From PackageThf@aol.com Fri Mar 28 10:54:51 1997 Date: Thu, 20 Mar 1997 03:47:24 -0500 (EST) From: PackageThf@aol.com Subject: if you could sing [The following text is in the "unknown-8bit" character set] [Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set] [Some characters may be displayed incorrectly] WELCOME ONE AND ALL to the Superchunk e>Mailing List. Yeah, it hasn't been that long since the last mailer, but I didn't want you to forget about those tourdates... Plus, I have new PORTASTATIC goodies for you - you like treats, don't you? Strangeness aside, here we go... ---------------- >>>The Superchunk Calendar TOUR DATE: March 22 - Washington DC - Black Cat (with the Softies) TOUR DATE: March 23 - Chapel Hill - Cat's Cradle (NEW!!!) TOUR DATE: April 4 - Durham,NC - Captured Live Studios (part of a conference sponsored by Duke called "RE-PRE-SENT-ING ROCK") LP RECORDING: April 10-17 - Bloomington, IN (for the upcoming LP) - Echo Park Studios TOUR DATE: April 18 - Harrisonburg, VA - James Madison University (part of a conference sponsored by JMU station WXJM called "MaCRoCk" - see below) LP MIXING: DATES TBA - Durham, NC - Overdub Lane Studios (working w/John Plymale, who helped to mix the track from subUrbia + the "Laughter Guns" ep) >>>more info on the April 18 show & festival from scutarma@jmu.edu: Superchunk will be playing along with Versus, Tsunami, and the Dismemberment Plan on April 18th as part of the First Annual Mid-Atlantic College Radio Conference, sponsored by WXJM, the student run radio station here at James Madison U. in Harrisonburg, VA.. Sort of a mini-CMJ, MACRoCk is geared towards the world of college radio. Everyone is invited, and over 200 radio stations from 7 states (Md, Va, DC, Md, NC, SC, Del, Pa) have been contacted. The big Superchunk show will be on that Friday; Saturday there will be keynote speakers (the gals from Tsunami), record expos (ALL indie lables are welcome to set up shop!), a screening of Hype!, and panels. Saturday night, over 30 bands will play (including 81 Mulberry, John S. Hall) at 8 local venues. All of this for a registration fee of $20. Please check out the web site for all info (prices, hotels, directions, etc..) and e-mail me, Mike, if you have any questions. Hopefully, with everyone's participation, this will be a fantastic event! thanks! - Mike (scutarma@jmu.edu) http://www.jmu.edu/wxjm/macrock/network.html >>>As you should know by now, Portastatic's NATURE OF SAP lp is out. If you don't find it in a store near you, you can order it from merge. But what better way to introduce you to the new album, than by Mac himself? Courtesy of Jonas and his fanzine (eng96jni@lustudat.student.lu.se), here's Mac on the new Portastatic in his own words: >>"You know where to find me": the first song I wrote on piano for this record, played over and over by myself and my brother, drums and piano, in my living room. On the album I ended up adding layers of keyboards, guitars etc as I tend to do. Though my original intention was that it be stripped down ( kind of like "Landed") I really like the two main chords of this song. Theyīre kind of lounge-y. >>"A lovely nile": An instrumental. Original riff written on organ and given some spice by Jonathan Marxīs improvised clarinet and Jerry Keeīs percussion. Actually we all played percussion I think >>"Hurricane Warning": Another piano-based song. The words are a fiction about two people living in a small coastal town and with a hurricane on the way he wants to evacuate, but she wants them to stay when everyone else leaves, so they can finally be alone. >>"Reverse Lester": "Lester of Philadelphia" is the brand of the old piano I have. This is something I recorded on my 4-track, played backwards >>"Flare": Matthewīs (Macīs brother) drumming holds this rather vague piano-song together. We pratised it a lot with just piano and drums, and then in the studio Jonathan added some cool trumpet. Itīs about a guy watching from his window the girl he loves from afar, how she throws garden parties for her rich friends (of which he is not one) >>"Jonathanīs organ": Written the night before we recorded. Jonathan wrote the organ part. I played the backwards cymbal. Kind of has a Tall Dwarfs-feel to it, I think. >>"Before You Sailed Around the World": Another story this time about a girl from Kansas (or somewhere in the midwest) who goes to California, gets on a boat with some strangers and never comes back because she falls in love with the ocean. Maybe she is a pirate. >>"Benīs revenge": A 4-tracksong featuring my rudimentary trumpet skills (played for 10 years, but it was a long time ago). Originally recorded for submission for use as music in an Ergenizer battery-commercial directed by a friend (it was not accepted) >>"Impolite cheers": More 4-tracking. A song written and recorded in about 2 hours. Came out sounding like a tribute to Guided by voices or something. Everything thought the distbox. Syntheseizer on "popcorn"-setting >>"Spying on the spys": Finally a straightforward, guitar-based popsong. Lyrics and music written at the same time (on acoustic guitar). Maybe my most obvious lovesong yet? My drumming rips off the Beatles >>"Bjjt": Foray into electronic music, though Iīm not too confident in that field yet. Iīm too impatient to do much drum machine programming which is one of the most interestig aspects of most of that new music. >>"Landed": I managed not to add tons of shit to this song and left it nice and stripped down. Which is how I originally planned to do the whole record. Kind of about two people stranded on a desert island. >>"If you could sing": Still canīt play both hands of the piano-part too well. A man falls in love with a stereoscope picture of a woman taken before he was even born. My attempt at some approximation of "jazz". >>"The nature of sap": Maybe my favesong on the record. Written the night before we recorded it. Nice piano and Jonathans pretty accompaniment on the clarinet make this perfect background music for a nature documentary (hence the name of the album) >>>more MacInfo from khoskins@zoo.uvm.edu: Regarding the fanzine BENT and its cover story on Mac, it is issue Number 4 that you want to get your hands on. It is published out of Maryland and can be reached via e-mail at Bent Page@aol.com. For a hint of the article, the tag on the table of the contents says "At his worst, Mac is a consummate craftsman; at his best, an inspired artisan." It also includes "Mac's Guide to Better Living," smoe of his favorite books, music, and films of the moment. The zine is worth picking up for the article alone but there is also an interview with Boss Hog, an article on Barbara Manning, and some info on Half-cocked (the film). >>the Portastatic show at Chapel Hill from mrozek@ww-interlink.net: Tracks included naked pilsners, had, san andreas, a bear that chokes, in the manner on anne frank, you know where to find me, hurricane warning, flare, if you could sing encore: spying on the spys there were some others but those were the most memorable. Most of the songs had great organ arrangements that added a nice touch to some of the older stuff, especially san andreas. >>>a merge-related update from motorcoat@aol.com: "Never Kept a Diary" CD compilation: Official Release Date 04.08.97 Seventeen NEW exclusive songs by your favorites: Jenny Toomey w/ HollAnd, HollAnd, Heartworms, Jenhitt, Ex-Atari Kid, Cosgrove, The Karl Hendricks Trio, Fifty Dollar Bill, Six Cents and Natalie, Sisterhood of Convoluted Thinkers, Clem Snide, Spent, Lambchop, Juicy, Ida, February, and Log Letters. Limited edition, numbered packaging by Sedona, Arizona's Independent Project Press. (only 1500 copies to be produced!) Orders taken through mail order right this very second! CD- $10 (postage-paid), cash, check, or money order only; U.S. funds orders payable to: Motorcoat Records - 1818 Sherwood Dr. - Beloit, WI 53511 715.831.0916 ph - Motorcoat@aol.com -------------------- That's a wrap, folks! Special thanks to Jonas and, as always, to Jon. Look for another mailer in the next 2-3 weeks. A big thanks to everyone who has checked out my website and to those who have sent me letters. I appreciate them, so feel free to write me. Also, if you have any Q's for me or the list, send them on! Please notify me of any changes of address as soon as possible. Otherwise, until then... -------------------- CHUNKSITES: Here With Superchunk: http://www.monkey.org/~chunk/superchunk MERGE RECORDS: http://www.mrg2000.com/merge Chunk e>Mailing List FAQ: http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/2605/chunkfaq.html