Spume from The Velvet Underground's "Ocean" gave birth to a frightened yet luminous universe confined into a Galaxie.
One dives in the phosphoric sea of this late 80's trio and digs out three halter pop masterpieces that explode in slow motion: Today (1988), On Fire (1989) and This is Our Music (1990).
Kramer (a Phil Spector with no gun), the producer, made Galaxie 500 the fiery flag leaf of atmospheric pop music, with its heavy and delicate bass guitar compositions, the overall simplicity of songs and a sax that flirts with the night of Dean Wareham's almost esoteric chants, incantations of the daily life of a young man who waits for his girlfriend to come home (When Will You Come Home) or the hysterical wail of an overly lyric adolescent who goes out to get a soda and describes the eeriness of the world in a song (Strange).
The heavy magic of Galaxie 500 resides in the instrument's urge to make a sound, in the band's urge to compose simple lullabies or make existing songs galactic, their beyond the grave and over the sky version of New Order's Ceremony is one of the most touching homage a band could have made to the Manchester group. Also, their rendition of The Red Krayola's Victory Garden is a masterpiece that leaves one speechless and horny. Both songs are included in the 1997 CD reprint of On Fire, which was one of the most well kept secret of the 1980's for a while. It now can't escape the light.
Strange - Galaxie 500
Ceremony - Galaxie 500
Victory Garden - Galaxie 500
They come second best in choosing the perfect band name in the nineties, the perfect being Hole, at least in the city of Olympia.
Beat Happening delivered five perfect albums from the mid-eighties to 1992, five raw, yet childish pieces of art in the sonic world of lo-fi.
The band has a very distinctive sound, due to the thrift-store guitar and maracas, the heavy repetitive drum action, as well as the deep, droning baryton voice of Calvin Johnson, Sub Pop fanzine then record label creator.
Their last album, You Turn Me On (1992, K/Sub Pop records) is probably their most felicitous, mixing their debut's raw energy as the hit in the head song Teenage Caveman with far more elaborate material such as the 9 minute-long Godsend or the aerial Sleepyhead (a personal favorite) both sung by Heather Lewis, featuring multitrack recording, which is at odds with their usual style, though it is pure bliss.
Teenage Caveman - Beat Happening
Godsend - Beat Happening
Sleepyhead - Beat Happening
in Beirut, a band was born a few years ago: The Incompetents, their debut was highly influenced by Beat Happening, mostly due to Serge Yared's voice, resembling Calvin Johnson's. You can listen to them them here
Yesterday afternoon, the record shopkeeper handed me a cardboard box, the size of a 12" record sleeve, with a look on his face implying that he knows. he knows. he knows about MUSIC's unconditional love for The Smiths and wanted me to listen to this little gem he received in the morning.
Browsing through the colorful sleeves as if nothing had happened, I eagerly wait for the turntable to be free.
Inside the cardboard boy was a black and white 12" cover of The Smiths's (as I predicted) I Started Something I couldn't Finish, which is not the interesting part, so I flip the record and past Pretty Girls Make Graves is a superb version of Some Girls are Bigger then Others, recorded live in London in '86. Apparently it was the only time this song was performed. I thank the guy behind the counter and pay for the music. leave.
This take on the song is mellower, almost bossa, and sounds like a Cherry Red Record production of that era, and it is way superior to the recorded version on The Queen is Dead.
Some Girls are Bigger than Others (live '86) - The Smiths
