERS SOME QUESTIONS

Friends of Sound's Leslie & Reed Lochamy

1. Mixing session you wish you could have attended-
"The Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs. Stephin and Claudia: a winning combination! Also, we ARE talking about 69 different songs, we might as well get our money's worth."

2. Songs you think you probably shouldn't like but just can't help yourself-
LESLIE: "Humiliating though it may be, I actually become emotionally moved by the Goo Goo Doll's 'Slide'--especially when he says 'I want to wake up where you are,' and 'what you feel is what you are and what you are is beautiful,' plus something about getting married. (I am made of mush)--in addition to that embarrassment, I have tried and tried not to, but I like 'Crash' by the Dave Matthews Band. Kill me." REED: "Let me tell you, I have agonized over whether or not to admit this but...the answer for me is any song by Tesla. O.K. so we've really made ourselves vulnerable here, but you have to admire us for being so honest with you."

3. Favorite record that you can't find on CD (or CD you can't find on vinyl)-
"Julee Cruise's album Floating (we'd like it on CD)."

4. First Concert-
LESLIE: "The Go Gos." REED: "Stevie Wonder."

5. Favorite Bass Player-
"Naomi Yang from Galaxie 500, but of course it is hard to beat the simple but beautiful bass stylings of James McNew."

In early November Hidden Agenda is releasing the debut CD from Friends of Sound, the band comprised of Birmingham (Alabama) based husband and wife duo Leslie & Reed Lochamy. Until then, check out their song "Manhattan" on Parasol's Sweet Sixteen, Volume 2.

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