Erica (.mp3, Mediafire)
It's been something like 10 or 11 years since a penpal told me about Tattle Tale and those nights I spent lying in a too-small twin bed listening to a cassette tape that concluded with an incomplete version of "Erica" seem so far away and so close at the same time -- I can still remember the streetlight coming in through the window, the sound of the train racing by a few blocks away, feel the hum of the tape turning in the walkman (I always set it to rest on my chest, just beneath my collarbone, because I liked the weight of it).
"Erica" is, at least, as far as I can figure, the last song that Tattle Tale released together. And it's certainly the one that hit me the hardest -- it's all too easy for me to picture my teenage self scribbling the lyrics down in my diary thinking, as teenagers do, "Oh my god, you don't even understand, it's like this song is my life! Etc., etc.!" The thing, I think, that I really loved (and still love) about Tattle Tale is the use of both space and dissonance in their songs -- I felt like there were gaps there, gaps that I could fit into. Something about the moments of emptiness followed by the intense collision of vocals and cello and guitar and drums drew me in and kept me there.
"Erica" appeared on a compilation album called Move Into the Villa Villakula which you can read more about here. It was released on both vinyl and CD and is certainly getting hard to come by, but if you can track it down, it's worth it. Tattle Tale contributes two beautiful songs and I'm also exceptionally fond of Sleater Kinney's contribution (a cover of Boston's "More Than A Feeling.")
Erica (.mp3, Mediafire)
3 comments:
thanks for that. i love the texture to that track. all layered like a good painting, and i loved the exploration of speed in the song, different elements colliding together. pretty.
the last thing that tattle tale ever did together was "Sew true". Also, I noticed up on your board, that you wore missing two tattle tale releases...All girls go to heaven(demo from a comp)and another song which I am still trying to track down from a cassette called "Babble on" I also have to track them down, but there are 3 live tracks out there too, from a demo cassette...Arrows is one of them. Oh, and when it comes to Madigan's discography, I have "Fortunes from the F-holes" on mp3 somewhere, and some other madigan Live tracks, and her VERY first solo song release. something so moody and experimental.
@Bryanymehr "All Girls Go To Heaven" is up on the discography page (here.) The tracks on Babble On are "Arrows" and "Glass Vase Cello Case." I'm not sure whether or not they're different versions than those that appear on Sew True. A Modest Mouse fan recently uploaded one of the Modest Mouse tracks that appears on Babble On to the Interstate 8 website. If we're lucky, maybe he'll upload the rest of the tape.
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