Albums With A Cult Following -- You and Only You

Well, I never see anyone else repping for GAF. Even the band hate it.

It's a flawed album but anything that ends with "Grind" has it over a sea of general mediocrity by most acts.

Human Switchboard got tons of press in the early 80s but yeah, they've been largely forgotten in the rediscovery sweepstakes. critics are fickle!

i bought that human switchboard album at a library sale when i was a kid and i don't think i listened to it much. which i still had it, cuz i'd probably like it more. they thank xgau on the back, don't they? yeah, they were definitely critic bait. not that there's anything wrong with that.

definitely listened to the teenage jesus EP and buzzcocks records i got at that same sale a whole bunch more. thanks, Jim Stockman, whoever you were! (he wrote his name on all his albums)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XcBeBwmYqBk/Rj5yMdspKTI/AAAAAAAAAHM/gkZMEo6GPRk/s320/cresta.jpg

fun fact: human switchboard's lead singer went on to be an A&R guy for epic and the president of hollywood records

I think I am going to change mine to "God Bless Tiny Tim". Just heard it the first time yesterday and I am head-over-heels and I don't know why!

Human Switchboard got tons of press in the early 80s but yeah, they've been largely forgotten

I don't think it's ever been released as a CD. If it was, it would spark a major resurgence (or maybe just a surgence) because it's so good.

They've got a massive presence on Youtube, though...

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=human+switchboard&aq=f

Wow, the Hollow Men!!! I have (and love) that album.

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/9221/1188118647conchettaweb.jpg

sweet, babyish, sparsely arranged jazz-pop that falls squarely in the Teresa Brewer camp. predates her role in Hawaiian Eye, her chart success with "Sixteen Reasons," and that kooky McCain scandal. do people's grandmas still listen to this?

not an album, really, but i am in love with this stuff by a Canadian bedroom DJ type who goes under the ridiculous moniker of "Villa Savoye." really smooth deep house shit that kills. posted some stuff on my blog a while back. got it from a guy who used to roadie with Excepter's ipod.

Sheep On Drugs, ... On Drugs. Their second album, which I don't think is quite as widely adored as their first.

unfun fact(from HS wiki page):He(Bob Pfeiffer) then went onto work for Epic records, eventually becoming president of Disney owned Hollywood Records before he was unceremoniously let go in the mid 90's. In 2006 he was indicted on one count each of witness intimidation and aiding and abetting wiretapping. He eventually plead guilty to wiretapping and admitted in federal court that he'd stalked and harassed an ex-girlfriend and was using speed during that time.

That's nuts. Maybe the lyrics of I Used To Believe In You were a precursor.

Crazy, but it sorta fits with the stalker-ish love songs.

Here's another record I just love to death. Everyone knows So Alone, but this is better. Who would have thought folk rock singer-songwriter Johnny could be so compelling? Makes you sort of hate the dude for wasting his talents so blatantly. Just beautiful guitar playing and singing on this.
http://www.thunders.ca/discs/hurtme1.jpg

Edward II. I don't own their earlier recordings billed as "...and the Red Hot Polkas," but the one I have ("Wicked Men") is an unusual mix of UB40 lite-reggae plus accordion that I really like a lot. Great live act.

Time for a revive...

Revolution 9, You Might As Well Live
Attacco Decente, The Baby Within Us Marches On
Breathless, Between Happiness and Heartache
Naked Lunch, This Atom Heart of Ours
Departure Lounge, Out of Here

I can't remember how I ever heard it in the first place, and probably just picked it up in a cut-out bin on a hunch, but The Dangtrippers' Days Between Stations was a righteous jangle-pop baptism for me in the early '90s. And while looking for a cover scan, I learned Zero Hour is re-releasing it this year (and their second album too, which I never heard...hooray!)

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oh crap, that's giant. sorry!

http://thevontrapps.noisychaos.com/images/Elysium-glisten150.jpg

Elysium - Glisten (1995)
Autumnal femme-vox dreampop on the Dewdrops label (run by Brant of the 4AD mailing list). Band later became The Von Trapps, whose EP never grabbed me.

Listening to this sample from the aforementioned album, there's a lot of Natalie Merchant in Elysium's mix of Cocteau guitars and melancholy.

That Elysium record sounds like the kind of thing I would really like, so thanks for the tip. Looks like a bugger to track down, though. No copies on ebay or discogs, nothing on what... Hmm, I like a challenge.

I should probably have added one-line reviews of my picks, so...

Revolution 9 – more or less a solo album by John Moore (JAMC, Black Box Recorder). Dark acoustic riffing, think Songs From A Room for the 90s.

Attacco Decente – hard-hitting leftie folk from Thatcher's Britain, heavy on the dulcimers.

Breathless – dreampop with vox by Dominic Appleton (This Mortal Coil).

Naked Lunch – wintry Mercury Rev-ish sounds from perhaps Austria's leading indie rock band.

Departure Lounge – dreamy melancholy from Tim Keegan & collaborators.

Also:

Somewhere in Europe, Gestures, The Iron Trees Are In Full Bloom, Savage Dreams. Uneasy industrial concrète from the wastes of England.

Tiny Lights - Prayer for the Halcyon Fear

Can't even find a fscking copy anywhere.

Tiny Lights - Prayer for the Halcyon Fear

Can't even find a fscking copy anywhere.

There's copies of the vinyl up for sale on discogs, email me if you just want the mp3s I can probably help you out.

Animals That Swim - I Was the King, I Really Was the King

is the first one that comes to mind, though i think they've been mentioned on ILM once or twice in the past

I've got that album, I wouldn't say I feel cult-like about it...

Definitely love Breathless

Robt Omlit of OC might fill the bill for me, though he only ever self-released tapes.

Cultural Amnesia

scattersh0t - extras3xual behavior

made by a really talented dude when he was in college here, it was basically a local release but sounds amazing and is some of the best electronic music i've ever heard. i don't even have the full cd, just a handful of mp3s that i've listened to eight million times since like '02.

Boulderdash - We Never Went To Koxut Island

this doesn't really count because i have 2 friends who are also really into it too but it's my fav chillout electronic album and i rarely see it talked about

Departure Lounge, Out of Here

Not just you! I love almost everything Tim Keegan's been involved with - had a chance to chat with him about his solo album a couple of years ago, too. "Out Of Here" is his crowning achievement, though. "The New You" often runs through my head unbidden.

Animals That Swim - I Was the King, I Really Was the King

Completely underrated and unknown, it's so sad. They do things with horns in a rock environment that it seems no one else does - they're mournful yet joyful at the same time, and the lyrics are incredible. Seek out "Seven Days" from their last album. There's still a few vinyl-only b-sides I've never heard!

hmm, i should re-listen to the Departure Lounge album -- i got it because of the Robyn Hitchcock connection, found it pleasant, but haven't really returned to it.

Little Georgie and the Shuffling Hungarians, Live from Styleen's Rhythm Lounge. New Orleans-style soul & pop from a huge band; tight, funky, and surprisingly ambitious. Also a great cheesy hard-rock guitar sound for the solos!

http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/8550/frenchpaddleconversions.jpg

charming, homespun cut-and-paste by half of Vote Robot

There's copies of the vinyl up for sale on discogs, email me if you just want the mp3s I can probably help you out.

Huh, never think to look on discogs for some reason (shipping vinyl from overseas to Aus makes me nervous anyway).

Wouldnt mind hearing even the mp3s again, hm.

Blinker the Star - "August Everywhere"

Pop with cellos. Heaven.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y142/Brushback/liquor-giantsOle181.jpg

I really believe I am the only one who loves this album. Power pop masterpiece. Glorious.

I think I am the only one with an undying, towering, genuine affection for Deadsy's "Commencement." It is definitely my favorite Book of Urantia-themed, synthesizer-based, $2-word-using band fronted by the son of Cher. (Unfortunately their second album was not good.)

http://www.mtv.com/shared/media/images/artist/d/deadsy/az_official/281x211.jpg

Hardly an unknown, but I really like this record...
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Mort Shuman My Death

I actually tried to get into a lot of stuff because of that Deadsy album, but it was all really boring. Trying to read a book about the Hittites was a bust, but reading the actual Urantia text itszzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz *snore*...sorry, I fell asleep remembering the time I treed to read the Urantia book.

holy shit abbott, i fucking love that deadsy record but no one else does.

wait tho, commencement is the second record by them i have, there was a first self-titled one as well

You have blown my mind!!!

You have the best taste in music (=most similar to mine) of anyone on ILM I think!

That self-titled one used to go for hella $$$$ on eBay.

"Phantasmagore" was the disappointment.

i am listening to the first one right now! lots of the stuff is on both this and commencement, but this version of cruella is def the better of the two

very glad that this is in the stuff that has been already been reloaded after hard drive crashola and recovery

yeah i have noticed that you have far better musical taste than the rest of these sucks, between this and SGM u r a#1 (something else too cant remember now)

I still think No Silver No Gold by Baptist Generals is the finest album Sub Pop has ever released.

Phantom Raiders - New Sound '67

This has been reissued recently by Norton. Its a cool garage rock gem from North Carolina that stands alongside other examples of the time, with its frenzy of energy & joy.