Various - Matinée 50
by Benjamin Howarth
published: 1 / 9 / 2003
Label:
Matinee Recordings
Format: CD
intro
Spectacular compilation which celebrates the "unashamedly pop minded" Matinee's label's 50th release by having all the main acts on its roster providing covers of each other's defining moments
When I first started listening to the output of Matinee records, it felt like a different world to the rest of the indie music scene. In 2000 and 2001, though the seeds were being sown for the push back into the mainstream of ‘indie’ music, the stuff worth listening to was music by the likes of Godspeed, Flaming Lips, Hefner and Sigur Ros, music that for all its charm was consciously awkward, arty and abstract. Matinee on the other hand was unashamedly pop minded, and yet was completely independent, and completely reliant on zines and small distros such as ours for support. And Matinee has been the label that has defined the time I’ve been writing for Pennyblackmusic. I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing Jason Sweeney (Simpatico and Sweet William) and Roy Thirlwall (Windmills and Melodie Group) twice each, and also Dick Preece of Lovejoy and the Snowdrops last year, as well as doing a label interview with Jimmy Tassos, the Matinee boss. I’ve also spent an awful lot of my time playing the records by the Lucksmiths, Ego, Slipslide, Pipas, Harper Lee, Airport Girl and the Guild League. If any label deserves to celebrate their 50th release in style then its Matinee. Here’s to the next 50! And what better way to celebrate than to get most of your best acts together on a single CD, and have them cover each other’s songs. So Roy Thirlwall of Melodie Group tackles the Would Be Goods’ 'Emmanuelle Beart', and vice versa the Would Be Goods have a go at Roy’s defining moment so far, 'Summerness'. The quite exceptional Lucksmiths stamp their unique style all over 'Falling Off Of My Feet Again', an oldie from the Siddeleys. Two British bands have a go at Windmills numbers, Airport Girl do a relatively straight reading of 'Three Sixty Degrees', but add a new approach in terms of tone and sound quality, whilst Lovejoy remake my fave Windmills tune, 'Drug Autumn'as a delicious mellow electro indie pop classic. Perhaps the Windmills will have a go at playing it that way. Simpatico just can’t put a foot wrong in my eyes, and after his stunning 'Club Life' EP earlier this year, Jason Sweeney adds his distinctive, jingly electro folk shoegaze approach to 'Train’s Not Stopping' by Harper Lee. It’s a toss up between this and Pipas’ take on 'You Kill Me' for the compilation's best track. I think Simpatico just takes it, but it’s a photo finish! It was lovely to get nostalgic about great Matinee tracks from the recent past, but what this compilation really says is that Matinee’s bands are all just stepping into their best form now, and that the next 50 singles re going to be even better. Having said that, I haven’t got all of the first lot yet, so I suppose I’d best get going!
Track Listing:-
1 Gregory Webster - Untidy Towns,2 Melodie Group - Emmanuelle Béart,
3 The Guild League - Between Delta and Delaware,
4 The Snowdrops - Summerness,
5 The Visitors - Sad Kaleidoscope,
6 Airport Girl - Three Sixty Degrees,
7 Pipas - You Kill Me,
8 The Lucksmiths - Falling Off Of My Feet Again,
9 Sportique - Goldmining,
10 The Windmills - Striking Out On Your Own,
11 The Pines - Darling, Don’t You Think?,
12 Harper Lee - Motorway,
13 Slipslide - Wildest Dream,
14 The Fairways - Sunday Lovely Sunday,
15 Would-Be-Goods - Southernmost,
16 Lovejoy - Drug Autumn,
17 Pale Sunday - Just Friends,
18 The Liberty Ship - Desert Song,
19 Simpático - Train Not Stopping,
20 Kosmonaut - Northern Angel
Label Links:-
http://matineerecordings.com/https://www.facebook.com/matineerecordings
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