Much like the "Spring Collection" comp earlier this year, "Summer Splash!" previews some current and future Matinée albums, along with a few previously unreleased tracks. And although this comp is a little bigger, to accommodate Matinée's expanding roster, it's still bargain priced - hooray! On this disc, you'll find some tracks from the new Harper Lee, Would-Be-Goods, Windmills, and Lovejoy records; some previews from future Slipslide, Airport Girl, and Melodie Group records; and songs from the Pines (a Patsy Cline cover!), Pipas, Sportique, and Liberty Ship that you won't find elsewhere. The only non-Matinée song on the disc comes from the newest Matinée signing, Kosmonaut, who give us a track taken from a Motorway 7". Of course, all of the songs on here are top notch, so I'd recommend this even if it weren't budget priced! MTQ=12/12   --IndiePages

 

Summer's the perfect time for a cheap label compilation, filled with new and unreleased tracks. Actually every season's good for that sort of compilation; it's one of life's great pleasures. The Matinée Summer Splash! is a showcase for the great indie-pop label Matinée, and it's filled with high-quality material. In particular, this CD was put together to coincide with a live-music event of the same name, two performance showcases of Matinée bands. Matinée tends toward graceful, well-constructed pop songs, often happy in sound but just as often filled with melancholy feelings. This CD is especially upbeat in tone, filled with catchy melodies and lots of life: music to dance to and clap your hands to. It includes recent album/EP tracks from Harper Lee, Would-Be-Goods, The Windmills, Airport Girl and Lovejoy, all of them splendid. There's also songs that are either soon-to-be-released or unreleased, by Slipside, Melodie Group, Pipas, The Liberty Ship and Sportique. Rounding things out are a gorgeous Patsy Cline cover from the Pines and a song by Kosmonaut that was released on another label in the past. The latter song closes the Summer Splash on a note of both sensitivity and energy, a fitting encapsulation of the mood of Matinée   --Erasing Clouds

 

Although its release coincided with a series of Matinee-sponsored summer concerts, the 12-track Summer Splash makes for good listening in any season; highlights include The Would-Be-Goods' dignified-but-downright rocking "Dilettante," The Liberty Ship's fleece-collared folk-rocker "Don't React," and an airy reading of Patsy Cline's "Leavin' On Your Mind," by melancholic South Londoners The Pines.   --The Big Takeover Magazine

 

Twelve songs from the Matinée new & fresh stable of bands. You have tunes from old standouts like Lovejoy, Harper Lee, Windmills, Melodie Group, Sportique and Would Be Goods as well as songs from the upstarts like The Pines, Liberty Ship, Kosmonaut, Slipslide, Pipas, and Airport Girl. The Pipas, Sportique and Liberty Ship songs are unreleased as is The Pines cut (a Patsy Cline cover). The Would be Goods song is brilliant as are ones by the Melodie Group , Pipas, and many others here. Buy a few for family and friends as the holidays are coming up.   --Dagger

 

Well, you might ask yourself, "a summer splash in wintertime? Isn't that a bit odd?". And yes, you're right, but this compilation was actually released back when the flowers were in full bloom and you were able to take a swim in the ocean without turning blue. Then again, a good compilation is still a good compilation, even if the title don't match the current season. The US-based label, Matinée Recordings, have blessed us with a lot of great records over the past few years, and with bands like the Lucksmiths, the Fairways and Pipas you can't possibly go wrong. Add to that the new, splendid Razorcuts compilation... well, thank you label boss James Tassos! To introduce some of their latest additions to their ever growing roster of artists, they have released this low-price compilation, showcasing 12 of the great bands they are working with at the moment. Some of the bands here are already familiar to me, like the Would-Be-Goods (who released the fantastic 'The Camera Loves Me' many years ago), Airport Girl, Pipas and Sportique, but there are also some new acquaintances. Harper Lee is a name that was familiar to me, but I had oddly enough never got around to checking them out, even though the word on the street is that they're good. I am closer to buying their new album, 'Everything's Going To Be OK',now though after hearing, 'Fine Bones', the opening track on this compilation CD. It sounds a fair bit like Trembling Blue Stars, but that's not a bad thing, right? Other unknown acts (at least for me) are Slipslide, whose contribution 'X Supplies The Answer' is quite good, even though the guitar hooks reminds me too much of Ocean Colour Scene, which is definitely a bad thing, and Melodie Group, a band that is a great surprise to me. Hammering drum-machines and handclaps always melt my heart, and 'I Do Not Love You' has a great tune as well. Their album 'Updownaround' on the evidence of this may be worth checking out.   --Pennyblack Magazine

 

The Matinée Summer Splash is a 12 song compilation album selling for the price of a single, consisting mainly of rarities, exclusive tracks, and songs not yet released at the time of the compilation coming out. There's the melancholic jangle of Harper Lee; the excellent sophisticated indiepop-with-oomph of Would-Be-Goods; Airport Girl who mix trumpet driven upbeat indiepop with melancholic indiepop and a slightly quirky twist; the non-twee indiepop with 60s-ish elements of Slipslide; the upbeat old-school indiepop of Melodie Group; quirky electropop from Pipas; Sportique whose track here is much more of an indiepop thing than their punk-influenced Modern Museums album; the janglepop of The Windmills, The Liberty Ship, Lovejoy and Kosmonaut; and The Pines who perform a minimal yet still sophisticated version of Patsy Cline's Leavin' On Your Mind.   --Aquamarine

 

Ahora que entramos en una primavera que nos encara a la estación calurosa, nada mejor que un recopilatorio con una portada tan refrescante plagada de sombrillas y un título no menos refrescante e indicativo como es "Summer Splash!". Y si a estas alturas te quedan algunas monedillas después de hacer tus reservas para próximos conciertos, festivales, tu sitio favorito de copas y demás alternativas que nos depara el panorama indie de cada día, nada mejor que recomendarte este CD a precio de single del que seguramente vas a sacar mucho partido. El sello norteamericano Matinée Recordings nos ofrece una serie de cortes exclusivos, rarezas y canciones previas a la edición de nuevo material de un puñado de excelentes bandas que editan sus trabajos para el sello de Washington. Y entre sensaciones muy variadas (desde el optimismo unas veces a la melancolía en otras), la escucha de este CD nos depara agradabilísimas sorpresas. La compilación se abre con la maravillosa y delicada aportación del nuevo material de Harper Lee (" Fine Bones" ) perteneciente a su nuevo LP "Everything's Going To Be O.K." y que nos recuerda a unos Trembling Blue Stars en plena forma. Would-Be-Goods nos sorprenden con la inmediatez pop en la estimulante "Dilettante". Airport Girl nos aportan desparpajo en "When You Fall", con esos traviesos instrumentos de viento y violines a lo Belle & Sebastian. Slipslide beben del brit pop en "X Supplies The Answer". Prepara las palmas para acompañar el ritmillo contagioso de "I Do Not Love You" de Melodie Group. Un pequeño espacio para esa especie de tecno-pop minimalista que se gastan Pipas en "Cruel and Unusual". La demostración de que la sombra de Galaxie 500 es alargada la tenemos en "Rollercoaster" de Sportique. Y no menos larga es la sombra de New Order (ese bajo tan reconocible) en una de las mejores canciones incluidas: "Walking Around The World" de The Windmills. La preciosidad en la sorprendente versión de un clásico de Patsy Cline que no desentonaría en el "The Trinity Session" de Cowboy Junkies (Pines en "Leavin' on your mind"). Y por último, Lovejoy nos encandilan con una muestra de ensoñadora melancolía en "You Fell From Grace", donde una voz otoñal nos parece recordar que después del verano llega el triste otoño. Como puedes ver, es este un disco donde encontrarás un poco de todo. Y aunque para nosotros comienza ahora el tiempo de primavera, de terrazas, de festivales ..... Guardate unos euros. ¡El verano lo tienes aquí!   --Popchild