Polvo

Do you remember Polvo? Yeah, probably not, as I reckoned. They were a strange fucking lot, from North Carolina, inked to Merge and then Touch & Go, friends with Sooyoung Park, etc. Guitarist Ash Bowie was once a part of Mary Timony's famed indie band Helium. I remember the first time I heard them was in the nearly-famous Sound Splash on Okeechobee Blvd. in glorious West Palm Beach, FL. Must've been 'round 1992 or so, and I checked out their debut long playing record called Cor Crane Secret. I couldn't figure out if they were shoegazers, indie rockers who couldn't tune for shit, Husker Du-lovers, an American band who should have signed to the UK's Too Pure, or all of the above. It was a glorious fucking mess...there was definite melody but, fuck me, it was just so messy. Their next long player, Today's Active Lifestyles, was another kick in the pants of poppy math rocky noise. They broke up around about 1999 or so. I'm sure their instruments are still out of tune, even if they are all playing on their own now.

• Cor Crane Secret 1992 Merge Records

• Today's Active Lifestyles 1993 Merge Records

• Celebrate The New Dark Age 1994 Merge Records

A Polvo fansite

Bloody Hell, Pt. 1

Fuck me, but I finally heard Justin Timberlake's new single, "Sexyback", on the radio tonight. I love the fucking song. Seriously. I need help now. It's infectuous and, well, sexy.

Also, whilst listening to WCCC's 80's At 8 show, they played my favorite Ratt song ever, which is, of course, "Back For More".

Wow.

Sambassadeur

This album is nearly a year old, and I'm willing to bet that most, if not all of us, in the Hartford area has never heard it before. Sambassadeur are a part of the Malmo, Sweden-based Labrador Records pedigree (pun intended), along with Acid House Kings and The Radio Dept. The sound is the usual Swedish twee sound, if Sarah Records was still in the biz and leaving Bristol, UK for Sweden. Lush, shimmering pop with pretty vocals that remind one of Saint Etienne one moment and fellow Swedes Cinnamon and The Cardigans the next. Does anyone remember a 4AD band called Swallow? Probably not, but I swear that "New Moon" reminds me of Swallow's "Sugar Your Mind". The dog days of summer are here, and Sambassadeur's self-titled album is perfect pop for mostly now people.

Labrador Records, 2005

Sambassadeur Myspace
"New Moon" MP3

Hello

Space Blues, the name, is lifted from a song by 80's UK postpunk band Felt.

Space Blues, the blog, is on the internet for the sole purpose of offering news and reviews on the forgotten music, those bands local to Hartford/New Haven that do not crank out cover tunes in sports bars. Additionally, it is a place to discuss the kinds of bands, records, etc. that CT-area newspapers and blogs sometimes forget to mention. In no way is that a swipe to their choices of subjects. All I am saying, pretty baby, is that there are several thousand bands that never get a write-up or a concert date in our state, and often times they are worthy enough of being written about for all of us to see.

"I will be the first person in history to die of boredom..."
Lawrence, 1986