1994
BAD 4004 - Red House Painters / Shock Me
Released February 28 1994
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Despite having a title track by Kiss, this mid-career EP displays a confident, introspective Red House Painters seemingly influenced by a parallel world where Nick Drake shoegazed it up with Ride or Chapterhouse. Somehow, it's quietly splendid. Both "Sundays and Holidays" and "Three-Legged Cat" take the plaintive, solo-acoustic work of a haunted troubadour without once sounding folksy or trite. Even the cover title track sounds just bridled enough to stun fans of both Kiss and Red House Painters alike (Mark Kozelek would later repeat this strategy on his debut album, Rock 'N Roll Singer). Most EPs are nugatory, contract-stalling diversions, yet this mini-release is simply essential -- in both senses of the words. - Dean Carlson, All Music Guide
CAD 4005 - Lisa Germano / Happiness
Released April 11 1994
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On 1993's Happiness, Lisa Germano delivered on the promise that her debut On the Way Down from the Moon Palace suggested she had. Both more ambitious and more accessible than her first album, Happiness swaths her ethereal-yet-earthy melodies in a rich, shimmering production courtesy of Malcom Burn. Originally released by Capitol, 4AD re-released the album once Germano switched labels; the label's head, Ivo Watts-Russell, remixed certain tracks like the folky dream pop of "Destroy the Flower" and the scathing "Sycophant," bringing out the songs' melancholy, wistful tendencies. However, even the Capitol version of Happiness has plenty of both of those qualities. Just as Germano mixes the delicate with the down-to-earth in her music, she uses her fragile voice to express uncomfortable, sad, and occasionally funny sentiments, as on the bitchy, jaded "Bad Attitude," where she sings "You wish you were pretty/But you're not/Ha ha ha" with equal amounts of cynicism and idealism. With "The Dresses Song," she turns what would be a flirty pop song in anyone else's hands into an ambivalent compliment: "You look at me so fragile/You make me think about nothing/It feels so good like that." Happiness also expands Germano's musical palette, ranging from jangly pop like "Puppet" and "Energy," to the brooding, droning rock of the title track and "Everyone's Victim," to the haunting, proto-trip-hop instrumental "Miamo-Tutti" (named for one of Germano's cats). The spooky, vulnerable final song "The Darkest Night of All" is a forerunner of the dark, riveting territory she'd cover on Geek the Girl; as a whole, Happiness finds Germano moving toward a remarkable emotional honesty, which makes the album all the more captivating. - Heather Phares, All Music Guide
DAD 4009 - Frank Black / Teenager of the Year
Released May 23 1994
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A sprawling double album, Frank Black's Teenager of the Year builds on the clever, carefully crafted pop he forged on his solo debut and moves even farther away from the Pixies' sound. It feels like the album Black wanted to make since Bossanova: "Whatever Happened to Pong?" and "Thalassocracy" are a one-two blast of energetic fun, but the tight songwriting and detailed arrangements on the strummy "Headache" and gentle, piano-driven "Sir Rockaby" are more interesting. Despite its 22-song length, most of Teenager of the Year's tracks are keepers; the first nine rank among Black's catchiest songs with or without the Pixies. "I Want to Live on an Abstract Plain" and "The Vanishing Spies" mix sweet straightforward melodies with spacy keyboards, and Black delivers a creative love song in "Speedy Marie"; the first letter of each line in the song's second half spells out his girlfriend's name. The driving, anthemic "Freedom Rock" is one of the album's more ambitious tracks, along with the catchy, educational "Ole Mulholland," a musical history lesson about William Mulholland, the developer and planner of Los Angeles' municipal water system. Teenager's beginning is so consistent, it's not surprising that its second half isn't quite as essential, but it's still interesting. The spacy, ska-tinged "Fiddle Riddle," the cryptic "Superabound," and the sprightly final track "Pie in the Sky" -- which sounds strangely like a punk version of Gary U.S. Bonds' hit "A Quarter to Three" -- all add to the album's individuality. Even less-developed songs like "Fazer Eyes" and "The Hostest with the Mostest" are still worthwhile. Though his later albums took a sparer, simpler approach, Teenager of the Year's ambition and quirkiness begin Black's evolution into a cult artist who makes the music he wants to, regardless of whether or not it's fashionable. - Heather Phares, All Music Guide
CAD 4011 - Lush / Split
Released July 01 2004
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Entire albums spent exploring the depths of the various nasty things surrounding romantic relationships were nothing new by the mid-'90s, but the vaguely cinematic and slightly conceptual Split is something more. Perhaps it's the manner in which each distinctive song manages to melt into the next. Or maybe it's the across-the-board improvements over Spooky knows just what to do with the band's elements, adding grace and balance that no other could previously achieve. Kudos as well to a bang-up job by mixmaster . Most knew they were capable of more after the decent but flawed record, but it's doubtful many could have predicted something this thoroughly wonderful and varied. Throughout, Lush sounds confident and downright muscular, as opposed to the feathery wisps of earlier material that could be knocked down with the slightest of breezes. Miki Berenyi's high-heaven vocals have increased range, power, and presence. Chris Acland's drums propel the proceedings more than before, perhaps pushed into better realms by new bassist Phil King. Producer Mike HedgesAlan Moulder. It's an ardent roller coaster ride, centered around the lengthy mourners "Desire Lines" (oddly a single) and "Never-Never," which clock in at eight minutes apiece. Berenyi effectively conveys the resigned and soul-deadened nature of the lyrics. "Blackout" and "Hypocrite" prove the band's ability to be more assaultive, laying the foundation for their sound on Lovelife. Through breezy pop ("Lit Up"), brief shards of electrocuting dread ("Invisible Man"), and tales of obsessive voyeurism ("Starlust"), Split touches on most forms of emotional turbulence. Not necessarily a comeback but certainly a legitimizing stunner, the record prevented the band from being lost amidst the bunker of form-over-function dream pop bands. Split shattered every negative aspect of those failed acts with flying colors. A fantastic record within any realm. - Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
BAD 4012 - The Breeders / Head to ToeReleased July 1994
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The last new Breeders studio recording for eight years -- their comeback effort, Title TK, wouldn't appear until 2002 -- the three-song "Head to Toe" 7" was produced by Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis, also the subject of the set's Sebadoh cover, "The Freed Pig." According to legend, when the Breeders began playing Lou Barlow's poison-pen classic in the studio, Mascis didn't even recognize the song and insisted the band record it; Kim Deal's vocals lack the vitriol and pity of Barlow's original, but the Breeders' version is compact and explosive, and indeed all three songs here capture a punk-inspired aggression further explored on Deal's Amps project. "Head to Toe" is the sole original, a wonderfully primitive sonic whiplash; rounding out the single is a rendition of Guided by Voices' "Shocker in Gloomtown." - Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
CAD 4014 - Pale Saints / Slow Buildings
Released August 29 1994
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Anyone arguing the case that the Pale Saints were the sole vision of Ian Masters was pretty much silenced when he left the group. Masters might have said some misleading things to the press but, as it turned out, his mates had a great deal of artistic input. That's probably what led to his departure. Wanting to do things more his way -- abandon drums, screw with song structures, experiment like a mad scientist, etc. -- he split. Thanks to Masters' tales of artistic control, many were surprised to see the band continue. Meriel Barham took over all vocal duties, and Colleen Browne was brought in on bass. Yet Slow Buildings doesn't do much to dissuade listeners from the general opinion that Masters was the band's creative center. Though containing a couple excellent songs (the breezy, Breeders/Lush-like "Angel" and "Under Your Nose," the sleepy "Fine Friend"), Slow Buildings sinks under the weight of lengthy dirges that don't stick and general overindulgence. Five tracks clock in at over six minutes; rather than concocting lovely mood setters or dynamic epics, the material is "just there" and fails to stimulate. Some ugly guitar fireworks don't mesh (like the Skynyrd-ish solo in "Gesture of Fear"), and there are no less than a handful of other instances where one loses sight of where the band's coming from. Program out some of the clutter, and there's a decent 35- to 40-minute record here, although still not on the level of the band's prior works. Credit the Pale Saints for remaining creative and prolific in the wake of a key member's departure, but there's little denying the failure of Slow Buildings. The discomforts of blandness? Quite possibly. Advice: no one hoping to like this record should listen to Lush's Split within the same month; the similarly formatted and styled record completely belittles Slow Buildings in every respect. - Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
CAD 4017 - Lisa Germano / Geek the Girl
Released October 25 1994
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With 1994's Geek the Girl, Lisa Germano found the perfect balance of her work's inherent contrasts. On songs like "My Secret Reason," soft, intricate arrangements surround her raw, whispery vocals and unflinching lyrics, making it even easier for them to get unsettlingly close to you. A largely autobiographical album about a girl's emotional and sexual coming of age, each of Geek the Girl's songs -- particularly the title track -- fairly tremble with awkward sadness and self-discovery. Shimmering, hesitant songs like "Trouble" sound like they might float off the album, but Germano's delivery of lyrics like "Little by little you touched my heart/ Where they had touched it too" gives them a delicate determination. Geek the Girl also braves the uglier possibilities of adolescent girlhood, whether it's rape ("Cry Wolf") or growing up too fast ("Sexy Little Girl Princess"). The album's centerpiece, "... A Psychopath," inspired by Germano's own experiences with a stalker, mixes excerpts of a 911 caller confronting an intruder, Germano's deadpan delivery of lyrics like "A baseball bat beside my bed/You win again/I am alone /And paralyzed" and brooding, scraping violins. Geek the Girl never feels whiny, thanks to Germano's abstract lyrics and the album's clever structure: snippets of whimsical Italian folk tunes bookend Geek the Girl's darkest, most intense moments, offering a tiny bit of comic relief. Similarly, "Cancer of Everything," a harshly funny cry for attention, borrows Happiness's ironic humor. Hypnotic instrumentals like "Phantom Love" and "Just Geek" also provide respites from the album's wrenching emotions, but songs like "...Of Love and Colors" and "Stars" end the album with something more important: hope. Geek the Girl's brave whispers hit on more emotional truths than the self-important screams of Germano's mid-'90s, women-in-rock contemporaries. - Heather Phares, All Music Guide
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