Digging for Something with Indiepop Atlas
Overlooked, underrated, and other various hidden gems.
I’m reaching out and asking writers, band members and music curators to tip us all off to their favourite overlooked or underrated albums, unfairly obscure gems… even the downright over-hated. Hopefully it’s another fun way for you to find some new-to-you music to love.
Joining me today, is Sarah of the wonderful blog Indiepop Atlas. This is a quick diversion, but I absolutely love when sites are hosted on Neocities.org. Bring back the fun and charm of the early web, I say!
Anyway, If you’re a fan of indie pop of all types, her work is something you should be following along with. Don’t just take my word for it, the site’s description:
Indiepop Atlas is a place for you to learn about what's new in indiepop. You can check the titular atlas for information on the bands who are active in your area, or in areas you may want to visit. We also have regular album reviews, so you can keep up with what's going on in the greater indiepop world. Whether you've been part of the scene since Beat Happening's debut, or recently heard Belle and Sebastian for the first time, we hope you find what you're looking for here!
And now, let’s read her picks for today’s edition of Digging for Something:
Bobbie Gentry - Patchwork (1971, Capitol Records)
Genre: Country Soul, Singer-Songwriter, Pop Rock, Pop Soul, Country Pop, Baroque Pop, Tin Pan Alley
Sarah says:
After the underwhelming performance of largely self-written The Delta Sweete, Capitol Records decided that Bobbie Gentry needed a change in direction. Her own songs started to largely vanish from her albums, replaced with covers of the big hits of the era, such as "Eleanor Rigby", "Son of a Preacher Man", or "I'll Never Fall in Love Again". As one might expect for an artist who built her name on her songwriting, this was not the right move for her career.
After a few albums of this with (ironically, the self-written) "Fancy" as the only minor hit to show for it, they finally let her write the songs again with Patchwork. Like the title suggests, she's really showing off all the different styles she could have been writing in, if only she'd been given the chance. And as it turns out, they're the best songs of her career!
Unfortunately, she never got a chance to record a follow-up to Patchwork, and after a few years of sporadic public appearances, she would end up entirely withdrawing from the public eye.
Dan says:
This is exactly why I wanted to do this series, because though I enjoy a good bit of folky country soul slash pop, I’m not exactly reaching for it all the time. In fact, Bobbie Gentry was largely someone I didn’t have much experience with until reading Sarah’s blub above and listening to this record. Definitely hear a little Randy Newman in “Benjamin”. Other big highlights for me would be “But I Can’t Get Back” and “Lookin’ In”.
This would be a nice one to own on vinyl… added to my Discogs wantlist!
The Reivers - Translate Slowly (1985, DB Recs)
Genres: Jangle Pop, Indie Rock, Post-Punk, Power Pop, Folk Rock
Sarah says:
All the college rock of the era bands wanted to be R.E.M., of course, but The Reivers were the only ones to even come close to pulling it off.
Like R.E.M.'s early work, Translate Slowly is a blend of post-punk, jangle pop, and folk rock, with more of a focus on those last two elements.
But where they really shine is that John Croslin and Kim Longacre know that the best thing you can do in a song is have co-lead vocals, which they generously provide us all throughout.
Dan says:
Wasn’t familiar with DB Records, but it did bring to mind The dB's, which is always appreciated. And there’s traces of that band’s caffeinated herky-jerky jangle pop on lead-off track “Araby” too. Like Sarah, I really appreciated the co-lead vocals here. I really enjoyed the moody material on here, which definitely resembles some stuff off Fables of the Reconstruction.
The Harvest Ministers - Little Dark Mansion (1993, Sarah Records)
Genres: Dream Pop, Slowcore, Jangle Pop, Sophisti-Pop, Chamber Pop
Sarah says:
Is this what it feels like to be one of those people who's really into like The Go-Betweens and Prefab Sprout?
Sophisti-pop never really sounded to me like the genre name says it should, but this sounds exactly like I always think it should sound. It's kinda chamber pop-ish, but with more saxophones than that usually entails.
Easily the hidden gem of the Sarah Records discography!
Dan says:
I’m a fan of many of these genres—slowcore, jangle and sophisti-pop in particular—but I’m not sure I’ve heard it in these measurements and mixed together like this. The slowcore jangle of “Grey Matters” with tasteful sax adornments sets the scene off well. Very comfy stuff!
Poe - Haunted (2000, Atlantic)
Genres: Alternative Rock, Trip Hop, Pop Rock, Art Pop, Singer-Songwriter
Sarah says:
Poe was supposed to be *huge*!
Her first album was a pretty good mix of alt rock and trip hop, and for her efforts she earned a RIAA gold certification, three modern rock hits, and critics saying her name in the same breath as Alanis Morrissette and Gwen Stefani.
Her next album, Haunted, took a huge step forward; she vastly improved the integration of the two genres, and added to the atmosphere with some eerie lost little girl audio samples and recordings of her late father. Less than a year after release, Haunted was climbing the charts with another modern rock hit, but then business got in the way; due to legal issues with her label, she ended up dropped, the album stopped getting promoted, and she was even blocked from releasing music for anyone else!
And that's where her career ends; instead of being the next alternative rock star, she ended up just a footnote mostly known by fans of House of Leaves, the book her brother had written as a counterpart to Haunted.
Dan says:
I had no idea about the connection between this album and House of Leaves, but I also haven’t read the book so I guess there’s that. I have a lot of time for the early 2000s mix of alt rock and trip hop, so this scratches an itch that I often have. I may not need 68 minutes of it but a lot of this is really solid stuff. I think taking what is a very good alt-pop song like “Wild” and having it take a 4-minute beat-driven atmospheric detour is a phenomenal idea, and it’s executed so well.
Aggi - Buy This Discography Make Me Rich! (2017, Rizkan Records)
Sarah says:
The immediate draw of Aggi is that they're one of the noisiest bands I've ever heard, like almost on par with Psychocandy, even!
As the title suggests, it's their entire discography, collecting four singles released from 2013 to 2016. The thing that's really cool about it is that, even at around 15 minutes long, you can still hear the way they evolve from Henry's Dress near-soundalikes (a worthy thing to be, in my opinion) to establishing a sound of their own which is just as good.
Jigsaw Records put out a reissue of this called Aggi Hates You (Completely) a few years back, and I think it's probably the best blind buy I've ever had.
Dan says:
I always have time for fuzzy buzzy noisy pop like this! An entire discography in 15 minutes? Sign me up. A song called “The Pains Of Being Stupid At Heart”? Double-sign me up!
That’s it, that’s all. Be excellent to one other.
A few are new, several I haven't thought about in years! Good stuff.
All of this is new to me, this rocks