Episode Four: Uneaten Cupcakes

No-Hit Wonders

This Episode was one we envisioned from the start, sharing hidden treasures--bands we adore but who never never became popular or had any hits. As always, chits were drawn, vinyl was unsheathed, and drinks were poured.

(Note: We were looking for obscure bands and the group delivered. Many tracks were completely unavailable/unfindable.)

Jeff started us out with a vinyl copy of Ozo's Anambra. He talked about how YouTube has become a useful tool for hearing hard to find music. This is a tune he found, shared by a family member of one of the original band members. He found the vinyl somewhere in the deep south side.


Steven was up next playing Psychic TV's The Orchids. This track generated much excitement, both for itself and also for how different it was from other material by the same artists, a married couple who-Steven claims-are undergoing sexual transforming surgery so that they are both identically gender neutral.


Gary was up next and played a track by local hero Jen Porter, who has played at a number shows for The Flesh Hungry Dog Show. Gary complained bitterly about the PlayStation processing of the sound. Jeff and Erik chimed in and a brief discussion ensued regarding processing and compression of digital music. We all loved the range of Ms Porter and the slow transitioning of the song.


Frank was up next, discussing the difficult choice he made when he left New York City to explore the robust music scene of the northern Midwest. He began seeing a few groups live frequently, including The Pernice Brothers. Here they are with Monkey Suit.


Erik was up next, playing a track from Buke and Gass's new album Riposte titled Sleep Gets Your Ghost.

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Chits were re-drawn and Jeff led round two with The Bloods' Button Up...


Frank continued his narrative of the live music scene in Minnesota and Wisconsin in the late nineties with The Pulsars' Silicon Teens. (This live performance was the only version of the song that was findable.)


Gary played The Teddybears' Different Sound. (The only complete versions of it on the internet are live. This seems to be the best of them.)


Erik played The Golden Palominos' I'm Not Sorry. A track that showcased the bands knack for mixing the desolate with the sumptuous. (unfindable)


Steven played 1000 Homo DJ's Supernaut, leading everyone to reminisce about the late 80's/early 90's Industrial scene in Chicago.

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Round three began with Steven playing The Antler's Sylvia. (This is a poor copy of the track, but it's the only copy available.)


Gary followed with Goodnight Moon by Shivarez. (This copy cuts out right at the end, but it's so good, you'll enjoy the two and a half minutes you get.)


Frank continued to walk us through that crazy northern midwest music scene with The Hang-up's Greyhound Bus. (unavailable)

Erik was getting ready to go next, when Gary commented that one of the unifying features of these songs is that they don't have immediately grabbable hooks. This led Erik to scurry, making a last second change in his song choice to Catfish Haven's All I Need is You. Oddly, since the song is repetitious but without a true hook.

(The song, like many from this episode, is unfindable. This is is Crazy for Leaving, off the same album)

Jeff followed with Old Man by New Sin.

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As the evening came to a close Francisco blew out the lights and turned on the laser show, while Jeff played I just Wouldn't by his old band Viewfinder. (unavailable)

Steven played Chariot by Page France.


And Erik closed the night with Creeper Lagoon. A band that was named Spin Magazine's best new artist in 1998, then went nowhere and slowly disintegrated. This track, So Little to Give, was off their final EP.

Episode Three: Smells Like Popcorn

For Episode Three, the theme was imaginary soundtracks; music that sounded cinematic or told compelling narratives. The food was also theater themed, with hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, and a variety of movie candies to snack on.

Hassey drew first and continued his sure footed selecting. He pointing out that some of the best use of music in movies is during montages. He played three soundtrack montage numbers over the course of the evening, the first was for the classic self-improvement montage, Edwin K Starr's 25 miles playing over scenes of studying, taking classes and jogging.


Next up was Erik, who introduced Arcade Fire's My Body is a Cage as an overlay to the character who thinks he has been betrayed and turns on the main characters, undoing every good that they've been working towards. The song drips with pathology and obsession, building and repeating as the character's ugly plan plays out.


Reents was up next and told the story of being in love in a 'non-reciprocal arrangement.' He was at the record store, realizing he needed to get out of the relationship when this song started playing...


Francisco introduced The Decemberists' Hazards of Love, hoping for a film version to flesh out the evocative images it created.


Connors closed the first round with Frank Sinatra's It's a Lonesome Old Town. The music creates an atmosphere appropriate for a noir film. Most of us found the dissonance in the instrumentation particularly evocative.

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Reents opened round two with a weekend in LA where The Dropkick Murphys' Dirty Glass seemed to play all weekend long.


Francisco followed with R.E.M's Belong, which he listened to over and over while reading The Watchman. In the way a mind puts things together and finds useful connections and analogs,the cryptic, rambling lyrics informed and illustrated his reading.


Connors played a rarity next, one of the few songs written by Tennessee Williams. Jeri Southern singing Cabin.


Erik played Blood Bank by Bon Iver without introduction.


Hassey was next with a funeral montage song, Los Flores Negras. He was unsure who played it, so this might be a different version than the one played last night. This one is by Banda Elastica.

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Hassey started round three with The La's There She Goes to accompany his montage of funny, terrible dates.


Erik thought that Field Music's A House is not a Home would make a good opening credit song for a film that pretended to be a romantic comedy, only to take some dark turns halfway through, using Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things as a model.


Francisco introduced Belle & Sebastian's Lazy Line Painter Jane, enjoying the crowded look of 15 Scotts on a tiny stage when seeing them play live...


Connors closed the night with 101 Strings Twilight on the Mall. The song was on a loop when he worked at the mall and he'd listen to it over and over as he was sweeping up his section during the close. The song served as a soundtrack for that time in his life, in the way that such songs do...

Episode Two: Split Milk

Breakup Songs

Due to starting this evening with several rusty nails, this will simply be referred to as "The Lost Episode."

Episode One: Covered Dish

Better Versions of Famous Songs

Well pleased, I was with the inaugural event. Here is the play by play of how the evening went.





After lots were drawn, Justin was first up for round one. He choose Isreal Kamakawiwo'ole's ukulele, Hawaiian infused Somewhere Over the Rainbow. This was a great song to start us out as it launched a conversation about the distinction between a cover and a standard. There was much talk about what criterion to use, however everyone agreed that this was a cover for two chief reasons. First, that the original was so closely tied to Judy Garland that it was impossible to hear the song without thinking of her version. Second, he reworked the composition significantly and, in the parlance of American Idol, "made the song his own."



John R was next with a version of Tom Wait's Ruby's Arms. Megan Mullally and Supreme Music Program, which she did prior to her involvement with TV's Will & Grace. I really enjoyed this song and still find it odd that more people don't cover Tom Wait's heartbreaking, brilliant songs.


John H then stepped up with Mark Ronson's version of Radiohead's Just. Everyone loved this. Covers often slow things down and bring out the emotional elements of a song, but what I liked about this one is it emphasized its musical elements.



Jefferey followed with the Bobby Hebb classic Sonny, performed by Bonny M in all their vinyl, disco glory. All of spent the evening waiting for someone to top the black lesbian ménage à trois of this album cover. No one did.


Steven played This Mortal Coil's version of Another Day. He also gave a nice history of 4AD, a label I believed to be defunct, but have since realized is still quite active; The National is currently signed to them. We then all got a little nostalgic for Liz Fraser's voice.



Frank impressed everyone with Jonathan Coulton's Baby Got Back.



John C played Peggy Lee's version of The Carpenters Superstar. His introduction of the song was quite apt. In the Carpenters song, the singer conveys a starry eyed naivety that seems to hope for another chance, while Peggy's has the world wearing voice that conveys the knowledge there will not be a repeated night of love.


Erik closed round one with Ted Leo covering Since U Been Gone (with a little of The Yeah Yeah Yeah's Maps thrown in).

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We were in full swing at this point and everyone (save John H) brought at least two songs, so we opted for a second round. Lots were again cast/drawn/whatever, and Erik went first this time, opening with Tom Wait's desperately hopeful version of The West Side Story classic, Somewhere.


By this point, this get a little foggy, but I'm pretty sure it was Steven, who went with Vampire Weekend's inspired version of Fleetwood Mac's Everywhere. (That Everywhere followed Somewhere was either coincidence, or Steven was slyly besting me.)



Justin played Lee Dewyze's version of U2's Beautiful Day.


Jeffrey, again pulling out the vinyl, played the Zombies doing Summertime. Again, bringing up the difference between performing a standard and covering one. Though by this point, we'd gone through the wine and had brought out the sipping rum so the conversation was perhaps less articulate.


John C fretted a bit about his next choice, but settled on Oasis's Wonderwall performed by Paul Anka. He discussed how Anka played tons of songs, trying to find songs that were actually solid songs for his album Rock Swings, so that it would be more that just a novelty album.



For his second round pick, Frank choose Tracy Ulman's They Don't Know About Us, originally done by the tragic and beautiful Kirsty MacColl.


John R closed out the evening with Johnny Cash's Personal Jesus. A version so brilliant, most everyone wanted to expunge every other version from our brain.

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Next month:

Episode Two: Spilt Milk

Breakup Songs

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