Albums With A Cult Following -- You and Only You

fuck I love that album! "Slo-Mo Kikaida" is pretty much a perfect power ballad and it still get me worked up. "Shrine" is also badass; it had a video I think but youtube is letting me down.

When I Was a Boy - Jane Siberry

#25 in the 1993 Pazz & Jop poll so you're hardly alone there.

I used to love Big Pig. I got into them because I was a teenage Yahoo Serious fan.

"succeeds where daylight fails" by tyrnaround. i seem to be the only person who remembers they exist let alone have actually heard this fantastic record

Gold Afternoon Fix - The Church

Hardly alone.

When I Was a Boy - Jane Siberry

http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=17927

"My sole tether to reality was Jane Siberry's When I Was a Boy. It's not an exaggeration to say that Boy, along with very patient friends and my shrink, are responsible for my survival."

This thread is a challenge.

Still feel like June Panic's "Baby's Breadth" is the big overlooked song suite of the decade

http://www.musicaldiscoveries.com/artwork/hnglowstarsfc.jpg

Eusebe: Tale's From Mama's Yard. This is a mid-90s British rap album by a trio consisting of two girls and one guy. It's quite poppy and a bit smooth, but is also has some clever political and social commentary. Apparently the group never released anything else after it. The album was released by EMI, so it's not like it's some obscure indie record, but I've only managed to find one online review of it. It has 0 ratings on Discogs.com, and Eusebe itself has 99 listeners on Last.fm, but apparently the majority of those have only listened to the radio edit of their single "Summertime Healing". I even started a thread about Eusebe:

Whatever happened to Eusebe?

...but it seems only two other ILXors have ever heard anything by the group.

Despite the fact that seemingly every sentient being in the free world thought the debut album by Birdland was a steaming pile of dung, I quite like several tracks on it.

yup. i still play the white vinyl copy from time to time, and do indeed enjoy it.
though when i spotted a recent compilation of the album and all the other stuff they recorded on one cd for a few quid i let it pass.
a few tracks is more than enough !

my extra entry after the posting 4 years ago :

http://www.discogs.com/image/R-176946-1240627649.jpeg

absolutely love love this album : underworld + yello + klf = dance pop brilliance from 90

grrr.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2439/3628492460_0ebfbd499d_o.jpg

Damn, leavethecapital, I thought of that Rhythm Sisters album only a couple of days ago! Probably because of a reference to "California Girls" somewhere (it being mentioned in "American Boys" on here).

who's landing in my hangar? - human switchboard
maybe not "me and only me", but it sure seems that way

Not alone with Human Switchboard. I was just listening to that the other day. So classic.

The Steppes: Drop Of the Creature

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-29a62ZAl2M/SF6cusT5iNI/AAAAAAAAAUU/s1D6kOzhH_g/s320/o133767.jpg

Yay!! Some Human Switchboard love, great album.

Gold Afternoon Fix - The Church

Hardly alone.

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

I remember Expando Brain, the band, but have never heard the album. The set I saw ended the guitarist just banging on one chord for five minutes, and making it totally entrancing. Don't think they had a record out at that point.

Even though I don't listen to much indie rock these days I'll still rep for the first two Downy Mildew albums (Broomtree, 1987 and Mincing Steps, 1988). Three ilx threads on them but not much positivity!

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!)

http://i26.tinypic.com/35l9aud.jpg

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.