Matador Records | News April 2000

Matador Site Revamped / Reduxed
A wonderful thing has happened. A development in web design and content that will change the way you look at the internet. But enough about the official Zorak site, matadorrecords.com is about to go presto, change-o, errupto (not necessarily in that order). Be sure to have a look and let us know what you think (unless you don't like it, in which case we don't care).

Bardo Pond
Bardo Pond just got back from the UK where, among other things, they rocked the All Tomorrow's Parties festival at Camber Sands on April 9. The festival was arranged by Mogwai, who like to consider themselves Bardo Pond's biggest fans, but how do we measure "biggest?"

If you follow the official Bardo Pond website Hummingbird Mountain, you've enjoyed the ongoing MP3 series they've been offering. The band will soon be offering an EP of new material, similar in style to the MP3s, and available exclusively through Hummingbird Mountain. There will also be a new Bardo Pond 7", limited to 500 copies, which will mostly only be available through Hummingbird Mountain as well.

Mogwai
Mogwai are proud to report that their All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Camber Sands (UK) April 7-9 was a huge success, and they'd like to thank everyone, except that one guy (you know who you are).

Good luck finding one, but the April issue of the UK's Select Magazine has a cover-mounted CD with an exclusive track by Mogwai (a fantastic version of "Helicon 1" recorded for Radio One). Hard to find in the U.S., but easy to find at ATP, where thousands of copies of the magazine were all over the road.

Mogwai have also completed remixes for Pluramon (due out on the Pluramon remix album in late summer on Mille Plateaux) and Datach'i (due out on Caipirinha in July).And finally, look for the band's new offial website launching (hopefully) in late May at www.abandcalledmogwai.com.

Arsonists + Modernist:
Live video action from Elektrip Festival
Would you love to see live Real Video footage of the Arsonists and the Modernist? If not, there is no reason to tell us about it. Arsonists Live | Modernist Live

MC Paul Barman, fresh off a series of live dates supporting Kool Keith, will be on WFMU's Small Change's show on April 26. You can tune in via http://www.wfmu.org

Yo La Tengo - Major Press Campaign Continues
Yo La Tengo's UK tour with Neil Innes, Sonic Boom and Robyn Hitchcock starts next week in Cambridge (May 3), and the band have a new European 7"/CD5 coming out later in the month featuring "You Can Have It All" backed with a Sonic Boom remix of the same song, plus a cover of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band's "The Readymades", recorded live on the recent U.S. tour, featuring David Kilgour, Mac MacCaughn and the eight million members of Lambchop.

Live Human - Things Are Getting Sticky
A moratorium on playing the music of Live Human has been put into effect at KUSF (University of San Francisco). Allegedly, someone of great influence was offended after discovering several tastefully placed, self-adhesive decals bearing the band's logo on or near the control room. There is currently no information on the proposed duration of the ban. Free stickers available upon request. Send a SASE to 134 Steiner St. San Francisco, CA 94117 Limit one nuisance per customer.

Musical picks by those lucky enough to be picked

Keith McIvor, Mount Florida
1) muslimgauze - baghdad (staalplaat)
2) sam and valley - a miracle is simple (angelika kohlermann)
3) mike ladd - welcome to the afterfuture (ozone music)
4) smog - justice aversion (domino)
5) alter ego - betty ford (klang)
6) ian dury - spasticus (autisticus) (polydor)
7) esg - everything (99)

Stuart Braithwaite, Mogwai
1 NWA-Chin Check
2 The Zephyrs-It's ok not to say anything
3 Tarwater-The ants left Paris
4 Arovane-Atol Scrap
5 The Cure-Edge of the deep green sea

Ben Goldberg, Matador Records
Tom Rapp - A Journal Of The Plague Year (Rubric) - Pearls Before Swine guy's new record after years of not doing anything.
Felt - Me And A Monkey On The Moon (l) - Found this for fifty cents in Brooklyn, flowery British pop stuff I would have hated five years ago
Zammuto - Willscher (Apartment B) - Obligatory obscure electronic minimalist release mention
Maquiladora - White Sands (Lotus House) - A little bit of country, but more twisted
Pip Proud - Oncer (Emperor Jones) - Australian guitarist with bleeding heart and a voice which drips like a wet towel with emotion helped out by the likes of Alastair Galbraith
Wire - The Ideal Copy & A Bell Is A Cup Until It Is Struck (Mute) - I didn't know the band's history when these originally came out and thought they were just Depeches-Come-Lately's
Richard Davies - Barbarians (Kindercore) - Beautiful pop songs with amazing lyrics, as always.
Casino vs. Japan - Go Hawaii (Wobblyhead) - Expanse electronic music with mellow beats and dynamic sound collages
Yo La Tengo - Yo La Tengo + Rarities = Genius - B-Sides comp my friend made for me.
Patrick Phelan - Songs Of Patrick Phelan (Jagjauwar) - Elliott Smith singing for Talk Talk, or at least the first song's like that. The rest is also more inventive than my attempt at a description.
Smog - Dongs Of Sevotion (Drag City) As the endless gabfest Bill Callahan himself describes it in a recent British mag, "I think just about everybody loves dongs."
"Wonderland" - Incredible ABC television series about Bellevue which aired for two episodes before getting cut, thereby beating out NBC's cancelling of "Freaks And Geeks" as the most emblematic reason why television networks will never again be known for being daring.
Butterflies Of Love - How To Know The Butterflies Of Love (Fortuna Pop/Secret Seven) - Brit pop done the way it's supposed to be, by a band from New Haven.
http://www.doodie.com - A new doodie every day

The Patrick Amory listening pile:
1. Caedmon -- Caedmon
2. Water Into Wine Band -- Hill Climbing For Beginners
3. Reynard -- Fresh From The Earth
4. Spriguns of Tolgus -- Jack With A Feather
5. Vashti Bunyan -- Just Another Diamond Day

Gerard Cosloy, Matador Records
High On Fire - The Art of Self Defense (Man's Ruin)
Marumari - The Wolves Hollow (Car Park)
Thee Headcoats Sect - Ready Sect Go! (Vinyl Japan)
Irm: - s/t (Cold Meat Industry)
Keiron Phelan / David Sheppard - s/t (Rocket Girl)
Paul Newman - Machine Is Not Broken (My Pal God)