What’s Up Matador

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What’s Up, Matador

Disc 1: Favorite Tracks

No.	Artist	Title	Length
01.	Yo La Tengo	Tom Courtenay	3:31
02.	Pavement	Texas Never Whispers	3:08
03.	Teenage Fanclub	Catholic Education	2:32
04.	Superchunk	For Tension	2:59
05.	Unsane	Vandal X	1:46
06.	Bailter Space	Splat	3:49
07.	Helium	Pat’s Trick	3:21
08.	Cat Power	Nude As The News	4:22
09.	Bettie Serveert	Tomboy	4:21
10.	Silkworm	Couldn’t You Wait (Acoustic)	3:37
11.	Spoon	Don’t Buy The Realistic	3:58
12.	Liz Phair	Stratford-On-Guy	2:58
13.	Pizzicato Five	Twiggy Twiggy	4:04
14.	The Fall	Hey Student	4:29
15.	Railroad Jerk	Bang the Drum	2:45
16.	Come	In/Out	4:44
17.	The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion	Dang	1:53
18.	Chain Gang	Son of Sam	3:12
19.	The Frogs	Adam & Steve	3:06
20.	Chavez	Unreal is Here	2:33
21.	Guided By Voices	Motor Away	2:07
22.	S.F. Seals	Still?	4:03
23.	Thinking Fellers Union Local 282	My Pal the Tortoise	2:48
24.	Mecca Normal	Water Cuts My Hands	1:59

Disc 2: Unreleased Tracks

No.	Artist	Title	Length
01.	Cat Power	Back Of Your Head	3:43
02.	Come	Strike	4:01
03.	Railroad Jerk	One Step Forward	5:09
04.	The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion	For Tension	1:39
05.	Guided By Voices	My Thoughts Are A Gas	3:06
06.	Spoon	Telamon Bridge	2:01
07.	Pavement	Killing Moon	5:16
08.	Silkworm	Hangman	4:51
09.	Yo La Tengo	Don’t Say A Word (Demo Version)	3:33
10.	Barbara Manning	The Blood of Feeling	2:59
11.	Bettie Serveert	Life Is An Imbecile	3:26
12.	Liz Phair	Stuck On An Island	2:26
13.	The For Carnation	Alfredo’s Welcome	3:38
14.	Run On	Days Away	5:39
15.	Mecca Normal	Hurricane Watch	3:53
16.	Helium	Lucy	6:28
17.	Chavez	Theme From “For Russ”	4:44
18.	Tobin Sprout	Small Parade	2:15
19.	Bardo Pond	The Trail	6:15
20.	Pizzacato Five	Happy Birthday	2:28

The Liner Notes

What is a record label? What are “recoupables”? What is “indie cred”? Who is Ricky Luanda? Where is my mail order?

Every day, we receive countless letters, faxes and electronic mail messages from children who want to know “what’s up?” And although we try the best we can to answer their questions individually (especially if they send pictures), we couldn’t possibly satisfy everyone. Enter award-winning film maker Clay Tarver. Clay (who also plays guitar in Chavez) conceived of an instructional (yet entertaining) film that would introduce young people to the world of Matador. With the help of cable television fixture Bill Boggs (perhaps you’ve seen his work as a pitch man for the 18″ satellite dish) and a New Jersey elementary school audience, Tarver’s film answers all the questions you’ve ever had about Matador, its origins, the bands and their way of life.

The companion double CD that you’re holding, should serve as an easy initiation to this strange, but very responsible record label. For the hard-core fan, this album’s plethora of rare and/or unreleased material, should ensure hours of listening pleasure, if not a decent resale value.

From the label’s inception in 1989, Matador’s aesthetic has been defined by the musical tastes of company founder Chris Lombardi, and his partner Gerard Cosloy. Said tastes have ranged from the brutal power of the Unsane, to the exotica stylings of Pizzicato Five. While the label has never been defined by one particular sound, the common denominator has always been the quality and individuality of the artists themselves. Matador’s success to date is completely due to the ingenuity and hard work of these artists — we thank them for their contributions to this album, and we apologize for telling them it was a benefit record for Boy’s Town.

Matador’s humble roots are similar to that of most do-it-yourself independents. Although documenting the musical creations of our favorite artists is our main motivation, we also hope that in some small way our efforts offer encouragement to others… letting everyone know that with an $80,000.00 loan and two major label infusions of cash, you can do it too!

A label is only as strong as its roster, and without the talents of our bands, we might as well start a clothing line (don’t think we haven’t considered it). That said, we can never forget the wonderful people who have made all this happen: our lawyers.

Accutron 2000

Reception

Once Sub Pop’s roster broke through to the mainstream in the early ’90s, its reign as America’s premier independent label drew to a close, leaving Matador Records as the definitive indie label of the decade. Matador’s period of greatest impact was between 1991 and 1997, which is the time that the double-disc set What’s Up Matador chronicles. The budget-priced compilation is designed as both an introduction and as a collector’s dream, containing one disc called Favorite Tracks and one disc of unreleased songs. Matador didn’t have a signature sound, preferring to cultivate a loose aesthetic that permitted its artists to do whatever the hell they wanted. So, there’s the nervous punk of Superchunk, the jangling pop of Bettie Serveert, the fractured pop of Pavement, pure weirdness from the Frogs, mathematical rock from Chavez, disco from the Pizzicato Five, the avant rock of Silkworm, hardcore punk from Unsane, psycho-blues from the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Railroad Jerk, and lo-fi from Guided By Voices and Spoon, along with singer/songwriters like Liz Phair, Helium’s Mary Timony, Cat Power, and Barbra Manning/SF Seals. It’s an eclectic roster, but it’s a rich one, containing many of the best and most important bands of the decade. The first disc runs through the hits quite effectively; for anyone curious about Matador specifically and American indie rock in general, it’s an excellent primer. The second disc is for collectors and fanatics, and it does not disappoint. Many of the bands on disc one contribute unreleased songs that never sound like throwaways, and some of the label’s newer bands that didn’t make the first disc — Run On, The For Carnation, and Bardo Pond — are included. With its abundance of strong music and its complete Matador discography, What’s Up Matador is an essential purchase for anyone curious about ’90s indie rock.

— By Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic

Video

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Lyrics

Stuck On An Island

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