From: mdc@crash.cts.com (Milo D. Cooper)
Newsgroups: alt.music.alternative
Subject: Re: You know, the 4AD sound
Date: 27 Sep 92 10:03:30 GMT
Followup-To: alt.music.alternative
Distribution: usa
Organization: CTS Network Services (crash, ctsnet), El Cajon, CA

In article <1992Sep25.180939.21362@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> chm8v@fulton.seas.Virginia.EDU (chris mann) writes:
=> 
=a new band out on def american (WB) is really good ... sort of a
=cross between sonic youth and mbv..  they're called medicine and the
=album is shot forth for living...they are on creation over in the u.k.
=
=chris
=

	Here, I shall offer my opinion of this new release as necessari-
ly contrary in the name of fairness: of the nine tracks on _Shot Forth
Self Living_ (Chris gave an incorrect title), I have, after three days
of consistent listening, found 3.5 of them enjoyable.  A few people over
on Prodigy were whooping and hollering about this Rock quintet; I was
skeptical about purchasing the CD because Medicine are an American
band, and I've found that my personal ratio on the matter is very much
in favor of European music over American music.  Nevertheless, I do
own some CD's authored by American artists, and despite the disappoint-
ing newly-released album by one of my most-preferred U.S. groups, Sonic
Youth, I made the mistake of heeding the advice of Prodigy members in-
stead of trusting my experience.
	I do not endeavor to chide or belittle Chris, but I must argue
that Medicine aren't worthy of the amalgam he used to define them;
a "cross between Sonic Youth and MBV," even a "sort of" one, would
produce something significantly higher in artistic quality than Medi-
cine's slightly more than mediocre _Shot Forth Self Living_.  I cur-
rently take great pleasure in listening to "One More," "A Short Happy
Life," and "Sweet Explosion," and a lesser amount of pleasure in the
case of "Defective," but I don't think that I like these songs enough
to exhalt them for more than a month or two.  _Loveless_ debuted close
to one year ago and I'm still chucking it into the CD player more of-
ten than I am _SFSL_.
	I myself would define Medicine's sound as one which attempts
to reproduce the poppy and more thrash-oriented elements of Shoegaz-
ing rock, which I happen to admire greatly.  Alas, we're discussing
an American band here; the music is more technique than emotion,
with just a dash of contrivance to give it that special Yank flavor.
"Aruca," a song which I've read praised more than once, is the best
example of my reasoning.  Gratuitous noise fluff for close to one
minute, and then * poof *, it's a searingly blatant dance hit for
the remainder of the tune, and what's more, it mimics the song di-
rectly before it in just this fashion, excepting the weak dance riff.
In any case, neither of the two songs even comes close to My Bloody
Valentine's "Soon," a paradigm of Shoegazing dance.
	I suggest that you fellow Usenetters leave _SFSL_ be.  There
are plently of other bands akin to Medicine's sound that better ex-
press themselves; that is to say, more creatively, more uniquely.
This is not a bad CD.  In fact, it's okay.  If you just can't sit
still for the next Slowdive or Valentine or Mercury Rev release...
well, go ahead and be reckless.  If you're an American, you may well
love it (it got "two thumbs and big toes up" from one Prodigy-ist).
But regardless of your nationality, if you DON'T like it, hell, I
told you so.
	Oh, I'm an American myself, by the way, so please, no flames
on that point -- or any other.  I know how some of you Netters like
to go volcano at the slightest provocation.  Let's be intelligent.

						 _m d c_
			  Milo D. Cooper  '92   | 1992  |  mdc@crash.cts.com
						'-------'