From: "Michael Bakunin" <bakunin AT arlington.com>
Date: Sat, 27 Dec 1997 23:35:28 -0800

Hi, Doug -

Herewith, my list.  Thanks for plugging away at this task.  Note that 
while some of these officially may have come out in '96, none of them 
made it to shops in B-town before March '97.



In alpha order, comments following each:

-|Adventures In Stereo - s/t - LP - UK - Creeping Bent|-

Jim Beattie (ex-Primal Scream, -Spirea X) shows the kids how you 
really do 60's pop.  Fun, fun, fun.  Twee pop kids and secret oldies 
radio listeners will get best mileage.  Simple, but great.

-|Air - Premieres Symptomes - mini LP - F - Source|-

Air is a coupla French producers, but if they don't use real 
instruments, their facsimile is excellent, and their music among the 
more compelling you can pick up in the dancey-dance section.  Great 
music, excellent sleeve, & scores hip points with the record-bag set.

-|Beta Band - Champion Versions EP - 12" - UK - -Regal|-

Dark mix of atmospheric, orchestrated pop and mannered 90's psych.

-|Bitter Springs - Its Business - 7" - UK - Wurlitzer Jukebox|-

Mean-spirited indie rock.

-|Bugskull - Distracted Snowflake V. 1 - LP - US - PopSecret/Darla|-

Mostly electronic bloops and bleeps, but the best thing under the 
moniker since that strange 10" a few years ago.  Lazy, quiet.

-|EPY - Alte Musik Von Morgen - LP - A - Sabotage|-

Another good electronic record, this one is more aggressive.  It has 
more drum machine than I usually can stand, but it's strange enough 
that I can overlook that.  I'm told it's a good label, in general.

-|Flying Saucer Attack & Roy Montgomery - Goodbye - mLP - US - VHF|-

Dave FSA and Mr. Montgomery are plain amazing.

-|Gravity Wax - Acoustically Inert Dense.. - 10" - US - Silver Girl|-

Not flawless, the best tracks here are like a cheap stab at the radio 
in '66 -- no faint praise, imo.  The Stones cover (2000 LY) is a 
little rote, but the originals are swank.

-|Hood - Useless - 7" - UK - Domino|-

Hood's consistency staggers - years after their first brilliant, 
messy, living room hit, they can still churn out xerox- colored noise 
pop like it was the first time.  They fell into Domino's lap 
(apparently) when Domino hired that Planet fellow; next stop, #1? 
Heck, Chumbawamba (!) did it.  If you don't own anything of theirs, 
get one of the Slumberland LPs first; both are great, and should set 
you back only slightly more than this import single.

-|Jim O'Rourke - Bad Timing - LP - US - Drag City|-

Much better than I thought this would be.  Mostly quiet, 
all-instrumental, with an occasional ludicrous burst of, say, horns. 
The best name-brand post-rock LP you can get this year.

-|KG - From Innocence To Catastrophe EP - 7" - US - Clairecords|-

Unclassifiable, basically distorted indie guitar rock, though that 
appellation fails to capture the range and exuberance of their 
expression.  I think they're from France.  The single is domestic:

Clairecords:
	http://grove.ufl.edu/~eleven/claire/
	PO Box 13299
	Gainesville FL 32604-1299

-|Light - Turning - LP - UK - 1997 - Wurlitzer Jukebox|-

Weird, spacey, nice.  If you like the sleeve, you'll like the LP.

-|Linoleum - Marquis - 7" - UK   Lino Vinyl|-

British radio pop -- but lots of fun.  All of their records are 
worthwhile, but I like this single best, today.

-|Microstudio (/UnagiPatrol) - split - 12" - US   Carpet Bomb|-

Shockingly swanky downbeat-style electronica.  I shoulda waited 
for the sleeve, but I ran off with a white label, because who knew 
the sleeve would be so neat?

-|Nord Express - Central - LP - US - 1997 - Slumberland|-

Languid.  'Tis the gift to be simple: guitar, drum, vox.  Not unlike 
other bands lumped into the "slow" category, Nord do it best.  Music 
this pretty should be heard by more people: cheap domestic LPs make 
it possible, promo budget of zero means you haven't heard it.

-|Prolapse - The Italian Flag - dbl LP - UK - Radar|-

This manages to mix enough produced pop chops to get airplay (I think 
it made it, in England) with an aggressively anti-pop stance.  If my 
icky neighbors keep screaming at their kids, I'm putting this on 
really loud: the dichotomy may drive them to drink quietly instead.

-|Sunset Valley - Sky Lab Love Scene - 7" - US -  Undercover|-

Surpise of the year.  It's been a long time since I bought a single 
on a whim, and liked it this much.  Four songs, pretty varied, but 
all done with a slightly forced, home-cooked lunacy.  However, at 
least one of them (Neptune Pools) is certifiable genius, a nouveau 
space-folk masterpiece, alone worth the price.  All thumbs up.

Undercover:
	PO Box 42581
	Portland OR 97242

-|Superstar - Breathing Space - 7" - UK - Camp Fabulous|-

Yes, the Joe McAlinden Superstar that went from Creation to SBK to 
nowhere, fast.  Still, this single would have been a crossover hit in 
a better universe: catchy, fun, with just enough whitebread funk.

-|Tipsy - Trip Tease - dbl LP - US - Asphodel|-

Lounge with less-raised eyebrows and good humor.

-|To Rococo Rot - Veiculo - LP - D - City Slang|-

The Germans are coming for their krautrock.  These folks mix 
instruments and electronics into a moist, crumbly pastiche.