What's Up Matador

Rating

Album: What's Up Matador
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Tom Courtenay - Yo La Tengo
2)	Texas Never Whispers - Pavement
3)	Catholic Education - Teenage Fanclub
4)	For Tension - Superchunk
5)	Vandal-X - Unsane
6)	Splat - Bailter Space
7)	Pat's Trick - Helium
8)	Nude as the News - Cat Power
9)	Tom Boy - Bettie Serveert
10)	Couldn't You Wait? - Silkworm (acoustic)
11)	Don't Buy the Realistic - Spoon
12)	Stratford-On-Guy - Liz Phair
13)	Twiggy Twiggy - Pizzicato Five
14)	Hey Student - The Fall
15)	Bang the Drum - Railroad Jerk
16)	In/Out - Come
17)	Dang - The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
18)	Son of Sam - Chain Gang
19)	Adam & Steve - The Frogs
20)	Unreal Is Here - Chavez
21)	Motor Away - Guided by Voices
22)	Still? - S.F. Seals
23)	My Pal the Tortoise - Thinking Fellers Union Local #282
24)	Water Cuts My Hands - Mecca Normal
1)	Back of Your Head - Cat Power
2)	Strike - Come
3)	One Step Forward - Railroad Jerk
4)	Dig My Shit! - The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
5)	My Thoughts Are a Gas - Guided by Voices
6)	Telamon Bridge - Spoon
7)	Killing Moon, The - Pavement
8)	Hangman - Silkworm
9)	Don't Say a Word - Yo La Tengo (demo version)
10)	Blood of Feeling, The - Barbara Manning
11)	Life Is an Imbecile - Bettie Serveert
12)	Stuck on an Island - Liz Phair
13)	Alfredo's Welcome - The For Carnation
14)	Days Away - Run On
15)	Hurricane Watch - Mecca Normal
16)	Lucy - Helium
17)	Theme from for Russ - Chavez
18)	Small Parade - Tobin Sprout
19)	Trail, The - Bardo Pond
20)	Happy Birthday - Pizzicato Five

Album: What's Up Matador
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Tom Courtenay - Yo La Tengo
2)	Texas Never Whispers - Pavement
3)	Catholic Education - Teenage Fanclub
4)	For Tension - Superchunk
5)	Vandal-X - Unsane
6)	Splat - Bailter Space
7)	Pat's Trick - Helium
8)	Nude as the News - Cat Power
9)	Tom Boy - Bettie Serveert
10)	Couldn't You Wait? - Silkworm (acoustic)
11)	Don't Buy the Realistic - Spoon
12)	Stratford-On-Guy - Liz Phair
13)	Twiggy Twiggy - Pizzicato Five
14)	Hey Student - The Fall
15)	Bang the Drum - Railroad Jerk
16)	In/Out - Come
17)	Dang - The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
18)	Son of Sam - Chain Gang
19)	Adam & Steve - The Frogs
20)	Unreal Is Here - Chavez
21)	Motor Away - Guided by Voices
22)	Still? - S.F. Seals
23)	My Pal the Tortoise - Thinking Fellers Union Local #282
24)	Water Cuts My Hands - Mecca Normal
1)	Back of Your Head - Cat Power
2)	Strike - Come
3)	One Step Forward - Railroad Jerk
4)	Dig My Shit! - The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
5)	My Thoughts Are a Gas - Guided by Voices
6)	Telamon Bridge - Spoon
7)	Killing Moon, The - Pavement
8)	Hangman - Silkworm
9)	Don't Say a Word - Yo La Tengo (demo version)
10)	Blood of Feeling, The - Barbara Manning
11)	Life Is an Imbecile - Bettie Serveert
12)	Stuck on an Island - Liz Phair
13)	Alfredo's Welcome - The For Carnation
14)	Days Away - Run On
15)	Hurricane Watch - Mecca Normal
16)	Lucy - Helium
17)	Theme from for Russ - Chavez
18)	Small Parade - Tobin Sprout
19)	Trail, The - Bardo Pond
20)	Happy Birthday - Pizzicato Five

Performer Notes

Personnel: Jean Smith, Robert Pollard, Sue Garner, Thalia Zedek (vocals, guitar); Tobin Sprout (vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, drums); Isobel Sollenberger (vocals); Alan Licht (guitar, organ); Chris Brokaw, John Gibbons , Michael Gibbons (guitar); Giovanni Fusco (keyboards); Rick Brown (synthesizer, marimba); Joe Culver, Joe Buben, Kevin Coultas, Peter Jefferies (drums).
Audio Mixer: Bryce Goggin.
Recording information: Bearsville Studios, Woodstock, NY (10/09/1992-01/??/1997); Blac Dir (10/09/1992-01/??/1997); Cro-Magnon (10/09/1992-01/??/1997); Fort Apache, Cambridge, England (10/09/1992-01/??/1997); Idful, Chicago, IL (10/09/1992-01/??/1997); Tin Pan Alley, NY (10/09/1992-01/??/1997).
Unknown Contributor Roles: Chris Wagner; Michael Dahlquist; Andy Cohen; Joel Phelps; Joey Waronker; Alain Johannes; Marquis.
Once Sub Pop's roster broke through to the mainstream in the early '90s, its reign as America's premier independent label drew to a close, leaving Matador Records as the definitive indie label of the decade. Matador's period of greatest impact was between 1991 and 1997, which is the time that the double-disc set What's Up Matador chronicles. The budget-priced compilation is designed as both an introduction and as a collector's dream, containing one disc called Favorite Tracks and one disc of unreleased songs. Matador didn't have a signature sound, preferring to cultivate a loose aesthetic that permitted its artists to do whatever the hell they wanted. So, there's the nervous punk of Superchunk, the jangling pop of Bettie Serveert, the fractured pop of Pavement, pure weirdness from the Frogs, mathematical rock from Chavez, disco from the Pizzicato Five, the avant rock of Silkworm, hardcore punk from Unsane, psycho-blues from the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Railroad Jerk, and lo-fi from Guided By Voices and Spoon, along with singer/songwriters like Liz Phair, Helium's Mary Timony, Cat Power, and Barbra Manning/SF Seals. It's an eclectic roster, but it's a rich one, containing many of the best and most important bands of the decade. The first disc runs through the hits quite effectively; for anyone curious about Matador specifically and American indie rock in general, it's an excellent primer. The second disc is for collectors and fanatics, and it does not disappoint. Many of the bands on disc one contribute unreleased songs that never sound like throwaways, and some of the label's newer bands that didn't make the first disc -- Run On, The For Carnation, and Bardo Pond -- are included. With its abundance of strong music and its complete Matador discography, What's Up Matador is an essential purchase for anyone curious about '90s indie rock. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Professional Reviews

Spin (1/98, p.117) - 6 (out of 10) - "...In relation to the larger musical landscape, WHAT'S UP MATADOR means to be the anti-Disneyland: a theme park where the real and authentic are valued over fantasia and spectacle....But a confabulated realness is still confabulated--and worse, it's a small world after all."

Entertainment Weekly (12/19/97, p.79) - "...this double disc paints a colorful portrait of distorted-guitar indie rock of the '90s, and the rarities collected on its second half include choice leftovers from [the Jon] Spencer [Blues Explosion], Cat Power, and Tobin Sprout, among others."

- Rating: B