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Cheeseman1000
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Iceland
8201 Posts |
 Posted - 06/17/2004 : 11:36:56
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Sorry if this is old news, but here's the Cooking Vinyl press release:
THE MARTINIS
“Smitten” (COOKCD319)
Released 16th August 2004
The nerrrrr that kickstarted a million mixtapes, the skzzzz that opened a million college radio shows: the unholy-yet-melodic din that Joey Santiago strangled out of his guitar in archetypal alt-rockers the Pixies has been imitated, never duplicated and, in the 11 years since their demise, practically silent.
Those familiar buzzes and squonks have returned — albeit in a different form. After years of rumor and hearsay, The Martinis have finally poured out of Los Angeles with their debut record, Smitten, a sunny monster of a pop record that runs the energetic hooks of chief singer/songwriter Linda Mallari against Santiago’s signature angular assault.
“I guess it’s just an inherent style I have. It’s more of a contrast this time around. These definitely have pop structures and I thought it would be kind of neat to put that sound back in,” Santiago says. “Making shapes… that’s what I do.”
Produced by Brad Cook and Blag Dahlia of the Greedy Brothers production team (Foo Fighters, the Distillers, Vandals, Ben Harper, Fishbone) and featuring the rhythm support of Smash Mouth bassist Paul De Lisle and drummer-of-all-trades Josh Freese (A Perfect Circle, etc.), Smitten is a collection of 11 candy hearts dedicated to loves loved, loves lost and everything in between.
The Martinis sound is a study in contrast. There’s Santiago, the self-taught, gloriously erratic note-mangler who dropped out of college to form the Pixies with roommate Charles Thompson, a.k.a. Black Francis, a.k.a. Frank Black; then there’s Mallari—classically trained in piano and voice, Emerson College music minor and a seasoned road dog (well, with the hyper-cheerful Up With People troupe, of all things). She met Santiago in 1987 right after a tour, both sitting side-by-side in a now-defunct Boston dive, the Rathskellar.
“I was sitting at the bar while my friend was playing pinball for beers,” recalls Mallari. “Joey was sitting right at the side of me and we were both looking through the mirror; I look over and I go ‘Oh my god are you Filipino?! Oh my God, I’m Filipino too!” He said, “No you’re not!” I had to rattle off all the bad words I knew in Tagalog! I gave him my phone number… ‘I write music, if you ever want to write music together call me!’”
And how did the music go? “Ahhh! I just wanted to pick up on her,” laughs Santiago. “I wanted to make music too, I suppose… but I got very busy. You know, with the other band.”
Mallari offered to donate her talents and years of voice training to the then-embryonic Pixies (who hadn’t even played a show at that point), to which Joey countered with, “Oh, we already have a chick in the band.”
/cont’d ….
Throughout the Pixies days, Santiago and Mallari hung out, wrote songs and drank martinis; producing the earliest Martinis ideas, their name and the song “Free,” which appeared on the Empire Records soundtrack in 1995 (their last recorded appearance until the release of Smitten).
Just like the two musically divergent characters of Santiago and Mallari coming together, the music of the Martinis itself has an equally intriguing juxtaposition. Although the music has a breezy demeanor—most likely a result of Mallari’s mom blasting Broadway in the house, her tour of duty with Up With People and her never-ending love of right-of-the-dial radio hits—the lyrics generally take a more sinister turn.
The honey-glazed harmonies of “You Are The One” hides a subliminal creepiness (“It sounds like a happy song, but it’s really about how someone can suck the life out you,” says Mallari, “how someone can love you so much that they can kill you inside”) and jaunty cruncher “People In The World” explores an acrimony for L.A.’s silicon-injected gloss. All over unforgiving power-pop that howls like Siouxsie Sioux, drives like Veruca Salt and, naturally, cracks open the Pixies bone machine.
“Sweet, sweet, sweet. Everything about it is sweet—all except the lyrics,” says Santiago. “That’s where we come from and this is the product of that. I think it’s a style of it’s own.”
www.cookingvinyl.com / www.themartinis.com
 www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/fastshow/characters/images/ron_manager.jpg" border="0">"It's a far cry from small boys in the park, jumpers for goalposts. Isn't it? Mmmmm. Marvellous." |
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GypsyDeath
Zapped Profile
3575 Posts |
Posted - 06/17/2004 : 11:56:05
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oh oh oh, yeah, I love this album, recently purchased, very good. buy buy buy
I bet you never thought your movie would turn out this way
You crossed the other way, youd hope i wouldnt see you, you say youre doing fine, but thats not what it looks like, your undercovers on...
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Cheeseman1000
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Iceland
8201 Posts |
Posted - 06/17/2004 : 12:18:12
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Where didja get it Mel? On import? I'm blagging a copy soon as its in at CV... Plus, its now for sure, Black Francis demos not until September at least.
How did you enjoy Cooking Vinyl Melanie?
 "It's a far cry from small boys in the park, jumpers for goalposts. Isn't it? Mmmmm. Marvellous." |
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fudd
= Cult of Ray =
664 Posts |
Posted - 06/17/2004 : 13:00:39
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I got a signed insert by pre-ordering (from Tower, so sue me), plus a bonus single. Yes, I have something signed by the guitar player in the coolest band ever. Probably not a big deal to some around here, but it was pretty cool for me.
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GypsyDeath
Zapped Profile
3575 Posts |
Posted - 06/17/2004 : 13:09:14
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heh, its pretty cool to me too!
Yeah, apromo copy from a very good friend of mine. itrs very good. ill play it at brightonmeet up...oh, no, hang on, you wont be staying over.... :p
I bet you never thought your movie would turn out this way
You crossed the other way, youd hope i wouldnt see you, you say youre doing fine, but thats not what it looks like, your undercovers on...
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Cheeseman1000
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Iceland
8201 Posts |
Posted - 06/17/2004 : 13:33:57
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Hmph. Maybe I'll have it by then, and we can gang up on Simon and Benji. Actually, why don't we do it anyway - Benji the Kiwi might give us some hassle, but Simon's weedy, we could deck him easy.
Maybe thats just my nasty online nature coming through however.
"It's a far cry from small boys in the park, jumpers for goalposts. Isn't it? Mmmmm. Marvellous." |
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frank_black_francis
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
895 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2004 : 16:39:05
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| I got it in the mail yesterday.....came with an extra autographed cd booklet....cool! |
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GypsyDeath
Zapped Profile
3575 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2004 : 17:03:48
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quote:
Originally posted by Cheeseman1000
Hmph. Maybe I'll have it by then, and we can gang up on Simon and Benji. Actually, why don't we do it anyway - Benji the Kiwi might give us some hassle, but Simon's weedy, we could deck him easy.
Maybe thats just my nasty online nature coming through however.
aww! youre so cruel cheeseman, but yeah, why the hell not. Why arent we gonna pick on Mikey aswell? hes really easy to wind up
I bet you never thought your movie would turn out this way
You crossed the other way, youd hope i wouldnt see you, you say youre doing fine, but thats not what it looks like, your undercovers on...
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benji
> Teenager of the Year <
New Zealand
3426 Posts |
Posted - 06/30/2004 : 03:45:16
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you guys are mean and nasty...
remember McCheese, i'm giving you free cd's this weekend.
you be nice to me.
but yes, i definitey wanyt to listen to the cd mel - sounds like it'll be a godden.
 You Know You Want To! |
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mun chien andalusia
= Quote Accumulator =
Italy
2139 Posts |
Posted - 06/30/2004 : 06:13:44
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i dled it after reading this thread. listening to it right now. it's fantastic! what's the story with the autographed copies? i'd love to have one
 join the cult of errol\and you can have a beer\without having to quit smoking
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Homers_pet_monkey
= Official forum monkey =
United Kingdom
17125 Posts |
Posted - 06/30/2004 : 10:36:50
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I am gonna buy this when it comes out.
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If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you. |
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Cheeseman1000
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Iceland
8201 Posts |
Posted - 06/30/2004 : 10:40:26
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You may be able to get autographed copies from Cooking Vinyl if you're a member of the CV club - thats the only thing I can think of.
I'm really looking forward to it now - there's been such a positive reaction here.
Kind regards,
Simon
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mun chien andalusia
= Quote Accumulator =
Italy
2139 Posts |
Posted - 06/30/2004 : 11:01:56
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i checked the cooking vinyl site but no sign of the martinis as a group or future release. i 'll check out the CV club thing, i love promo stuff. thanks cheese
join the cult of errol\and you can have a beer\without having to quit smoking
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Martinis - Smitten
