Ipod owners consistently make remarks about how the device has allowed them to truly re-discover their music collection. I am no different. Used to be that I’d have to stand at my CD racks (at one time, containing 1,500+ discs), cock my head to the side so I could read the CD spines, and pick something out. Sometimes there was a calming joy to such a search, most of the time it was a pain in the arse. Those days are long gone. I don’t need to get into how much easier it is access a music library that large when you have it all on your computer and Ipod (and sufficiently backed up, of course).

One recent re-discovery brought me back yet again to the days of Tar Hut. Bob Andrews, one of music’s true good guys and ex-manager of Uncle Tupelo (among others), had mailed me a CD of another St. Louis-based band called Nadine. Since Bob and I have very similar music tastes, he was pretty sure I’d enjoy it. At this point in the short life of our indie-label, we were probably at our high point. We were no longer going out of our way to find bands – they were seeking us, so we were getting a LOT of demos, most of which were being sent to Dave, as he seemed to truly enjoy listening to CD-after-CD-after-CD of band demos. My point is this: Nadine jumped out at me. The songwriting was strong, the singer had a distinct voice and the music was just……..just good. We really wanted them on our label.

At the same time, the growing network of people I knew out in the western part of Massachusetts, specifically Northampton, seemed to be bearing more and more fruit with each passing week. I was getting demos from several very good Northampton-based bands, none better than The Figments, whose initial demos really had us salivating. I remember the very first thing that crossed my mind when I heard them: “this is the perfect combination between The Velvet Underground and Pavement.” A strange comparison to make and others may disagree, but that’s how I felt then and it’s still how I feel today. Again, terrific songs, an incredibly distinct voice in singer Thane Thomsen and – even better – one of the members was Abraham Zapruder’s grandson. Go ahead, click on that link. Do it.

Anyway, bottom line: we had fairly extensive discussions with both bands. And we wanted them both badly. But we got neither. Why? Well, I guess that’s just the way it goes sometimes. We were busy pouring money into the bands already on the label, trying to move those records and we didn’t feel like we could take on two more at the time. It was very difficult for us not to do (not doing either was particularly hard on me), but this is just two examples of many projects we wished we could have done. I’ll save some of those for another time or let Leo and Dave have a crack at it.

In the meantime, enjoy my favorite songs from The Figments and Nadine:

Nadine: Dark Light
The Figments: Humbert

As usual, to download just right click on each link and “save as.” I’d be really curious to hear your opinions about these songs, so please let me know your thoughts if you can. I still believe that both bands easily stand the test of time. The Figments still make music, Nadine broke up about a year or two ago.

Nadine – “Dark Light”

There’s a darker light
That is shining on this street
Colored hair, kids and deadbeats
And that girl from the county’s convinced that she’s been reborn
And on cue a Buick of young men lays on the horn

Out the window, we’re just sitting on those steps
We talk on the cordless, smoke GPC cigarettes
At one they got lost in the light of the afternoon
When that child-proof lighter hit the spoon

Dark Light shine on
Shine on through the city
Like the wave that’s perfect and pretty
We all moved out, but have we moved on?
Darker light, shine on

There’s a mailbox full of a stranger’s unpaid bills
Strain of a culture where death equals standing still
And the best you can hope for is someone to call a friend
Someone who won’t break apart
When it all starts to bend

Dark Light shine on
Shine on through the city
Like the wave that’s perfect and pretty
We all moved out, but have we moved on?
Darker light, shine on