chocolate usa - all jets are gonna fall today (1992)

so, i was going to keep going with the jenny toomey and teenbeat stuff but as athens popfest is just around the corner i think i'll share some athens related things. i'll start with chocolate usa which was julien koster's (neutral milk hotel, the music tapes) moniker in the early 90s. "all jets are gonna fall today" was the first of two chocolate usa records. this bizarre little album is will always have a place in my heart as it's capable of repulsing me sort of, making me cry like a small child at times and laugh hysterically at others. i cannot say this about many other albums, if any. enjoy!

http://www.mediafire.com/?uqyj04epr5y56or

butterglory - crumble (1994)

butterglory falls somewhere between the obtuse charm of pavement and beat happening's wide-eyed pop. this california duo did part of crumble in the studio, leaving the rest for a home 4-track recorder. the home tracks strip indie-rock down to simple guitar and drum pieces. simple, yes, but butterglory knows good hooks.

http://www.mediafire.com/?cjo9cm5am45snpg

velocity girl - simpatico! (1994)

allmusic:

The problem with Copacetic was the dingy production, so for Simpatico, Velocity Girl hooks up with the Smiths' first LP producer John Porter. Flaw corrected. Perhaps too much? Some have expressed the opinion that Porter has neutered them somewhat, and indeed, the rawer edges have largely been relinquished, but so what? They sound great now, much tighter, more convincing, more together. Constant touring has obviously toughened and synchronized them, so credit them for a lot of thankless, hard work. Simpatico, at the least, is a three-times-better version of their first LP, which is the small flaw now -- they don't seem to have enlarged their scope much, still clinging to the chiming guitar version of the Wedding Present meets the Shangri-La's they started with long ago -- remember when My Forgotten Favorite was on so many of our turntables? And the problem with narrow scopes is that some of the songs just aren't going to click as much as the better versions of the same thing. But if they aren't going to change their sound, or to a lesser extent, their style; at least they can keep getting better at it, and that is the case, so there are more big delights. "Drug Girls" has a sharp chorus, and the best song, "Rubble," adds a New Order bass and acoustic. "Hey You, Get Off My Moon" at least attempts a slow ballad, and "What You Left Behind" and the single "Sorry Again" are big-time hooky. Porter seems to have worked Sarah Shannon into singing stronger and more firmly. It's time to move on, but for now, there's plenty to enjoy.



http://www.mediafire.com/?pnv5yhnpyxc0lnu

grenadine - nopalitos (1994)

from the simple machines web page:

Fuck the Cocktail nation, it's Grenadine! From 1992-1998, Grenadine set hearts swooning with their 1920's-inspired ballads. Both full-lengths, Goya and Nopalitos, are a pleasing show of tap dancing, joke telling, coconut welding pop, as well as a few heart stopping ballads spread out across the top of the upright piano for the die hard romantics in the balcony.

All three Grenadine members have long been fixtures in the independent music scene. Jenny Toomey has played in about a half dozen bands in DC and Olympia including, Geek, Slack, My New Boyfriend, the short-lived acoustic duo Choke, Liquorice and most recently Tsunami. Mark Robinson also has a trail of bands behind him, most notably the power pop trios Unrest and Air Miami. Rob Christiansen is best known for his guitar/trombone playing role in the band Eggs, bass for Liquorice and his amazing musical/band project Sisterhood of Convoluted Thinkers.

Grenadine hardly *ever* played live shows, so their finale performance at the Simple Machines goodbye party was truly a treat. Jenny, Mark and Rob wowed the crowd, swinging easily between melancholy tunes and gorgeous strummy pop songs. And now what does the discerning indie pop fan do who feels like slipping into something more...velvety? Don't forget. Grenadine.

Nopalitos review:

Though we've come to expect a challenge from enigmatic supergroup Grenadine (one part Unrest, one part Tsunami, one part Eggs), the trio has thrown us for yet another loop. Some of the songs on "Napalitos" are unsurprising (some of Mark Robinson's songs have a distinct Unrest flair, while some of Jenny Toomey's have a clear Tsunami ring), but many of the tracks are not as easily traceable. The band's approach to the songs, especially in the barber shop quartet style of "Hell Over Hickory Dew" and the old-school cartoon-y "Roundabout On A Tuesday," has a distinctive 1920's old-timey feel. In addition to the songwriting, the recording techniques distinguish Grenadine from its contemporaries. The songs become progressively stranger with increasingly odd production. Warren Defever has done a fabulous job compounding the bizarre quality of the songs, most noticeably on "Speeding," which is remixed to an almost unrecognizable extent as "Snik" four songs later. It all culminates in the wildly beautiful underwater-like warble of the Burt Bacharach/Herb Alpert cover "This Girl's In Love."
-DAWN SUTTER


http://www.mediafire.com/?6ilt1g90mof64n0

tsunami - a brilliant mistake (1997)

lots of jenny toomey (tsunami, grenadine, liquorice) love coming. i'll start with the last tsunami record, which also happens to be my favorite.

from allmusic.com:

Tsunami's records are usually excellent, but on The Brilliant Mistake, Tsunami has truly reached their apex. This stroke of brilliance corresponds to the tragic end of the band's Simple Machines label after seven years of near-flawless production and indie rock mining. The band's earlier attempts at punk rock were often tedious at best, but with these 13 songs, they put aside their punk ambitions and create their cleanest, most cohesive record to date. On "Old Gray Mare," singer Jenny Toomey croons about the metaphorical, while two songs later, pulsing horns accompany her as she wails about struggling against the grain of mainstream society.

The Brilliant Mistake is pure, mellifluous indie rock, the place where a genuine DIY ethos meets pure pop sensibility. As expected, the album is strewn with literary references, from a song dedicated to David Foster Wallace to odd lyrics reworking elements of Allen Ginsberg's "The Howl." This record is often brilliant but never a mistake.
~ Marc Ruxin, All-Music Guide

http://www.mediafire.com/?bo2g4i7eihrhdt7

dan majerle loves guitar pop *early fall mixtape*

almost all of these songs have been fall companions of mine for several years now. i'm not sure what dan majerle (early 90s perennial NBA all-star) has to do with all of this but i just thought it would be kind of funny to declare such a thing, considering the, err.. unlikeliness. anyways, these songs are a bit on the wimpy, dreary, and lo-fi side, so if that's your idea of a nice fall soundtrack then you won't be disappointed. happy (or in this case not so much, really) autumn!

tracklist:
01 huon - uncracked
02 rocketship - your new boyfriend
03 poundsign - vitamin dee
04 pipas - mental
05 the autocollants - polyensemble
06 bart & friends - are you guys into wings?
07 the bats - boogeyman
08 pencil tin - know
09 ben watt - north marine drive
10 brittle stars - tripping me up
11 madison electric - heavy petal
12 buddah on the moon - ordinary sky
13 bunnygrunt - you're talking crazy talk
14 the cat's miaow - i hate myself more than you do
15 dear nora - on to september
16 the shapiros - makes me smile
17 east river pipe - kill the action
18 winter vacation - an arsonist
19 vehicle flips - icejam
20 tsunami - slugger
21 crayon - western flyer
22 the poconos - october
23 butterglory - demons and avalanches
24 orange cake mix - sugar maple
25 true love always - sweet time
26 sourpatch - same street
27 polaris - waiting for october
28 the ropers - dawn
29 the softies - it's love
30 poole - si

http://www.mediafire.com/?hati2i1kjdjnhl3

unrest - perfect teeth (1993)

perfect teeth came out on 4ad and teenbeat in 1993. i think this album is way better than imperial or any other unrest records as a whole. this record makes me wish i were born ten years younger 'cause i would have loved to have this as the soundtrack to my teen years. this band was a tidal wave of fresh, experimental energy and were pretty unclassifiable despite their pop sensibilities.

from allmusic:
Unrest's final and best album is both jangling and lush, and covers many styles of pop music. "Angel, I'll Walk You Home" is filled with pristine vocal harmonies, while "Cath Carroll" is flashy, thrashy punk-pop. "Light Command" is wistful and triumphant. "Breather X.O.X.O." is majestically melancholy, and "West Coast Love Affair" is breezy and tongue-in-cheek. Unrest's experimental and pop leanings come together with terrific success on Perfect Teeth, making it a high point in the band's too-brief recording career. - heather phares.



http://www.mediafire.com/?6gka7raub0polhc