Swinging Singles Club MN

  The cat is hungry and is doing the sitting on the table beside the desk and staring, but not staring at me thing.  I also kind of want another cup of coffee. Maybe I just type less.   2000 -  Dance 'til your Baby is a Man   The album kicks off with the song "Unicorns" which is a sad tale of sexual dysfunction. (Remember the "Mezcal" single cover?)    The whole thing is otherwise all minor chords and sad tales of longing and sexual frustration.  I feel like I've lived a lot of this album. It ends with a song called "Little Leaning Tower" which bookends things. (though locally Leaning Tower is also the name of a pizza place in South Minneapolis which has a small bar that lots of people misspent their time at.) But I especially like the slow ballad "Cha Cha Cha" on this one. "... It's time to wow the two  giggly girls you've seen in your classes One is named Kitten. And one has cat's glasses..."

  I'm lumping them onto one post because I can and they're all from about the same time.     1999 - Sean Na Na/Lucky Jeremy A nice split with Lucky Jeremy (aka Jeremy Allen) who wrote "My Old France" which Sean Na-Na closed out the split with Mary Lou Lord with. He also played keys in Sean na na. So there's that too.   1999 - Mezcal More bittersweet pop songs pressed onto seven inches of black vinyl. The cover has unicorns on it. That's some symbolism. 2000 - Sean Tillman is a Fucking Star Here's a little bonus. It's a rare solo bit by Sean Tillman as himself. Lo-fi piano based for the A-side. B-side is an acapella rendition of a Boyz II Men tune . Consider yourself warned. But which could be the first inkling of his forthcoming R&B ambitions that would become Har Mar Superstar.  

  So those blueberry corn muffins came out pretty nice. Not as sweet in the end than the batter would have suggested, but tasty as fuck. So I take that as a win. I also hope that you kids out there in the interwebs have noticed that I've staggered the posts here with the regular flavor SSC so that there's essentially something new every couple days between the two. I have way too much music... Which leads us to today. This is a personal favorite that I have no shame in saying is a personal favorite. The biggest struggle I've had tonight is figuring out how to split these things up.  I kind of settled on seven posts. This is the first.   1998 - ...And his Baby Blue   This is where the wonderfully named Sean Na Na story starts.   This being the first thing released by Sean Tillman following the disillusion of his previous band Calvin Krime .   Now where Calvin Krime was more of a punk rock screamo type outfit, the new guise as Sean Na-Na is all about bitter p...

  I'm getting hungry and ready to try one of those blueberry corn muffins that I was yapping about last post. Let me turn the espresso machine back on. BRB 1999 - Recommended for Diversion Seekers Bomb Pops A couple of years back I posted the three singles on two consecutive posts. Here's the compilation that collects those and other recordings into one neat little digital package. Everything recorded between 1992-1994. Jangly, wistful indiepop FTW

If you're following along at home, I didn't actually finish out the month the last posting session. I got bored and moved onto something else.  Tonight I just finished baking off some blueberry corn muffins. It seems pretty inevitable that I'm wearing all black clothes whenever I get the urge to bake. They're less black in places now. But the muffins are gonna be bomb. (as the kids might say)   1998 - I've Got You Right Where You Want Me I posted their 1994 single a while back on Swinging Singles Club which is worth your time to investigate if you haven't already gotten it from three years ago already. This is the full length follow up from 1998. It's one of those discs that feels like if it had been released any number of years sooner or later than when it did could have been a contender. Or at least gotten a decent amount of college radio play and a one off release on a major label subsidiary. Shoulda, coulda, oughta There's still yet a few more track...

  Almost ready to make that espresso I was talking about in the last post. I feel like I'm going to lay out a month's worth of crap into the  queue tonight. Sit back and let this one slide over your brain. You're gonna see trails, dude. More Womb to Play In (1996)     Reverend Angus Strychn & the Paralyzing Doses of Fun . Look at the cover and imagine what it sounds like. Yeah, it probably does, but weirder. I know that I saw them play in the 7th St Entry around the time that this was released, before or after, I don't know. It was a long time ago. I was probably a bit drunk at the time. I do remember that they looked kind of like this: The bunny masks, man. Fuck. Once seen, you're not going to forget an experience like that. A few copies of this still occasionally haunt the local music bins for usually under five bucks like the twinging leftovers of a bad trip and it makes me feel bad that nobody seems to remember or appreciate the psychedelic garage wonder tha...

 I'm also busy cleaning our espresso machine.  Well, letting the citric acid sit in the tank to help clear out the scale from the tap water. Keep your Keurig shit. Coffee always tastes weak and stale. Getting a legit espresso machine (not some cheap ass Target thirty dollar one) and a really good burr grinder was a big fucking game changer. Fifteen years and never looked back... I recommend it heartily. Get a Hustle (1999) This band existed from approximately 1997-2002. Years ago when one band was shopping for a local studio to do some recording we were given a disc of best things recorded at Albatross Studios in 2002. Their track didn't stick with me, but we did end up recording there. (and made the 2003 demo cd.) Cut to a couple of years ago and I'm looking around on Discogs for stuff to bulk up a five dollar for the entire order shipping package and find a sealed copy for cheap and add it. Good decision. This is loud fast and precise and hits all the right pleasure poin...