- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
In 1981, The Clean's "Tally Ho!" single was the second release of the then nascent Flying Nun record label of New Zealand. This fact is largely responsible for establishing The Clean as the archetypes of the New Zealand/Flying Nun sound which sprung up mostly in the 1980's (and has persisted to the present). The sound was poppy, drony, distorted, melodic, tremulous, and brilliant. But as The Clean Anthology proves, the band did not just embrace this school of sound more fully than anyone else: they helped build it. Merge
Anthology compiles singles, albums, compilation tracks, and oddities from 1981-1996 onto two CDs. The only thing omitted is The Clean's most recent album, Getaway, from 2001 (a savvy omission as it is still easy to acquire, whereas much of the other music here is quite scarce). The first disc contains four EPs and four compilation/oddities tracks, while the second disc contains three full-length albums plus some outtakes. "Tally Ho!" begins Anthology rousingly, and I'll be damned if the first Modern Lovers album does not come to mind every time I hear this song. From there on out, each song will make you want to dance around your room, or stare lovingly, perhaps even leeringly, at the wall, or call a pal up and talk softly just so they can slightly hear the music in the background and unwittingly share your smile. Among the errata, the most memorable is the prudently cut "Ludwig," an outtake from the Modern Rock LP, which features subdued shouts and jamming as a bed for a faux-German accented rant about a man named Ludwig who has not only the good fortune of living in a castle but also the good grace of having Walt Disney visit and compliment his monolithic abode. The contrast between "Ludwig" and "Wipe Me, I'm Lucky," the next song and the first from the Unknown Country LP, is eyebrow-raising. At one moment, you have this entirely aberrational song with the German-American accentuation, and next you have a playfully plucked instrumental with New Agey vocal harmonizing that sounds like some lost Aboriginal tribe from New Zealand. I suppose "Ludwig" would have made a stark contrast anywhere, but here it seems particularly pronounced. The most telling aspect of the chronological ordering of these discs is that as time goes on, The Clean's sound gets cleaner. Drone and distortion is lost. Whether this is due to higher recording standards and better studios (Flying Nun claims that "Tally Ho!," The Clean's first single, was recorded for $60 on an 8-track home studio) or to the growth of the band's sound is something you are left to ponder. Answers could probably be culled from listening to the members' other musical projects which were born during The Clean's consistently intermittent existence. The Bats, Bailter Space, and The Great Unwashed are all good reference points as to how Robert Scott and David and Hamish Kilgour evolved outside of The Clean. What does abide in The Clean is their adherence to the spirit of the sound they created. Each song exhibits, to some degree, the angular sounds of England which The Clean imported and molded into their own particular brand of seminal post/art-punk, which in turn helped to nourish a healthy stock of New Zealand bands to follow. 
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/calexicofeast.jpg)
Though only 47 minutes long, Feast of Wirehas a sound so expansive, it's difficult to believe they packed so muchrichness into such a short span of time. The liner notes document theexhaustive list of instruments (and guest musicians!) present on thealbum. Calexico could no doubt persuade even the most jaded music snobthat originality and fresh ideas are still to be found within theoverwrought annals of indie rock.
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/common/images/covers/to60.jpg)
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](/../../../../brain/images/condoloresailors.jpg)
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/nadasurfletgo.jpg)
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/tempernavyblue.jpg)
Read More
- Michael Patrick Brady
- Albums and Singles
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/thermalsnoculture.jpg)
"An Endless Supply" keeps up the pace of the opening track, withHarris' voice sounding urgent while adhering to the catchy, sing-a-longmelody. "Capture with a Magnet" speaks of the power of a familiarattraction in a burst of adreneline.The final track, "Everything Thermals" violates the no-self-referencerule that the band declared just three songs earlier, while provingthat the rule existed for a good reason. Lyrics like "Everythingthermals / the come in four shades of purple / some are tight, somehave trousers" are just embarassing, and while it's not their strongestsong, it's probably good that it is here and not on an LP. The Thermalssound like a band that is having a good time, and their attitude isinfectious. 'No Culture Icons' is a snapshot of things to come, and itcan be expected that they are set to make music that's fun to jump upand down to.
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/blackfactionreworked.jpg)
Read More
- Michael Patrick Brady
- Albums and Singles
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/baptistgeneralsnosilver.jpg)
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/origamigalaktikacompassion.jpg)
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
The LTM label seems to have dedicated itself to reissuing work byFactory Records bands of the early 1980s who never quite became thenext New Order, Joy Division, or Happy Mondays. So far, they haveheroically compiled full CDs for bands who might only have had only one7" on Factory, or whose work might have been overshadowed by thedominating mythos of that label or of producer Martin Hannett. Lately,LTM has exhumed a band who were one of Factory's strangest signings, aDutch trio called Minny Pops. These two CDs comprise the group's secondLP, 'Sparks in a Dark Room' (here coupled with contemporaneous 7" anddemo material) and 'Secret Stories,' which is a collection of more 7"singles, demos, and excerpts from their third and fourth albums.
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/minnypopssparks.jpg)
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/minnypopssecret.jpg)
Read More