Matinée supremo Jimmy Tassos continues his campaign for erudite pop via this slinky 7-track sampler that is likely to hit the spot for appreciators of labels of yore like Sarah and el. Top honors go to The Windmills' driving, laconic "Unkiss" and "A Nation of Soul," a blast of slowburning, modish pop from Sportique.   --The Big Takeover Magazine

 

Undoubtedly, Matinée Records is responsible for the best releases on the world-wide indie scene. Bringing back the old school through re-releases (Visitors, Razorcuts, Remember Fun) or releasing the new stuff of the same old school and betting on new bands (Slipslide, Lovejoy, Ego), this small record label based on Washington does a great job. It's the kind of label where you can buy everything with no regrets. This compilation works as a sampler and was released in commemoration of the Spring Festival in London last April, featuring the bands Airport Girl, Slipslide, Windmills, Sportique and the Would-Be-Goods. The CD is limited to 1000 copies, with the first 200 copies included in the seventh edition of the Snowbound fanzine edited by Dick (Lovejoy) and Keith (Blueboy). The compilation has its highest moment on the veterans Windmills with a great jangle-pop, the dancing track of Slipslide, Lovejoy with the wonderful "Radio" and the always great Sportique.   --Modular

 

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!! There is absolutely no reason for anyone not to own this disc. Not only is it a collection of the best of today's indie guitar pop as presented by the forefront label of the genre, Matinée Records, but it is cheap as hell. Plus you get lots of exclusive songs, first-time-on-CD songs, and great hits from the Matinée catalog. Just get this, okay?? This 26-minute EP commemorates a pair of London performances by Matinée artists and is limited to a scant 1000 copies which will be gone in a heartbeat no doubt. Includes tracks from The Windmills, Slipslide, Airport Girl, Lovejoy, Melodie Group, Sportique, and Would-Be-Goods.   --Tone Vendor

 

It's springtime (well, it was a month or so ago when this was released), and Matinée's got a great release schedule, that they're just dying to share with us. This cd does that, though its true purpose was to highlight the excellent British groups playing the two Matinée-themed nights in London. This is a budget-priced ep with mostly released or soon-to-be released tracks from The Windmills, Airport Girl, Lovejoy, Melodie Group, and Sportique. The two unreleased tracks on here are from Slipslide (Graeme from Eva Luna/Love Parade/etc) and the return of the Would-Be-Goods. For the folks that attended the show, this would be a wonderful memory of the nights; and for the rest of us, this is a fine Matinée sampler. MTQ=7/7   --IndiePages

 

Contains the two best Matinée bands , no argument: Gregory Webster's Sportique and the always cool Would-Be-Goods. Start here.   --Careless Talk Costs Lives

 

Forthcoming or hard to find songs from The Windmills, Slipslide, Airport Girl, Lovejoy, Melodie Group, Sportique and Would-Be-Goods. The Airport Girl one showed me why they are compared to Belle and Sebastian (I never saw the comparisons before), the Lovejoy tune was awesome and from their LP ("Radio"). The Sportique had a dramatic violin and the WBGs one is acoustic. A cool lil' artifact to have from Jimmy and his Matinée label. Limited to 1000.   --Dagger

 

Lovejoy stretch their pop loveliness out to 6 minutes and the sampler still clocks in at less than a half hour but features some fine tunes. Melodie Group's "Raincoat" is a folk tinged ballad Belle and Sebastian could be proud of, and speaking of B&S, their main competition Airport Girl is on here with another winner, and Would-Be-Goods could be accused of jumping on that same bandwagon. Also, Sportique with Gregory of Razorcuts fame. Fine stuff.   --Shredding Paper

 

The Matinée Spring Collection is a 7-track mini-album released to coincide with 2 London gigs featuring Matinée bands. Slipslide have an exclusive track; Airport Girl's song is the b-side of one of their singles on Fortuna Pop!; and The Windmills, Lovejoy, Melodie Group, Sportique and the Would-Be-Goods have tracks that have also appeared on other Matinée releases. The first 200 copies of this come with a Snowbound fanzine (done by members of Lovejoy) which has articles on Matinée and Poptones, an interview with The Windmills and other bits and bobs. This has been out a few months now so possibly the fanzine is no longer available - a shame if it's not as it's excellent, one of the best zines I've seen in a while. The CD should still be available though - a good way to get a taste of what Matinée has to offer.   --Aquamarine

 

Splendido. Splendido. Splendido. Fermatemi per favore... altrimenti la recensione finisce così. Cd commemorativo per la Matinée Records (indie pop label con base a Washington DC di cui riportiamo un breve label profile nella sezione articoli) in edizione limitata a mille copie, le cui prime duecento vengono accompagnate da fanzine esplicativa e da bellissime cartoline in perfetto Matinée-style. Il Cd esce come omaggio al Matinée Spring Collection, un paio di performance londinesi tenute nell'aprile 2001, e contiene sette tracce dalle bands più influenti della scuderia della label. Alcune delle canzoni presenti erano da considerarsi inedite 'a tempo determinato' in quanto sarebbero state incluse negli album di futura pubblicazione, altre sono invece destinate a rimanere tali in quanto appannaggio esclusivo di questo Ep. E' il caso della bellissima Life (Relived) degli Slipside, che sembra uscita da un materiale apocrifo degli Smiths riammodernato con orpelli synth di pregevolissima fattura e un cantato vagamente alla Bowie. Bellissima anche la Radio dei Lovejoy (tra le prime bands a figurare nel catalogo Matinée), già immortalata nell'album "Songs in the Key of Lovejoy" così come l'iniziale Unkiss degli Windmills lo è in "Sunlight". Semplice e diretta la melodia di Striking Out on Your Own degli Airport Girl, affidata a pochi giri di chitarra acustica con l'aggiunta di sparsi rivoli di tastiere eighties. E dopo Raincoat dei Melodie Group, tratta dall'omonimo ep, che fa rivivere per una breve estate di S. Martino il sound dei mai troppo poco rimpianti Felt, è la volta degli Sportique con A Nation of Souls (B-side del 7 pollici "Don't Believe a Word I Say" ). Pop sghembo quello degli Sportique tra il post punk di Alternative Tv e Magazine e l'emo-core di nuova generazione, qui ce li ritroviamo con una cullante nenia dal cantato pigro e indolente stile Flaming Lips tirati a lucido. Chiude la selezione Everybody Wants My Baby,un brevissimo frammento acustico dei Would-Be-Goods che anticipa le prelibatezze a venire della band di Jessica Griffin, intenso, delicato e raffinato al tempo stesso come tutti i brani della band londinese. Una collezione di canzoni che non si dimenticano facilmente e che costituisce davvero un impareggiabile l