Do you remember this?
Swag's time in the spotlight was all too fleeting, not to mention that said spotlight never really got above 25 watts, anyhow.
Here was a power pop "supergroup" consisting of members, official or honorary, of Cheap Trick, Wilco, The Mavericks, and Sixpence None The Richer, as well as Doug Powell, Todd Rundgren (who overdubbed Trick bassist Tom Petersson's bass parts for a re-release when Cheap Trick's management decided to give a shit and demand all Cheap Trick memorabilia be removed from the album cover, as well as any of Petersson's involvement), Bill Lloyd, and producer Brad Jones.
That was from something I posted in 2011. You can read all of that post HERE.
There was one small detail from that post that caught the eye of reader Cryptique.
I've been obsessed ever since, especially knowing they recorded a cover of The Who's "Early Morning Cold Taxi" for a still unreleased tribute. (Please! Find that for me.)
Well, Mr Cryptique, you've outdone yourself.
Here's what I found in my in-box:
Put
together 12 years ago and gathering cobwebs ever since, The New Sell Out
is finally out! Dedicated to Rick McBrien, the soul of Futureman.
Thanks to every contributing artist and everyone who worked on this!
Full liner notes and artwork included in download.
P.S. Like the original, these tracks connect with each other. For best results, please burn a -gapless- cd!
P.S. Like the original, these tracks connect with each other. For best results, please burn a -gapless- cd!
credits
released 28 May 2012
The New Sell Out – Futureman RecordsReading like a power pop fan's wet dream with performances by Brendan Benson, The Shazam, Mitch Easter, The Grip Weeds, and of course SWAG, this long lost tribute to my favorite record by The Who finally sees the light of day.
FULL TRACK LIST
Monday – Mike Giblin
1. Armenia City In The Sky - Paranoid Lovesick
Whoopie - Mike Giblin
2. Heinz Baked Beans - The Andersons
More Music – Cockeyed Ghost
3. Mary Anne With The Shaky Hands - The Phenomenal Cats
Premier Drums – Barely Pink
Bah Bah – Ed James
4. Odorono- The Atomic Numbers
Smooth Sailing - Brendan Benson
5. Tattoo - The Jigsaw Seen
Church of Your Choice - Linus Of Hollywood
6. Our Love Was - Splitsville
Big L - Ed James
Rotosound Strings - Mitch Easter
7. I Can See For Miles - The Shazam
Charles Atlas - John P. Strohm
8. I Can't Reach You - Chris von Sneidern
9. Medac - Brendan Benson
10. Relax - Cloud Eleven
Rotosound Strings (demo) - The Jellybricks
11. Silas Stingy - Zumpano
12. Sunrise - Willie Wisely
13. Rael - Myracle Brah
Top Gear - Fundaro & Moll
14 Commercial Break
Pt 2. Welcome - Rodney Bingenheimer
Radio London - The Rubinoos
Pro-Stripe - The Breetles
Great Shakes - The Magic Christians
15. Glittering Girl - The Flashing Lights
16. Commercial Break
Radio London - Double Naught Spies
Mullet Man - P. Hux
Gino's Hair Cappucino - DM3
17. Melancholia - The Grip Weeds
18. Commercial Break
Coke - Fundaro & Moll
Dr. Giggle's Ginsing Root - Devin Hill
Radio London - Roger McGuinn
John Mason - The Jellybricks
19. Jaguar - Jim Babjak's Buzzed Meg
20. Commercial Break
Radio London - The Masticators
Dizzy Mouse - The Masticators
Spaz Cola - Ed James
Radio London - The Merrymakers
21. Someone's Coming - The Pearlfishers
22. Commercial Break
Radio London - Bobby Sutliff
Coke - The Anderson Council
Yellow Pilsner - John McMullen
Radio London - The Chevelles
23. Early Morning, Cold Taxi - SWAG
24. Commercial Break
Radio London - Bingo Durango
Jock-A-Lot - The Popdudes
Top Popsicles - crash into june
Great Shakes - The Absolute Zeros
Radio London - Heavy Blinkers
25. Glow Girl - The Vandalias
Track Records - R. Stevie Moore
26. Bonus Track: Doctor, Doctor – Brendan Benson
Words fail me.
Thank you Cryptique and thank you Futureman Records.
Now go buy it HERE for a paltry sum of money, $7.
10 comments:
Listening to it now and really enjoying. I'm a sucker for these sorts of tribute/theme/covers albums but I'm not sure I understand why. Because they never outdo the original, of course (are there any examples to the contrary?). Best I can come up with is my geek fascination with knowing that musicians I dig revere the same music I do. Sal, others, your thoughts?
I think cover versions are an attraction because half the work is already done for you. You basically know what you're getting. But,there is great excitement in not knowing how you'e going to get it.
It's rare when a cover is better than an original. My fascination is a bit like what your saying, Jeff. When Todd Rundgren covers the Beach Boys or the Beatles, it's this great mix of what I love ahout all involved.
Bad examples are those Mojo discs, like the recent Pet Sounds redo. Just horrible misinterpretations by artists who have no clue. I don't doubt for a minute every artist on this "Sell Out" tribute LOVES The Who.
I'm just loving the fact that so many of my indie powerpop favorites are included: Mike Giblin is great as are the Vandalias and the Grip Weeds, and Splitsville, whose best of has been in regular rotation for two years, and Sal, I think I sent you some Willie Wisely cuts a month or so ago. He's terrific, funny as hell, too. Myracle Brah, Pearlfishers, the Rubinoos, Rodney Bingenheimer (the great DJ). Hell, these guys along with the others can cover Looking Glass's Greatest Hits and I'd be happy.
and just to respond to Jeff, to me a cover works most often when it's a daringly different take and yet still captures the spirit of the song. Two immediately come to mind: Stevie Wonder's joyous version (as it should be) of "For Once in My Life" and Joey Ramone's "What a Wonderful World." Until, Joey's version I'd never heard a single song ever recorded by Armstrong where I didn't prefer his take.
I think we could name many examples where an individual cover song is better than the original, even if it's uncommon. My comment was specifically referring to a cover version of an entire ALBUM. Obviously, we know that the "redo" of, say, London Calling can't possibly live up to the original, so why do we fall for these? Same applies to tribute albums to an individual artist - e.g. Chimes of Freedom or the Buddy Holly one, most recently. I think Sal has it right - there's something magical when musician's we love love the same music we do.
oh, gotcha. The one that comes to mind there was the smithereens note for note cover of Meet the Beatles. What was the point?
Great comments guys! Thanks so much for the post and the interest. Obviously I'm a bit biased (as I'm the one that put this together) but I'm sure hoping every ounce of this shows our total love for The Who Sell Out! And here comes the biased part...I honestly think some of these versions come VERY CLOSE to equaling the originals. (<- I so tempered that comment, I feel 20% more strongly than that, haha) It feels very good that this is finally out in ANY form, it needed to be heard!! And I totally agree about the Mojo discs, if we're lucky there might be one or two tracks worth listening to twice. The plus here for US is that one of your own(ME!)hand picked every band here and we all have amazing taste!
ironically, I need to correct the "personally hand picked" bit as I realized afterwards Chris Richards is the one who delivered SWAG! Thanks Chris!!
cryptique here. Glad to be of service. A friend and fellow Swag (& Who) fan pointed me to this compilation, and I was doing a little research on it when I turned up your previous post.
I bought Swag's album when it came out in '01 -- probably due to the Wilco connection, and/or because it was featured on the NotLame site -- and it's been among my favorites ever since. Having seen your request to find this previously lost song, I knew I had to pass the news on to a fellow fan.
I'm digging your site ... I'll have to start working my way through your archives.
Tom, a.k.a. cryptique
just heard this album, and it is very worthy of what is the band's best record. I really like the "extra" ads, very authentic and perfectly fitting in with the rest. A superb job all round. Congrats to everyone involved.
Post a Comment