In the 1970s greatest hits collections were a quick way for record companies to bundle together previously released material under the pretence that it was a celebration of a band’s career up to a particular point. These were not usually so much a celebration as a way to make a quick buck, but whatever the justification, such releases rarely troubled the more serious record buyer. In the late 80s, the game changed when record companies began to pad such collections out with two or three unreleased tracks, not only ensuring the collection of singles would sell to a more casual listener, but also hoping it would tempt the long term fan into that extra purchase. Such practice became common.
Tag Archives: indie
‘All I Want’: The new video from Kid Wave
Up and coming indie-pop band Kid Wave have issued a video for their new track ‘All I Want’, directed by Steve Glashier.
You can now watch the clip in full below.
VARIOUS ARTISTS: Vauxhall & Us: A French Tribute To Morrissey
The world has seen release of many tribute albums, many tossed off with casual indifference that miss the mark completely. Occasionally, one comes along that’s just so misguided you end up wondering how it came to be in the first place. The idea of thirteen different low-key French artists recreating Morrissey’s 1994 album ‘Vauxhall & I’ could easily sound like a bad one from the off, but somehow, through an array of reasonable talent – not to mention excellent source material and sheer balls – ‘Vauxhall & Us’ works. Without Morrissey’s distinctive croon adding to a many a black humour within his lyrics, these songs sound markedly different. Their charm is still often apparent, but in a wholly different way. The acoustic setting on some of the recordings allows Moz’s gift of words to remain the biggest draw of all, but the European slant evident from time to time also lends a certain charm.
SHERBERT – 2013 Never Happened
Following a couple of digital downloads, Nashville alt-pop band Sherbert released a five song EP ‘This Never Happened’ in the summer of 2013. With a host of influences taken from the Boston “scene” of the late 80s/early 90s, its shimmering pop qualities meshed with a grubby edge in a way that would surely please the younger Tanya Donelly. A few months later, they dropped a second EP ‘Stupid Hat’, largely constructed of more of the same…choosing not to tinker with what seems, essentially, a perfectly good musical formula.
VACATION Transmissions EP
For their fourth EP, US lo-fi/anti-folk duo Vacation take on some familiar – and not-so-familiar – tunes by other artists. As Tori Amos proved time and again, you can take the most rocking numbers and reduce them to a minimalist piano ballad with reasonable ease, almost to the point where the once unimaginable becomes predictable. In some ways, Vacation play by a similar rule in that their chosen material gets stripped down and re-imagined in an echoing lo-fi acoustic fashion, but whereas Ms. Amos, Emm Gryner and countless other artists always ensure there was accessibility even within their most bizarre reimaginings, these guys just want to strip things back to their most stark. This results in at least one tune that’s anything but predictable.