First One

 Yeah, continuing from where we left off

It's the National Splits.

The National Splits (2002)

So this is the first of the umpteen bands in this orbit that I heard.
They have a lovely little tune on the "Crayola Catastrophy" 7" compilation on Kitteridge that I posted a while back.

A bit more guitar oriented than Mathlete. Still the lo-fi indiepop you know and love. Still running all the vocals through some kind of effect for virtually every song.
It's still difficult for me to grasp that this is over twenty years old now.

Welcome to the underground at the turn of the 21st Century.

And What Costume Shall the Poor Girl Wear?

 

Blah  Blah Blah...compilation day.

 

 All Tomorrow's Parties UK2002 (2002)

So I'm going to just come out and say it.

I'm not really a big fan of Steve Albini.
He can get some great guitar tones, but he mixes like shit and all his recordings tend to sound kind of flat and a bit lifeless to my ears. I mean, that Stooges album he did is fucking terrible and unlistenable with the guitar kind of buried behind the vocals. On a Stooges record...

I also always found Big Black to be kind of tedious and pretentious and most Shellac kind of bores me. 

Plus the stories I've heard about him from friends who have been around him for various things always make him seem like kind of dick.
 

There. I'm glad I got that out of my system.

Now we come to this disc. It's the Shellac curated All Tomorrow's Parties from 2002.
And it seems if nothing else, Albini and I can agree that the Fall are the centerpiece of any curated lineup of bands because the Fall were the greatest band of all time.

Amen.

Shellac also included local MN heroes, Arcwelder and everybody's indie hipster namecheck, Mission of Burma on their bill. 

That's more win.

But if you were still be on the fence about this particular disc, let me just say that to my ears this is the definitive version of "Two Librans" by the Fall and above and beyond anything else it is an essential for that reason alone.

There I've said my peace and the cat is complaining in the other room.
I will feed her now.

I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground

A rare triple play because I'm still adding shit at a furious pace and can barely keep up.

You're welcome.

Spend the Future in 1994 (1998)

Vince Mole & his Calcium Orchestra started life as a 4-track project led by Chris Parfitt that began while he was still a member of Apples in Stereo.

Katina (2000)

That being said, you know that there's a strong connection to the Elephant Six Recording Co. and aesthetic.

This one was #4 in the Happy Happy Birthday to Me label's 2000 single of the month club that I kind of randomly picked up.

Kevin Whiskey (2002)

This was the last that they were heard from.

Though if you, as a responsible dabbler in internet musical auditioning, are interested the band offers a "deluxe" version of this particular record on their Bandcamp page.

Be a pal and toddle off and get the extra tracks and make them a buck or two.

There's a good chap.

Two Great Tastes

For absolutely no reason than I want to post these two things here's a couple more singles to stuff in your brain and let rattle around like marbles in a coffee can.

Babylon Dance Band (1981)

The Babylon Dance Band is one of the original bands from the Louisville, KY area which was a scene that nobody would give a shit about for at least another decade. They existed briefly until the didn't and then morphed into Antietam, another band that nobody really noticed outside of Kentucky. I only know they existed because I used to flip right by their records frequently in stores when I started at "A" and began working my way through the alphabet. They also toured at least once with Yo La Tengo at a show I wasn't able to go to. Perhaps I missed something.
This is one of those singles that occasionally gets name checked in some circles. I'd read somewhere about it long before I ever saw a copy. Whatever. I like "Remains of the Beat".

the Bleeding Hickeys (2002)

Fast forward 21 years.

The Bleeding Hickeys were from Minneapolis. They appeared made a big splash and then were sucked back under. They put out this seven inch and a full length (Lover & Haters Unite!", maybe if you're nice and someone leaves a comment or two someday...).

One band I had played with them a couple of times. I was not impressed at the time. (Most likely because they were getting all the attention I wanted for our cruddy little outfit that we didn't really deserve.) Listening now, I like it a lot more. Lots of energy and some serious Brix Smith guitar stylings over songs like "Cock Taco" How can you hate a song called "Cock Taco"? I defy you to hate that. You can't. (And a liar if you say different.)