Be Prepared: Tiny Idols Vol. III, Transmissions From The Indie Underground 1991-1995 | 6 July

The rejuvenated Snowglobe Records returns next month with the third installment of its increasingly crucial Tiny Idols indie rarities compilations. And Vol. III is a doozy, featuring seminal tracks from important but under-appreciated acts including Small Factory, Poole, Fudge and The Coctails. The series is curated by our former Junkmedia colleague Mark Griffey, and based on the track listing he has certainly outdone himself once again. Tiny Idols Vol. III: Transmissions From The Indie Underground 1991-1995 will be released July 6 on Snowglobe Records, but you can already pre-order it at this link. Here is the full running order:

1. Sardina -- I'll Be Around
2. Small Factory -- What To Want
3. Vacation Bible School -- Sugar Juice
4. Hazeltones -- Delirious
5. The Coctails -- 2000
6. It Thing -- Send
7. Poole -- Loon
8. The Christines -- Too Close
9. HoneyBunch -- Endure Me
10. Witch Hazel -- Just Don't Try
11. Apollonia Heck -- Today is a Fine Day to Die
12. Radon -- Kibbles and Bits
13. Glue -- No Surprise
14. Honda -- Bruce Jenner
15. Zoom -- Balboa's Cannon
16. Zen Frisbee -- Crazy Steven
17. Baldo Rex -- The Girl With 10,000 Holes
18. Kicking Giant -- Satellite
19. Crayon -- Pedal
20. Her Tears -- Ultra Crush
21. Fudge -- Girlwish
22. Aleka's Attic -- Senile Felines

Today's Hotness: The Coctails, Los Campesinos, Ulrich Schnauss

>> Wha? Apparently defunct indie pop superlatives The Coctails are reuniting to perform at the group's former label's Sweet Sixteen party tonight; there are a few more details here at the Carrot Top Records site. Said party will occur both tonight and tomorrow at Chicago's The Hideout, and proceeds after expenses will benefit the Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis. To catch you up, The Coctails were Chicago pop icon Archer Prewitt's band prior to his joining Sam Prekop in The Sea And Cake. There is a very informative Wikipedia entry right here, and we highly recommend it to your attention. Most importantly, The Coctails released several wonderful records during its initial seven-year run between 1988 and 1995, the most wonderful perhaps being its self-titled set. That collection was released on CD in 1996 and opens with an amazing quartet of songs, "When I Come Around," "Circles," "City Sun" and "Cadali." Because it is one of our very favorites, here is "Cadali."

The Coctails -- "Cadali" -- The Coctails
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[buy Coctails records from Carrot Top right here]

>> Things we're not sure we knew about Cardiff, Wales-based indie pop septet Los Campesinos!' forthcoming sophomore set We Are Beatiful, We Are Doomed include: it will be released Oct. 27; it will not be promoted with any singles; it will have a single world-wide pressing and when it sells out it will be deleted; it will be packaged in a rectangular box; the box will also contain a DVD containing a self-made documentary of summer festival dates in Norway and Japan; the box will also contain a 30-page 'zine and exclusive poster. What's more, Los Campesinos! is touring the UK and Ireland in October with Times New Viking and No Age, and the three bands have created a web site at ShredYourFace.com that aspires to be the hub for all things related to the tour. Apparently there are myriad opportunities for fans to publish their own editorial and visual content to the site, and the site will also act as a clearinghouse for contests and insidery-information. Three tracks from We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed are already streaming at the band's MySpace dojo right here, including the surprisingly dense and glorious title track, so check 'em out.

>> Something else we didn't know: London-based label Independiente will make available Oct. 17 remastered and expanded versions of two records from electropop genius Ulrich Schnauss. Far Away Trains Passing By, originally released in 2001, will be packaged with a bonus disc, and 2003's A Strangely Isolated Place will include two bonus tracks. In addition to the physical articles, both sets will be available via the usual digital music storefronts. The reissue of Far Away Trains Passing By appears to have the very same track listing as the 2001 Domino issue in our collection, except the Independiente version contains one additional track on disc two, "A Million Miles Away." Disc two of that collection deserves special notice because it contains our all-time-favorite Ulrich Schnauss jam, "As If You've Never Been Away." The bonus tracks included with the reissue of A Strangely Isolated Place are two remixes by former Cocteau Twins guy Robin Guthrie for the tracks "Gone Forever" and "On My Own." This week Independiente issued the digital-only Schnauss EP Stars, and to celebrate all of this the label is letting fans download "A Letter From Home" from A Strangely Isolated Place for free, so have at it.

Ulrich Schauss -- "A Letter From Home" -- A Strangely Isolated Place [2008 Reissue]
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[pre-order Ulrich Schnauss records from Independiente right here]

Today's Hotness: Muxtape Numero Dos, Silver Jews, MySpace Music

>> New Muxtape "STEADY NOW DON'T FALL APART" up tonight here. Again, we were hugely frustrated by the amount of our digital collection that we ripped in AAC. We had really intended to start this mix off with "Cadali" by The Coctails, which is a truly unparalleled beauty of a pop song. But we didn't feel like re-ripping it. Well, now we're changing our mind, because it's really that good. Hold on. Sorry Bikini Kill's "For Tammy Rae," you just got bumped. Anyway, our notes are below.

1. The Coctails -- "Cadali" -- The Coctails
(makes us think of walking past the library and to WESU on a cold winter's day and realizing there's only so long you can ignore the elephant in the room)

2. California Snow Story -- "Suddenly Everything Happens" -- single
(immediately gripping, powerfully melancholy)

3. Barnabys -- "Gargamel" -- Jiffy Boy Records' 10 Cent Fix comp
(so many guitars, so much sitting with legs crossed knowing there's no real reason etc. etc. etc.)

4. Chapterhouse -- "Breather" -- Whirlpool
(sleeper track for us from one of the most important mix tapes we ever received, given to us by a guy who now owns sheep and doesn't really follow music anymore)

5. Daylight's For The Birds -- "To No One" -- Trouble Everyday
(pretty, cinematic, captivating singer)

6. Mobius Band -- "Frozen Lake In Unison" -- Three EP
(those early self-released EPs from Mobius Band are no joke. this song always makes our ears perk up when it shuffles into the mix)

7. Happy Mondays -- "Bob's Yer Uncle" -- Thrills, Pills and Bellyaches
(another classic mix tape cut from a tape received from a different guy who now lives in the middle of nowhere and doesn't really follow music anymore. this song distinguishes itself as being the only Happy Mondays track we enjoy. it occurs to us that the secret theme of this mix might be flute)

8. Jawbreaker -- "Rich" -- Hardcore Breakout USA
(we came to this band late, despite everyone raving in the '90s. we came to this song even later, but it is certainly one of Jawbreaker's best, right up there with "Chesterfield Kings")

9. Finger -- "Ship Full Of Holes" -- Jettison 18 single
(North Carolina act whose single we bought probably because of an ad in the back of Spin or maybe in a hard copy catalog from Alias or Merge or Jettison or Antenna or one of those Carolina labels. All of which reminds us we don't have any Connells in CD or digital form. We'll have to remedy that. This one's a pretty straight rocker, enjoyable nonetheless)

10. Portastatic -- "Look, Honey, Peaches" -- A Day In The Park compilation
(the epitome of sad, lovestruck Mac, in our opinion. Portastatic is too band-y and glossy for us nowadays, and whenever a new set comes out we long for more numbers like this and the stuff on Slow Note From A Sinking Ship)

>> Example of the commutative property of mathematics: we love Babar the Elephant; the cover of the forthcoming Silver Jews record has Babar on it; therefore we love the cover of the forthcoming Silver Jews record, which is titled Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea. Pantsfork has all the details here.

>> This Wired.com piece contains all the details about the planned MySpace Music service. And you know what? It all sounds boring. Perhaps if MySpace founder Chris DeWolfe offered more than the sort of boasts that a more critical reporter would not accept at face value. Wired touts the interview as "in-depth," but the piece reads more like an email interview conducted by an inexperienced blogger without the chutzpah to challenge DeWolfe's marketing-speak.