Paisley Underground Series, #14: Game Theory- Real Nighttime (1985) MP3 & FLAC

"Send me home counting the chances I've had. I could fill up three digits, 
but that's not what it means to be sad."

While The Paisley Underground is commonly characterized as a bastion of neo-psychedelia (the moniker unfortunately promotes this), as a movement, it was actually diverse enough to include everything from cow-punk to Power-Pop. Another myth about The Paisley Underground is that it was primarily an L.A.-based phenomenon; in reality, many of the core bands in the movement had migrated south, in one form or another, from Davis, CA., which was home to its own vibrant music scene that functioned as something of a precursor to the more famous Paisley scene. Bands such as The Dream Syndicate, True West, Thin White Rope and Scott Miller's Game Theory all got their start, at least to some degree, in the Davis scene. Game Theory, whose sound was predicated more on seventies-style Power-Pop than the psychedelia embraced by many of their contemporaries, formed in Sacramento in 1982 and quickly found themselves playing the same clubs as the bands that would later foment the Paisley scene in L.A. By 1984, they had built up enough of a reputation to attract preeminent Jangle-Pop producer Mitch Easter (who had produced R.E.M.'s brilliant debut Murmur) to man the production booth for their first professionally recorded LP, Real Nighttime. While Miller and co. were clearly in thrall to Big Star and sixties-era Brit-Rock, on Real Nighttime, their brand of Power-Pop is anything but derivative, as it incorporates elements of New Wave such as keyboard textures, smart, often irreverent, lyrics and no lack of odd structural twists and turns. For example, on "24," what at first sounds like a straightforward piece of R.E.M.-style Jangle-Pop quickly turns in to a quirky hybrid of jangly guitars, cascading keyboards, and Miller's sweet lead vocals that occasionally sound Chilton-esque in their upper-register earnestness. Speaking of Alex Chilton, perhaps the album's true highlight is Game Theory's cover of "You Can't Have Me" from Big Star's 3rd. This has never been one of my favorite Big Star songs, but in the hands of Miller and co., it sounds both more developed and more raw. Brief though it is, it ranks with Kendra Smith's version of "Holocaust" from the Rainy Day album as among the best Big Star covers I've heard. Game Theory were one of the more melodically gifted bands of The Paisley Underground, and though they largely avoided overt neo-pyche elements in their sound, their unconventional approach to the Big Star Power-Pop template makes them yet another worthy Paisley (re)discovery.

Paisley Underground Series, #6: R.E.M.- Murmur (1983) Deluxe 25th Anniversary Edition (Bonus Disc) MP3 & FLAC

"Not everyone can carry the weight of the world."

Yes, I realize R.E.M. was not part of the Paisley Underground scene,  but it's impossible to ignore the major role they played in reviving the kind of Garage/Jangle/Power pop mix that became the staple of many American underground music scenes throughout the eighties and into the nineties, L.A. being no exception. With a sound comprised of Peter Buck's McGuinn-inspired jangle, Mike Mills' wonderfully melodic bass-work, Bill Berry's utilitarian drumming, and Michael Stipe's strange gravelly (and often indiscernible) backwoods preacher's vocal delivery, they transformed their myriad influences into a sound that would come to define alternative music throughout much of the eighties and beyond. On Murmur, their now-iconic debut, this sound is less polished and the production more murky than it would be on later recordings, which results in the album feeling quite untethered to its early-eighties context. While much has deservedly been written about brilliant tracks such as "Radio Free Europe" and "Talk About the Passion," the strength of Murmur lies in its lesser-known tracks, which are consistently first-rate because they rarely if ever conform to expectation. For example, "Laughing" starts out with Mills and Berry invoking some Dub-style rhythmic effects until Stipe's vocals come in backed by an acoustic guitar. While this song can certainly be labeled Jangle-Pop, it also boasts a dark minimalist feel that indicates a Post-Punk pedigree. This is even more the case on "9-9," which suggests Gang of Four as the main influence rather than The Byrds; this more abrasive, angular approach is an often overlooked component of R.E.M. 's early albums. Truly, Murmur's influence is incalculable, and taken on its own terms, the album itself continues to be revelatory nearly thirty years down the line.