State River Widening
- title
State River Widening
- label
Rocket Girl
- format
- CD
David Sheppard is half of The Wisdom Of Harry along with Pete Astor, and a member of Piano Magic as well. Where Pete Astor has Ellis Island Sound as his side project, David has State River Widening. The 'Will Our Children Thank Us' compilation on the UK's Foundry Records had an SRW track. The song "Moriko Mori Shoots The Make-Believe Ballroom" closed out that compilation as the last song. SWR also had a 7" ("Unsung Couples" b-w "Interlaken") on the label Gold Hole Recordings. That was their first release (SRW is a trio: David is joined by Keiron Phelan and John Steele). The B-side of that single is on this CD. That song ("Interlaken") is a truly splendid song, and just may be my favorite song by the band still. The sound of a train pulling up during the song sends goose flesh up my arm, it is so perfectly orchestrated into the piece. Most recently SRW released a 7" on Liquefaction Empire ("Your Chance Ended Here" b-w ""Suave Qui Peut" & "Winogrand"). This CD is a comforting listen, and State River Widening are an enjoyable band.
---Carl, Nov.9 1999
This is the third full length of Lee Anthony Morris, aka Metamatics. The first 2 were for the now defunct UK label Clear Records, a label that was highly respected, rightfully so. We have his last record for Clear (simply called "A Metamatics Production") at WZBC, where it did very well during it's playlist cycle. He is now on the happening label Hydrogen Dukebox, which has been putting out clever records such as the Slab 7" added through the Gull Buy last month. That dayglo yellow vinyl 7" had a version of Mazzy Star's 'Fade Into You' as it's A-side. I recently read an article on Metamatics in Sleazenation in which he described his sound as "intelligent dance music". This record has many interesting pieces. 
Siesta is a conceptual label with a strongly identifiable sound. In the US we have such a label in 'The Elephant 6 Recording Co.' (Beatle/Beach Boy indie-psyche-pop), in Germany 'Kitty Yo' (electronica-post-rock), Paris 'Orgasm Records' (slightly mad experiments in artistic punk aesthetic), and in Madrid - 2 labels! Elefant Records has a broad roster and a vast history. They even have a dance division. It is the other label in Madrid which we are thinking of now: Siesta Records. Siesta has quietly been putting out great records with an easy continental feel for years. They have re-released 3 awesomely packaged retrospectives on the upstate NY easy listening band of the late 60's, The Free Design. The Free Design were produced by the legendary Enoch Light, and had a rich vocal harmony sound which bands like The Fifth Dimension turned into million selling records, which is the one thing Free Design never figured how to do. In fact, until Siesta's 3 Free Design compilations ('Bubbles', 'Raindrops', & 'Umbrellas') few had ever actually heard such amazing songs as "Kites Are Fun". Siesta have been good at finding like spirits to team up with, such as Mike Always (who led El Records during its existence) for the Reverie series, of which 'Algebra Spaghetti' and 'Simultaneous Ice Cream' have thus far resulted. Siesta also had a recently completed series of three compilations of which 'Expreso' was the second. They were 'Apertivo', 'Espresso', & 'Sombrero'. This 10" is beautifully packaged with it's soft rich pink wax and complementary cover art. The real joy (as it SHOULD be) is the music within. There are great songs on this pink platter, and I'll leave it up to you to discover them for yourself.
Their second single, the follow up to the incredibly Stereolab-y 'Living City Plan', a single I liked very much. This single, also on the always strong Piao! Label, has strong female lead vocal, male background vocals, electronic motorik beat, and the synth sound that coats it all like a smooth peanut butter. As with the last single, I infinitely prefer the A-side to the B-side, not that there is anything inherently wrong wioth the B-sides on either of these singles (they are mellower than the A's). Miss Mend does not feature Joe Dilworth on drums anymore. He was the drummer on early Stereolab albums ('Peng!' & 'Switched On'). He was widely credited/blamed with being the reason Miss Mend sounded so completely like Stereolab on 'Living City Plan'.
Brand new 1999 studio recordings of this classic Boston 1979 punk band, with all original members. Guitarist Tommy White was in the acclaimed children's show 'Zoom' when he was a little boy. Richie Parson has been an institution in the underground music scene in Boston for over 20 years. He fronted many many bands, and was the producer on countless Boston bands (including one of my own in 1984 called Sinn Fein, which he produced at Radiobeat). As for this 7" - the Axe sound exactly as they always have, which is a good thing. I put on their "UnNatural Axe Is Going To Kick Your Ass" CD (which came out last year on Lawless Records) and was amazed at how consistent their sound was. The A-side of this single is kind of like their rewrite of 'Summertime Blues', while the B-side sounds similiar to early Axe songs like 'Tonight We Fight' or 'The Plug'. Both songs are very good, not forced or hollow. I would strongly recommend for you to buy the Lawless Records CD and this single if you already have the CD. 
I first heard of The Clientele over a year ago as a band who sounded a lot like Belle & Sebastian. I ordered their second single 'All The Dusty and Glass' from Rough Trade, and was more than pleased at what I heard. Visiting London, I found their first 7" 'What Goes Up' in a 99p sales rack at HMV on Oxford St. Just last week I received from Rough Trade the 7" by The Relict, which is Innes Phillips w/The Clientele backing him (he used to be a member). All three of those 7"s are on the label called 'Johnny Kane Records, and all three are fine records I'm proud to have in my collection. Here today is The Clienteles brand new 7", their first for the prolific Motorway Records label. The sound of The clientele will never hit you over the head. It is a brilliance that creeps up on you, one that you live with for a while to discover the fine points of. 
The band Steward is Stewart (vocals, guitars, keyboards) from Boyracer, gone solo. As Steward he has become very popular, particularly here at WZBC,where each of his new records, CDs, and 7"s are played over and over again when they first appear. This clear vinyl 7" is really strong. The A-side has a clipped electronica opening quickly met with hushed vocal as the song builds over a New Order-ish bass riff which comes in then disappears again, leaving the song to wind down with R2-D2 sounds which herald it's end way before it has overstayed it's welcome. The B-side (which spins at 33 as opposed to the A's 45) has it's song ('Space Alien') sandwiched between 2 ultra blip pieces made up of an acoustic riff, vocal samples, and electronics. These same elements make up the real song on the B, but they are focused perfectly on that song, with it's electro styled chorus, "just right" voice samples, sung-like-he-means-it vocals, and precise Teutonic Drumming. The 2 songs on this Steward single may just be my favorite of his yet.