May 25, 2000

New Releases Info
(Drum roll. Or drum machine roll.
When are those rolls gonna be ready?)

Coming in July, via our association with Warp, we’ll be releasing ‘Out Of Nowhere,’ an epic orchestral work of staggering power from one of the planet’s most dynamic figures, Jimi Tenor.

Also forthcoming in July, the first Matador 12" from Sensational, one of the most twisted & brilliant minds in hip-hop. Through his two albums on the WordSound label, ‘Loaded With Power’ and ‘Corner The Market,’ as well as his early production work for the Jungle Brothers, Sensational has staked a claim for himself as one of the most inventive MC’s on the planet. His in-the-making Matador 12" is shaping up to be an extremely damaged recording (and we mean that in a good way, not like when you get hit in the head with a cinderblock. That’s a bad kind of damaged).

As if our summer wasn’t overcrowded enough, we are also pleased to announce the license of one of our favorite albums from 1999, ‘Fantasy,’ the 3rd album from Munich instrumentalists Couch. While owing a considerable debt to the obvious German rock heavyweights that we all know and love (and we don’t mean Accept), Couch’s winning combination of carefully built tension, shifting textures and pure aggression sounds instantly familiar and totally new, all at the same time. Couch are working on new recordings for release in 2001.

Mary Timony

If everything works out the way we expect (i.e. calls are returned, letters are posted), Mary Timony will be playing some shows with Sleater-Kinney in Germany and the U.K., she’ll be appearing at the Lady Fest in Olympia, WA in August, and there’s some West Coast U.S. dates with Sleater-Kinney after that. If that wasn’t enough activity, there are plans for a 2nd Spells recording.

Our Brazilian friends at Trama took out a gigantic double-page spread ad with tons of Matador minis, full-color, in Brazil’s well-known large glossy “Successo CD.” We ran the Portuguese copy of the ad through Babelfish, and came up with:

“A Trama traz para o Brasil o mais prestigiado selo independente dos Estados Unidos.” = “The Tram brings for Brazil the most sanctioned independent stamp of the United States.” Every now and then, these translations make perfect sense.

MC Paul Barman
MC Paul Barman will be opening for Del The Funky Homosapien and Blackalicous on the following dates, with possibly more to come:

Plans for the follow-up to “How Hard Is That” are already in motion, and we’re confident you’ll be hearing/seeing MC Paul Barman so much this summer, it will be as if he was a member of your family. Or someone you were neglecting your family to hang out with.

Large Professor
No titles yet, but Large Professor is busy mixing and finishing his first Matador single for release this summer. When we know more, so will you.

Apologies to an overpaid,
underworked professional entertainer
In our last news update, someone who may or may not have been the label co-president (the one who isn’t named Chris) made an ill-advised joke, comparing the much-troubled Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland, to much-troubled New York Ranger/alleged crack abuser Kevin Stevens. A number of readers have let us know that they found these remarks to be offensive, lacking in good taste or compassion. With this in mind, we would like to sincerely apologize to the friends and family of Kevin Stevens. We are all rooting and praying for Kevin, especially the person who the threatening letter was addressed to.

Imposter Central
It seems as though someone is “checking stock” at SF area chain stores, claiming to be a Matador employee and muttering vague comments about a non-existent “West Coast office.” If you see this person, call our East Coast Office immediately so we can give this individual the reward they so justly deserve.

Jon Spencer —
Even when he’s inactive, he’s more active than you
The Blues Explosion will have some of their wonderful music featured in the upcoming Todd Phillips masterpiece “Road Trip,” thus continuing Jon Spencer’s long association with MTV affiliated motion pictures (we are of course, referring to Boss Hog’s winning cameo in “Joe’s Apartment”). Jon is also a contributor to the forthcoming David Holmes album, which I’d pre-order from Amazon if they sold vinyl.

To fans of great songwriting, smart pop music and extraordinary loud rhythm guitar, Tommy Keene is a Christ-like figure. No more or less Christ-like for no longer being on this label, but in the spirit of pointing you towards a memorable evening out, you should know that Tommy + band will be making the following concert appearances:

Fuck
Much like Tommy Keene, a brilliant recording career doesn’t come to end when an artist parts ways with Matador. Look at Deicide, they went on to make the finest albums of their career when they had a falling out with Matador over religious differences. Anyhow, as you may have heard elsewhere, Fuck are making a new album for Smells Like Records, and we, along with all other lovers of great music, are looking forward to it’s release in a big way.

Pole
“Strand,” from ‘Pole 3’ is now available for MP3 download from our traffic-jam generating MP3 page. You can also hear a Pole cybercast at midnight on May 27 at Betalounge.com.

Yo La Tengo
The band’s recent sold-out concert at London’s Royal Festival Hall resulted in even more acres of gushing praise, save for numerous remarks comparing one band member’s appearance to that of a popular television personality. Good thing none of these music journalists have their photos next to their bylines, or we’d a have a field day comparing their likeness to cartoon characters or famous monsters of filmland. Yo La Tengo have a bunch of U.S. dates forthcoming, and they’ve been added to the bill for “This Ain’t No Picnic,” a massive rock festival taking place on July 2nd at Irvine, CA’s Oak Canyon Ranch. Also appearing are Beck, Built To Spill, Modest Mouse, Don Cabellero and an incredibly long list of artists we’ve either never heard of or don’t like that much. Tickets are on sale now via Ticketmaster.

Matador will be offering a special version of ‘And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out’ with a free bonus CD. This package will constitute the regular ‘And Then...’ CD with a slipcase CD shrink-wrapped to the back. Said regular + bonus item superduper thing will be in stores 6/6/00 for a limited time only while supplies last:

Yo La Tengo Sampler 1993-1997 (all songs previously released):

1. “From a Motel 6”
2. “Tom Courtenay”
3. “Autumn Sweater”
4. “Little Honda”
5. “Sugarcube”
6. “Big Day Coming”
7. “Blue Line Swinger”

This might seem like a weird way of saying thank you to all the smart, loyal Yo La Tengo fans who purchased the new album when it first came out, but that’s because we’re not actually thanking them! This nutty promotional effort is designed to get a few of the fencesitters and Johnny/Joanna Comelatelies to check out a band we absolutely love to death. If we have to pander to or bribe this hypothetical unseen audience, we most certainly will do so. Anything to get the customer hooked, that’s always been our motto. Maybe that was our last job, so hard to remember. But seriously folks, while enjoying Yo La Tengo records the day they come out is a nice reward in itself, we will endeavor to come up some non-degrading scheme where some of these freebie comp. CD’s shall fall into the hands of the band’s longtime fans (i.e.. persons who already own all of the songs already). But please, no bulk e-mail campaigns, ala the Pavement tree or the JSBX box set or I swear to god, we’ll shut down the entire company and move to Jupiter (FL).

Arsonists, post-tour update from D-stroy
“We’ve achieved yet another tour in the U.S., this time after coming home to rest 4 days with the family from the European tour. It’s done and we’re happy to say we can rest and record some new material. While in the U.K. we did a song with Nightmares On Wax which I don’t know what the final mix sounds like, but I’m happy with it. Also, we went to every toy store possible buying Transformers and Simpson’s figures. It’s bugged ’cause you’ll usually find some groups on tour going to the we’d spot’s or something like that not to diss that scene but we entertain ourselves by doing other things, but jise one finds his ways to get some goods. Being home is great but we’ve already been offered more shows from these tours, just when we wanted to take a break. But hey, this is the life we chose so if that means work, I can’t be mad.” — DSTROY

Send your Simpsons or Transformer toys to:

ARSONISTS
P.O. Box: 210-348
Brooklyn, N.Y., 11221-0348

We asked Elisabeth of Solex for some news, and unlike 90% of the roster, she totally came through:

“The 30th of April we Dutch people celebrated the Queen’s birthday. Of course everybody dresses up in anything with the colour orange and gets totally wasted. But there’s also a so-called ‘free-market’ in Amsterdam... it turns the city into a giant yard sale.

So here’s my top 5 queens-day-steals 2000:

- A shortwave microphone... looks better than it sounds
- A locked suitcase... my friends are still putting out bets on the contents...
- A book about male hygiene
- A book about cooking during wartime
- ‘At budokan’ from Cheap Trick

I will write a tour report after the upcoming Solex tour in the US (26th of May until the 24th of June). If anyone wants to read about (here’s another top 5):

- Motel 6 adventures
- How the West was REALLY won
- How to fix a tire in 5 minutes
- The REAL West side story
- One-size-fit-all-t-shirts... yeah right...”

You are cordially invited to sign up for the Solex mailing list. Send an email to: 8o8@xs4all.nl with “SUBSCRIBE” as the subject.

Cybercast! Solex live at the Knitting Factory, NYC, this Saturday, 5/27/00 @ 10:30 pm on Digital Club Network (look under artists; Christina says Netscape works best with this site).

Also: Solex will be performing an instore at Good Records in Dallas on June 15th, at 6PM. Good Records - 617 N. Good Latimer - Dallas, TX 75206 - 214.752.4663


Self-important / Alienated listening habits

Mark Ohe, Matador Records
Spoon - Rough Mixes 3/9/00 - (cdr)
The American Flag - s/t - (Champagne)
Various Artists - Cambodia Rocks - (parallel world)
A.L. Lloyd - Leviathan - (Topic)

Patrick Amory, Matador Records
1. The Ballroom
2. Harry Smith Vol. 4
3. Game Theory ‘Lolita Nation’
4. Franco & OK Jazz — Early Years
5. Left Banke
6. Dr. Dre — Chronic 2001
7. Kirsty MacColl — Terry 12"
8. Fugazi — In On The Kill Taker
9. Government Issue — History Vol. 1
10. Robin & Barry Dransfield — Rout of the Blues

Dave Martin, Matador Records
Sonic Youth ‘NYC Ghosts & Flowers’
(My favorite SY record since ‘Daydream Nation’)
Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments ‘No Old Guy Lo-Fi Cry’
Joe McPhee ‘Nation Time’
V/A Harry Smith’s
Anthology Of American Folk Music Vol. 4 Dbl CD
New Bomb Turks ‘Nightmare Senario’
The Horrors S/T
Mad River S/T
The Gizmos 1976/1977: The Studio Recordings
BYG/Actuel reissues:
(Sun Ra, Art Ensemble, Don Cherry, & Archie Shepp)
V/A - Ego Trip’s The Big Playback

Jesper Eklow, Matador Records
Gizmos - 1976/1977 The Studio Recordings CD (Gulcher)
Martin Rev - Strangeways CD (Sahko)
Trad Gras och Stenar - Djungelns Lag LP (Tall)
Florence Foster Jenkins -
The Glory (???) of the Human Voice LP (RCA)
Coloured Balls - Summer Jam LP (Anti-Mushroom)
Soft Boys - Invisble Hits LP (Midnight Music)
Autopoieses - La Vie Noir CD (Mille Plateaux)
Crushed Butler - Uncrushed 10" (Dig the Fuzz)
Sensational - Loaded with Power CD (Wordsound)

Gerard Cosloy, Matador Records
Sunroof - Found Star Sound (VHF)
Kimball Roeser Effect - “Punk” (CDR)
Sensational - "Freak Styler”
(from ‘Loaded With Power’ Wordsound)
Max Tundra -
Some Best Friend You Turned Out To Be (Domino)
Calexico - The Hot Rail (Quarterstick)
V.L.A.D. - Motion Institute 12" (Warp)
Sonic Youth - NYC Ghosts & Flowers (Napster)
Marumari - The Wolves Hollow (Carpark)
The Rotters - Pull It & Yell (Dionysus)
Kid Spatula - Full Sunken Breaks (Planet Mu)
Hans Platzgummer - Datacard (Disko B)

Ben Goldberg, Matador Records
* These Trails (self-titled) - amazingly, Hawaiin ’70s folk is far from the acoustical nightmare it seems like it would be
* Pip Proud “Adreneline & Richard”/“Bird In The Engine” - Aussie singer’s ’60s records, who really can’t sing at all, but manages to write beautifully emotional songs
* Amon Tobin “Supermodified” - the lines between jazz and electronic music blur and - oh, wait, they were already blurred
* Monotract “Blaggout” - sound equivalent to its packaging, which is comprised of sand and broken glass glued to cardboard
* The Unforgettable Fire - brilliant U2 tribute band from Long Island, who even do the Bono-tracklight-on-Edge during “Bullet The Blue Sky” to absolute perfection (Faux Bono: “How many of you remember when U2 played at Club Malibu in 1982?”)
* Susumu Yokota “Magic Thread” - I saw Pita and Fennesz last week and they both sucked live, but you just can’t get enough of that recorded electronic minimal drone!
* “Battlefield Earth” fallout - Scientology as a religion will fail if you can’t make a good movie of it. John Travolta should have opted the “Jesus” miniseries instead.

Pete Astor, The Wisdom Of Harry
Dr Dre - The Watcher (from 2001, Aftermath Entertainment/Interscope Records)
Kit Clayton - nek sanalet (~scape)
Various - Voices In My Lunchbox (Plug Research)
Dead Prez - Lets Get Free (Loud/Epic)
Rah Digga - Dirty Harriet (Electra)
Christian Marclay - Guitar Drag (Sonic Boom Exhibit)
Various - Ghost Dog Soundtrack

top ten * axel/fc-shuttle * dj-promotion payola
1. egoexpress RMX -
here comes the night (thomas heckmann) (Lado)
2. terence Fixme electric vision (Gigolo)
3. Wassermann WIR (Kompakt)
4. Clinic - Internal Wrangler (Domino)
5. Soloryer Poprad s/t (Oni.tor)
6. martini bros - tanzen (PokerFlatRec)
7. Tarwater - Animals Suns & Atoms (Kitty-Yo)
8. "Being John Malkovich" Spike Jonze
9. Anja
10. Burnt Friedmann & the NuDub Players -
Just Landed (Scape)

Sad Rockets (classy recording artist)
1. Sister Nancy - “Bam Bam” 7" (Techniques)
2. Bergheim 34 - “How to Sell Out When Nobodys Buying” 12" (Klang white label)
3. Take Rodriguez - “Prince of Mambo Breaks” 12" (Cheap)
4. Bohannon - “On My Way” LP (Brunswick)
5. Gramm - “Personal_Rock” LP (Source)
6. Les McCann - “Layers” LP (Atlantic)
7. Pliers & Chaka Demus - “Murder She Wrote” 7" (Taxi)
8. Jackie Mitoo - “Keyboard King at Studio One” LP (Universal Sound)
9. Timmy Thomas - “Why Can’t We Live Together?” LP (Mojo)
10. spotting Bjork at the Tate Modern

May 12, 2000

Mary Timony
The rock world’s numero uno avatar continues her U.S. tour. An MP3 of “The Bell” from the ‘Mountains’ album will be available for download at CDNow June 6th.

Pole
The Pole appearance at the Anchorage on the 8th of June now includes µ-Ziq (along with the already appearing Scanner and Granular Synthesis).

Nils sent this around the
Matador office a few days ago.
“I won’t be in on May 18 because I have to stay home to be a LIFELINE!! Yes, it’s true. I’m his music, movies, food/drink, and general pop culture guy (you actually get 5 different lifelines, and call the one appropriate to the question). If you’re an expert on opera, classical, jazz, country, &/or showtunes, let me know. He’s not guaranteed the hot seat of course, though they say 2-4 out of the 10 make it, and this guy types 140 words/minute so he’s lightning-quick.” We’re not sure what Nils is talking about, perhaps this “lifeline” business is some combination of the Samaritans and Trivial Pursuit.

Cat Power
Today, May 12th at 5pm, Chan Marshall is scheduled to perform on WNYU. Apparently last night’s gig at the Knitting Factory was cybercast, but the knuckleheads in charge of the Doofus Cockup Network only bothered to let us know late yesterday afternoon. In spite of missed opportunities like this, the Cat Power legend continues to grow. Our hockey-is-nice correspondent writes: "Watching ‘NHL Tonight’ on ESPN after the Flyers’ easy win over the lowly Penguins about 2.30 last night proved entertaining. Keith Primeau scored the game winner and the ‘NHL Tonight’ host said: ‘What Chan Marshall is to Cat Power, Keith Primeau is to the Flyers’. True story, and the pronounciation of her first name was correct too."

Not sure what our distribution is like in Bristol, CT, but either way you look at it, this is one for the history books. We’d like to see Keith Primeau take on the opposition singlehandedly with a piano strapped to his back. What Scott Weiland is to Stone Temple Pilots, Kevin Stevens is to the New York Rangers.

New MP3’s available right here, starting May 12:
Mr. Len featuring Q-Unique - “Straight” from the 12" “What The Fuck” b/w “Straight.” The Modernist - “Manson Soup” from the album Explosion. The Wisdom Of Harry - “Coney Island Of Your Mind” from the 7" of the same name.

Belle & Sebastian
With the “Legal Man” single and the incredible new album ‘Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant’ almost upon us, Belle & Sebastian recently held a press conference in London. Unlike press conference held by R. Budd Dwyer, Rudolph Guiliani or Vince Coleman, this one was relatively calm and informative. You can read a biased version of events at NME.

Matador vets White Hassle, featuring the ridiculously talented Marcellus Hall and Dave Varenka, have a new 5 song CDEP coming out later this month on the Orange label (not the same Orange that GG Allin and David Peel recorded for, but one can always fantasize).

May 3, 2000

New additions to the additional “family”

Large Professor
We’re always saying things like “we’re thrilled to announce an upcoming record by ____” and it isn’t as though we’ve ever lied in the past. But the thrill meter just went into the red zone and damn busted into pieces. Later in 2000, Matador will be releasing a new 12" by Large Professor, the pioneering MC/producer who earned his legendary status way back when he was fronting Main Source. Along with production credits that include early stuff by Gangstarr, Nas, Eric B & Rakim, Roxanne Shante, Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, Chris Lowe and too many others, Large Professor has been busy with some new solo stuff, including recent live performances and a great 12" collaboration with Neek The Exotic (“Rhymemania ’99”) that came out on the Replay label last fall. He’s also been doing some production work on the upcoming Non Phixion ‘The Future Is Now’ full length. When we’ve got more details, titles, dates, etc., we’ll let you know.

Lesser
The long rumored pairing of Lesser aka LSR aka Jay Lesser and Matador aka Matador Records aka US, is at last, not rumored. After a steady stream of concussion-inducing recordings for the Vinyl Communications label, knocking around the globe as the 3rd wheel in the Matmos van, knocking around the other parts of the globe on the just completed Lesser/Kid 606 “Spice Up Your Wife” tour, Lesser is preparing his Matador debut full-length Gearhound. After he lets us hear it, we’ll tell you about it. If you’re good. Until that day arrives, you can get up to speed at the Lesser website.

Cat Power
Too cheap or too slow to shell for Cat Power tickets? Enjoy giving your personal details to aspiring dot.com companies? Gigmania.com is giving away 2 tickets to see Cat Power on May 11th at the Knitting Factory in New York City. Simply go and register. Or visit Gigmania.com and look for the link to the CONTEST page. Of course, you could always stay at home, read a book, record your own album or make a nice meal.

The Modernist
Jörg Burger is coming to New York to perform at Flyer Magazine’s Anniversary Party (May 23, at the piece of real estate formerly known as Tramps), which will be an extravaganza of booze and music. Performing alongside Jörg with be Derrick May (one of the founding fathers of Detroit Techno, recently featured on the Warp 10+1 Influences CD under the name “Rhythim is Rhythim”) and Paul Johnson. We don’t encourage drinking and driving, but if you must drink and drive, please wear a seat belt.

Pole
‘Pole 3’ is the creative title of the 3rd Pole album, coming this June from Matador. A pre-album 12", “Rondell,” is just out on Kiff/SM. Pole will be appearing at The Anchorage on June 8th in the Creative Time series. This performance will be in conjunction with Scanner and Granular Synthesis, a multimedia group that does huge video installations. Afterwards, Stefan will be going to Montreal for a performance at the Montreal Jazz Festival on the 11th of June.

Arsonists
The first full-fledged American tour from the Arsonists is currently under way. Check their tour dates page early and often as new dates are being added daily. You can also hear Q-Unique on the flipside of the new Mr. Len single, “What The Fuck.” “Straight” is Q’s track and you need it in your life.

Boards of Canada
Patience is a virtue, just ask Boards of Canada fans and prospective concert promoters. Never fear, the band are working feverishly-like in Scotland’s Pentland Hills on their follow-up to ‘Music Has The Right To Children.’ No release date has been set, but they’ll probably finish up long before Chavez make another album or the New Jersey Nets have a winning season, whichever comes first.

Cornelius
2000 is the year that Cornelius will be taking a break from the fray of being an international cultural emissary and focusing on the making of his new album and book documenting the craziness that has been the Fantasma campaign. Sure, there will be the occasional live performance in select global locations and remixes to bide the time. We can’t tell you EVERYONE he’s remixing because, well... we’re hoping no one notices the Sting single. One piece we can divulge is the recent release of his remix of Beck’s “Mixed Bizness,” which is out now on the G.A.S. / DGC / Geffen / Universal / Seagram’s / Microsoft / Worldbank label. And if you squint really hard, it sounds like Cornelius was remixing Prince or something.

Helium/Mary Timony
Mary and her drummer Christina Files are getting ready for a US tour, they are packing a drum kit, one guitar, two keyboards, one amp, one speaker, one violin and a bunch of duct tape. OK, maybe toothpaste as well. If everything falls into place, Mary should be doing some European dates this summer in support of Sleater-Kinney.

Jega
Kris Gillespie reports to us from the set of “The Birdcage”: “Well after his triumphant... ah, hell, nevermind. Yeah, Jega flew over to perform at the Winter Music Conference last month only to have his performance short circuited before it even began by a testy sound system and an even testier club manager who had yours truly thrown out of the nightclub, virtually unprovoked. Apparently, those $10 sodas didn’t keep the vibe as chilled as planned. That’s okay, Dylan was glad to be able to hang with Brendan from Ectomorph and a healthy dose of the Schematic crew and the weather was as stunning as South Beach was repulsive, in that Sunset-Strip-on-Spring-Break kind of way. And we got our first listen to the new Jega album, ‘Geometry,’ in a boomin’ car stereo... an experience so rarely achieved living on the cheap in dreary old Manhattan. Anyhow, the new album sounds, in the immortal words of Jega, ‘wick-ked!’” ‘Geometry’ is tentatively scheduled for September release on Matador in North America, Planet Mu elsewhere.

Mr. Len
Mr. Len will be hitting the road over the next few weeks, heading first to South Africa as a DJ for What? What? before heading out in the States as a DJ for the Juggaknots. Also on that tour are Big Daddy Kane, Prince Paul and others. Check the tour dates section for full details.

Nightmares on Wax
Nightmares on Wax have a new 12"/CD EP released on April 15 featuring the verbal stylings of De La Soul on the new track, “Keep On,” which comes in two flavors (three on vinyl). ‘The Sound of N.O.W.’ also features remixes from last year’s ‘Carboot Soul’ and beyond from Alex Gopher, Rae & Christian and DJ Food (a.k.a Coldcut + 1). In the meantime, George is already at work on a new album that he promises won’t take the four-odd years ‘Carboot’ took to gestate. Still faster than Chavez, let’s give them man some credit.

Quickspace
After a week’s worth of dates on the Yo La Tengo tour through the Midwest and another week playing their way back to NYC, Quickspace ended their first US sojourn with a raucous hour-long performance on WFMU last month that sounded spectacular. Sorry, West Coast... perhaps, next time. Meanwhile, you can take solace in the shape of the new Quickspace single coming up in a couple months that will have two brand new track on a 7" (“The Flat Moon Society” and “Semtex”) and the same two tracks plus two new versions of “Death of...” tracks (a sped-up version with an extra verse “The Lobbalong Song” & “The Munchers” with vocals) on the CD5.

Solex
Solex will be touring across the US in May and June, check the tour dates section details. To coincide with these historic events, the one and only Randy Costanza is releasing a Solex / 1985 split single.