ARTIST:.......My Friend George
TITLE:........Born in the U.S.A.
LABEL:........Morningside
GENRE:........Lo-Fi
BITRATE:......VBRkbps / 44,1Khz / Joint-Stereo
SOURCE:.......CDDA
TRACKS:.......14
SIZE:.........53,5 MB
RELEASE YEAR: 2005
RIP DATE:.....Aug-23-2005
T R A C K L I S T
--------------------
01. Marmelade Likes Me 02:24
02. Boris Karloff 03:04
03. Erispin's Comeback 01:54
04. Happy Tuna 02:43
05. A Man of Happy Solutions 02:19
06. Dump the Hero 02:39
07. A River Underneath 02:02
08. Tupelo 02:47
09. I Wanna Know About Your Boyfriends 02:31
10. Take it to the Mountain 02:54
11. Troubadours Invented Love 02:02
12. Don't Take Your Love Outta Town 03:21
13. Moses 02:46
14. This Party Sucks! 02:23
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Total 35:49 min
R E L E A S E N O T E S
-------------------------
Sometime in 1992: a confused kid at 16 stands in a record shop, with
a copy of Pavements öSlanted and Enchantedö in his hands. There was
no way of telling what this record was all about, or even who played
on it, and the song titles were written in a messy blur. But hey, it
was standing where someone always used to put the cool records! The
record sounded crazy - a singer who sang as if he wasnÆt even trying,
incomprehensible lyrics, it sounded as if it was recorded in a bin,
and many a times as if the musicians werenÆt even playing the same
song. That record made me believe that even I could be in a band. It
was all about cool sounds and good melodies, and not so important if
you actually were good at playing an instrument or not. For me it was
the dawn of lo-fi as we know it.
Mid-ninties (in Denmark): Ah, Ætis was the time of the gloriously
crap and ridiculous bandnames: Dizzy Miss Lizzy, Psyched up Janis,
Passion Orange, Kinky Boot Beast (sic!). Lousy hairdoes, grungy music
was what it was all about, and didnÆt the kids just love it. Amidst
all of this My Friend George started releasing cassettes of pop gems,
distorted guitar and it was great lo-fi, that to this day stands as
some of the best music made in Denmark ever. Put one of the tapes in
a player, and fall in love with striking songs like öHollywood Hunkö,
öGirls Love Rallieö and öMeet Me With A Smileö. My Friend George
alone were the only real purveyors of true lo-fi, why they were bound
to be misunderstood or just ignored by most people, who were more
into stupid bands. This didnÆt stop My Friend George from their
heroic project to continue doing their own music in their own way.
Two fabulous seven inches followed.
öThe Dark Agesö: The picture now fades into an office somewhere in
London or New York where music journalists are hard at work
unravelling new hip stuff for you to spend money on. Somewhere along
the line lo-fi became a word describing a whole lot of things and
nothing. Maybe it got used up, just like fashion and trends get used
up, and apperently some people treat music and bands this way (àand I
hate you for it). Many switched from their guitars to samplers, or
got into noodling so called öpostrockö or electronica. Everything
became a bit boring. I thought I saw sad faces everywhere. Noone
seemed to care very much for bands like Grifters, Refrigerator,
GuvÆner & Archers of Loaf anymore, not that I know if they ever had.
When it gets cold and rough the only right thing to do is to dwell or
disappear into great records from the past, and I like to think that
thatÆs maybe what My Friend George did as well. I guess good music
will never die, no matter what it will prevail.
Circa Now: Good news is that there is a lot of great lo-fi bands
around right now all over the world. In Denmark the return of lo-fi
is heralded by the new album by My Friend George û öBorn in the USAö.
It has only been about ten years on its way, but itÆs been worth the
wait. The timing is absolutely right, since bands who have a kinship
with the bandÆs music, are popping up everywhere and making
themselves remarkably felt on the Danish underground indie scene.
Bands like û Kings of Crayon, Me and the Goblins, Heavenly Transistor
& I thought you had a Racecar, to name some of them. The album will
make you giddy of joy, and it is a very passionate record that
bubbles over with amazing tunes. öBoris Karloffö with its bouncing
bassline blasts along sounding like a Swell Maps getting into sixties
girlgroups. öA River Underneathö is so achingly lonely and earnest,
in a way I doubt others than Jonathan Richman and Lemonheads have
touched upon, but is in fact a cover version of Price Pearlman û the
musical genius û and in many senses û an inspiration and guru for the
band. There is even an excercise in art school postpunk called öTake
It To The Mountainö, which with its rollicking drive sounds a long
lost track by Wire or Au Pairs. In öDonÆt Take Your Love Outta Townö
we even get a boozy late night club critter ditty in the spirit of
The Replacements. The tunes are wistful, but always catchy and
engaging, as in for example the marvelous powerpop eloquence of öThis
Party Sucks!ö & öDump The Heroö.
It is never to late to discover a new favourite band. Take part in
the cult of My Friend George. They have the courage to be themselves,
which is a rather unusual thing. Dedication and passion is more
important than öwankingö by showing off advanced technical skills.
Their music can not be tied up to any fad or trend, it is honest and
loveable music that will make you feel good about yourself. You can
tell they love music, and you should love them for that.
Lo-fi is back. This record shines like a sunrise.
http://www.morningsiderecords.dk/reviews/bjorn_born.asp
http://www.morningsiderecords.dk/releasesdetail.asp?releaseid=50