Sub Pop put out a St. Etienne comp a year or two ago
called Travel Music that's good for catching up.  The
U.S. issue of their new album mystifies me, as they
snipped "Relocate" a wonderful duet between Sarah
Cracknell & David Essex.

Mike Bennett

--- Stewart Mason <craigtorso@verizon.net> wrote:

> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: <wigout6@juno.com>
> > Pardon my ignorance, but is the album Good Humor
> (which I've been 
> > playing heavily lately) an example of "early St.
> Etienne"?  I think 
> > it's fabulous (esp. Mr. Donut), but don't know
> where it fits into 
> > their discography.  Can someone please provide a
> brief rundown on 
> > their albums, and which others are worth picking
> up?  Thanks in 
> > advance.
> 
> No, GOOD HUMOR is the start of the second St.
> Etienne era, where the 
> records are much less dance oriented and have a
> softer vibe that 
> reflects the trio's shared interests in '60s
> sunshine pop and easy 
> listening stuff.  The albums that have followed are
> in the same 
> general ballpark: those are 2000's SOUND OF WATER,
> 2002's FINISTERRE 
> and last year's TALES FROM TURNPIKE HOUSE, which
> features 
> contributions from David Essex and Tony Rivers.
> (This last has just 
> been released in the states in a much different
> edition than the UK 
> original, lacking the second EP of original
> children's songs, and 
> replacing three tracks with new material.)  I like
> the new one best of 
> what they've done since GOOD HUMOR, followed
> probably by SOUND OF 
> WATER and a bit of a rarity called THE MISADVENTURES
> OF ST. ETIENNE 
> that's the soundtrack of an obscure indie film and
> is therefore mostly 
> atmospheric instrumentals.
> 
> The other three proper St. Etienne studio albums
> (not including EPs 
> and compilations, which are legion) are 1992's
> FOXBASE: ALPHA (one of 
> my favorite albums of all time), 1993's SO TOUGH and
> 1994's TIGER BAY. 
> As I say, FOXBASE: ALPHA is just absolutely magical,
> but it requires a 
> fondness for electronic dance music that you may or
> may not have. 
> However, any album that kicks off with an acid-house
> version of Neil 
> Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" has to be
> reckoned with.  The 
> other two early albums are the weakest of the band's
> career, I think. 
> They don't have the freshness of the debut, and
> they're not as 
> wide-ranging and stylistically diverse as the era
> that started with 
> GOOD HUMOR.
> 
> S
> 
> 


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