Coursing Through The Wires #17 -- Request Lines Are Open
A little while back, Jon visited me in DC and was somewhat surprised to see that I still had a copy of a demo tape from Fudge, the one-time indie pop stars of Richmond, VA. Andrew Beaujon has already written about Fudge far better than I ever could, so I'll jump straight to the payoff... one never-released track from that demo, plus my favorite Fudge song (from the Simple Machines "Neapolitan Metropolitan" 3x7" set) and one tune from a "precursor" to Fudge called Engine No. 9.
- Fudge - Do I?
- Fudge - Montpelier Train Station 1934
- Engine No. 9 - Waterfall
Continuing with the "fuzz-pop-inspired moments of the early 1990s" ...
- Hum - Pewter
Part of the Champaign/Urbana, IL scene, Hum spun its underlying pop sensibilities into loud, crunchy rock -- a direction that Fudge sadly missed with the fuzz-sludge of Southside Speedway (named for an actual short-track raceway in Richmond). On its early releases on the 12 Inch label, Hum was a poor man's Smashing Pumpkins, at least back in the days before Billy Corgan lost his mind and decided orchestral double albums and a video where he looks like Uncle Fester were a good idea.
Yes, "Pewter" is a prime example of "dynamic" rock music, a genre also typified (in ridiculous manner) by a promo sticker declaring the record to be "slow and interesting." It truly did bring down the house live, second only to the subsequent (and similarly-paced) alt-radio hit "Stars" -- transcending the cliches and reaffirming the prospect of being emotional but not "emo."
---------------------
And yes, the request lines really are open -- not that anyone reading this likely knows the contents of my collection, but there are probably suggestions that spring from what I've previously offered or talked about... the comments are always open.
Thank you. Increases my need to find my "box of tapes" at my parents.
Okay, I have to throw this one out there, do you have My Favorite's Brighton Riot cassette (1992)?
I just shipped about 500 pounds of cassettes and albums cross country thanks to people like you and Jon. Grrrrrr. Including that Neopolitan Metropolitan comp. That was actually a very fun pain in the butt compilation to include in the database management project I did for school last quarter. Three different colored 7"s in a set with a booklet and ice cream spoon.
Ah, you'd prefer an astronaut...
Court
Man, I forgot all about "Slow and Interesting Rock" as a genre. Your wizardry of WPRB esoterica is truly dizzying, my old friend.
Alright, I got a request for you:
"Sistahood and Guppy" by Juliana Luecking from one of the Wordcore singles.
Batting one-for-two in the requests department...
... and Mr. Lupica is the winner. Honestly, I didn't even remember I had that single until I went to the boxes (and had to search twice -- once in the split-single section since I could only remember the Boy/Girl entries, then under "L" for Luecking). I will probably expand the scope a little when I get to that post, since "Follow Misty, Follow" is too good to leave in the shadows.
Courtney, I don't think I'd heard of "My Favorite" until your request... looks like that's my loss (based on a quick online search). And even if I did prefer the astronauts, I still would have posted "Pewter" instead -- one of my personal rules is not to post from CD. (I have others to come in my long-delayed "justifications for MP3" post... but those legalish essays are hard to write without a decent uninterrupted block of time.)
I understand the shipping dilemma, though... packing and hauling my record collection is always the worst part of moving. Mike has helped me a couple times (and I returned the favor at least once back in the Hoboken days).