May 2002 • Rockbites Alternative Daily
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The world according to Kill Rock Stars 9 May 2002
On Tuesday, Olympia Washington indie label Kill Rock Stars (perhaps best known for putting out product by fem-punk trio Sleater-Kinney) released for the US an essential document of cutting edge alternative pop, the 45 track, double CD set titled Fields And Streams. The album’s a super entertaining introduction not only to 45 very cool bands, artists, & one-off associations; but to a slew of vital but lesser-known indie labels (on which those acts appear) including Initial, Inconvenient Press, GSL, Tigerstyle, Swami, Slumberland, Troubleman Unlimited, Peekaboo, and Wicked Witch. Extra sweet: every one of the tracks is previously unreleased. So Fields And Streams could still interest those whose collection already includes stuff from, say, Bangs, Beehive And The Barracudas, Comet Gain, The Lost Sounds, The Mooney Suzuki, Quasi, Stereo Total, and Two Ton Boa—all represented here. This double album, without a single track of filler, by my reckoning, is a total breath of fresh air, sight for sore eyes, and poison-antidote for what Clear Channel Communications, Universal Music, and other megalithic marketing mechanisms work so hard to cram down our poor little throats. Buying Fields And Streams is a convenient, non-violent, and thoughtful way to just say “Fuck ’em!” The set leans pretty far toward female rock, with 37 of the 45 bands all-female or fronted by women. And unless you’ve got an exceedingly eclectic taste, you probably won’t dig every song. Styles range from pre-punk girl-band garage (The Coolies) to twee-noise (The Aislers Set) to cinematic punk à la Magazine (The Lost Sounds) to a Swedish take on Radiohead-like slo-core (Industrial Skyline) to angular no-wave (Dada Swing) to pure fun (Stereo Total) to experimental minimalism (Mecca Normal)... whew, and this only touches on 'side one' of disc one. The liner notes include label, Website, and email info for most of the bands. So Fields And Streams can also be your starting point for lots of learning. If you tend to gag on mass-market, chain-FM cat food... but savor tasty, punk-centric, non-mainstream college-radio cuisine, then dinner’s served. Five bites out of five. Rockbites ratings 5: life changing, 4: stunning, 3: captivating, 2: amusing, 1: annoying. | CD from Amazon US | | CD from Kill Rock Stars | | Kill Rock Stars | | top of page | |
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