Happy Birthday Miki!

On this date in 1967, Miki Berenyi is born.

The world didn't immediately take notice of this significant day 44 years ago... but eventually, in time, it would ;)

We hope she spends a splendid day with her family and friends.

Happy Birthday Miki!

Windsor :: March 16, 1991

Twenty years ago...

Lush plays The Old Trout, Windsor on March 16, 1991, with The Cacti Tribe.

Support Reissues of LUSH

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/lush

"Lush's brilliant albums deserve to be digitally remastered and/or reissued. Lets get these obscure gems into the light and give them attention they deserve!"

You can easily sign-in using your Facebook profile like I did, or register through the petition site to show your support.

New Cross :: March 15, 1991

Twenty years ago...

Lush plays at The Venue, New Cross, London, along with Blur and Moose.

There was a bootleg video recording made of this gig. And through the miracle of internet technology, you can witness a video download courtesy of Kevin over at The Sound of Indie:

Lush – Thoughtforms (Live Video)

The Venue
Newcross, London, UK
3.15.91

SETLIST:
1 Bitter
2 Breeze
3 Take
4 Scarlet
5 Ocean
6 Monochrome
7 Thoughtforms
8 Tiny Smiles
9 Downer
10 Covert
11 De-Luxe
12 Baby Talk
13 Etheriel
14 Sweetness And Light


And finally...
This review of the event by Andy Peart was published in the March 23 edition of an unknown publication:

Warwick :: March 14, 1991

Twenty years ago...

Lush performs it's opening gig for a busy year of touring. They play at Warwick University, Warwick, along with the James Taylor Quartet.

The Early Lush Demos :: 1988, '89

Pretend that you just happened to lay your hands on a copy of the original demo tapes from Lush. Actually you don't have to, because it's provided to you right here and now, free for the taking. You can d/l all of the demo tracks (found on another blog) here: The Early Lush Demos :: 1998, '99 - The dates as listed on the bootleg for the demos obviously are incorrect. This should be dated '1988,'89'.

Note! This bootleg includes a track attributed simply as "Emma Vocals" (demo II). Emma emphatically refutes that the vocals are her's in a comment made on the YouTube video, and states that this is not a Lush song. Listen to the track yourself, "Emma Vocals" sounds oddly out of place compared to the other tracks. I don't believe this is a demo by Lush at all.

Album: Early Demos
Release: Unreleased
Label: N/A

TRACKLIST
Demo I
(recorded between March-October 1988 w/ Meriel Barham, Emma, Miki, Steve and Chris)

1. Grotesque (band's title is "Female Hybrid" see the March 1 post )
2. Truth Or Fiction
3. Skin
4. Sunbathing

After they cut the above four-song demo, Meriel left the band to join the Pale Saints.

Demo II
(first two tracks likely recorded in early 1989, w/ Miki, Emma, Steve and Chris)

1. Etheriel
2. Second Site (Second Sight)
[3. Emma Vocals] (according to Emma herself, this is NOT Emma singing and should not be considered as a recording made by Lush!)

Lush sent this second demo tape off to 4AD, One Little Indian, Rough Trade and Mute, before heading off on a mini-tour with House Of Love in May 1989.

Lost Fansites Revisted

Many great sites paying hommage to Lush have been googled over the past decade-plus, a few have matured in to sites befitting the band, others have persisted only as time capsules forgotten by their creators, and most have just come and gone. Web providers revise services, get bought out, and ultimately all those homepages often get erased.

A select few of these sites were top-notch in their day, but like the band, they have ceased to be... or maybe we've just forgotten them?

Lush Images from Fanclub gig, Dublin Castle, Camden, December 1994

These are a few images which I grabbed back in 2005, I've long forgotten where they originated from until I chanced upon them again quite accidentally tonight! They're a wonderful showcase of live images of the band, up close and personal, very beautifully and professionally displayed, somewhat reminiscent of 4AD album art. Thankfully they're still up, hosted on Lysa's Lush page.

If you're out there - Thanks to Brian, the photographer/artist, and Lisa for keeping these and her site up all these years!

update: After corresponding with Bill of Lush Remembered I learned that the full set of the original scans used for the 'collages' where also posted on his site. He would greatly like to get in touch with the photographer.





The Lush Archives back in 2003 was an early repository of band photos, many seen no where else on the web. For the first time a fans were creating professional looking sites, this one for sharing a wealth of what was then considered high-quality scans instead of those tiny little gifs in circulation since the '90s.

Miki, Chris and Phil jamming furiously in Cologne, May 12 1992.

These live gig photos were featured on another site... but who's? Sorry, but I can longer say. I made these grabs back in 2003.

Drinks on her Boss pedals? hmmm, maybe that's why Miki's smiling!

Emma, Miki and Steve from various gigs

Yet another fan site with more great live shots, and another time capsule that's fading. Check out Sweetfoolthemouth site and SAVE those live gig photos -- before the last of the image links are gone forever.

update: The photographer is Jo Brooks, who was also heavily involved in photographing other bands, especially the Pale Saints. She's is still web-active with her blahg discussing such things as Life, and occasionally even Lush & Pale Saints.

Snippet from an old removed Sweetness & Light .mov file

Back before there was YouTube, we had the Superblast! site, the only place many of us had for viewing those glorious music videos. The site still remains online. But for how much longer though is up to the service provider to decide. Until the inevitable plug is pulled, its a reminder that not only have we persisted, but just how far the fan community has come along.




So, who created the pioneering sites? Neil's was certainly there, as well as Eyesore (now mantained at Quimby's), Downer, and of course Lysa's Lush site...

Back in 1997 when I first logged online with a primitive AOL 2.0, one of my daily destinations in addition to the above sites was the Lush message board, moderated by someone called Miki (no, not that Miki). It was all fun, all fan-run, if only visited by a handful. Today we have Purpleveinsscenicgreens on Yahoo groups, lovingly run by Jen, boasting a membership of over 400 now.

Things age and things change, but hopefully for the better with time.




If you were connected to any of the sites mentioned above, or know of any more details pertaining to them, please let me know!

Mikicon

Obamicon.Me MIKI by sbca1995
http://tinyurl.com/nbccgy
'MIKI'
Webicon created by sbca1995

...and then you can order any of the generated art on the site as a t-shirt or a mug. You can do yourself if that suits you ;P

Finally found it...

A copy of the incredibly famous "Alphabet Soup" music fanzine, published by the pre-Lush team of Emma and Miki.

This scan of a cover was posted with a comment for a thread right over here on  Word Magazines.

Hope nobody minds my sharing of their sharing. Just keep it away from grannies and goths.

losanjealous.com: Lush Record Signing at Aron's Records '92

Looks like they had quite a line backed up - wish I was in Los Angeles that day! Photo Flashback: Lush Record Signing at Aron’s Records, 1992

Emma and Miki on 'Formative 5' Update

Reposting this newsworthy bit from Brian over on Purpleveinsscenicgreens group:

Just a quick update... for those interested Miki and Emma are
recording their "Formative 5" segment for The Golden Age of Piracy on
RRR 102.7FM (Melbourne) tonight (10 March). It should go to air in a
couple of weeks time. I'll post the air-date as soon as its
confirmed. Miki and Emma will be speaking about 5 songs they loved
which helped inspire and/or shape the sound of Lush. Or even just
songs they were listening to at that time. Should be an interesting
hour!

You'll be able to stream the segment via their website (see below).

The show goes to air on Wednesdays 10PM-12AM here in Australia so
visit the World Clock Meeting Planner to find out what time that is
in your neck of the wood, if you want to tune in from somewhere else
in the world

STREAM: http://www.rrr.org.au/programs/streaming/

WORLD CLOCK: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html

Lush/J&MC Lollapalooza '92

Time to get back to that list of bootlegs I'd started...

"Lollapalooza '92 - Lush/Jesus & Mary Chain" isn't quite a bootleg, it's an actual production quality cd, but neither is it an official Lush release either. For that reason it's grouped along with the usual bootlegs.

This cd was also offered as a three-disc set including Pearl Jam, Sound Garden?.... well, you get the general idea. This one's still a comparatively common find to obtain online.

As far as the recording goes, the note on the back of the jewel case sums it up: "We apologize for the fact that this recording is not up to the standards of other KTS recordings..."

I wouldn't consider this as being ranked among the best myself. The sound quality is good, but the comments of the crowd are often more clearly audible than what's coming from the stage. And some of it not exactly flattering. The band plays a clean, tight set though the majority of the audience were not there to see Lush, but for Pearl Jam which immediately followed after. They're aware that they're facing a hostile audience, which lingers over the performance (at least it seems like it does, compared to others I've heard). Remember, up to this time Lollapalooza was among the biggest events that Lush had played, it would have been both thrilling and terrifying at the same time to have been in the spot they were placed into.

With that said, there were much better performances from Lush during the Lollapalooza tour. These were obviously overlooked by KTS in its eagerness to only cash-in on the Pearl Jam-Jarheads band wagon.

Sorry! Did I let that slip-in? But I've never had any use whatsoever for pretentious musicians (and their followers) of any genre. Can you tell? :)


Recorded live in Miami, Florida August 22, 1992.
Produced by KTS, Italy, released 1992
18 tracks evenly split

SETLIST:
1 Stray/Bitter
2 Nothing Natural
3 For Love
4 Superblast!
5 Covert/ De-Luxe
6 Downer
7 Sweetness and Light
8 New Song (*the unidentified track is 'Starlust')
9 Leaves Me Cold

- the remaining 9 tracks are of the Jesus & Mary Chain, which are not too shabby by the way.

Lush : Female Hybrid (demo)

I've finally, finally got a recording to post on YouTube (my movie editor and I have had issues). Not sure why the band image is placed off center, but I'm just happy to get anything up at this point.

This is one of the early Lush demos with Meriel Barham on lead vocals before she went on to join the Pale Saints.

This demo has also been shared under the title "Grotesque" (demo I) on a bootleg currently in circulation, including on YouTube. So being the little pita nit-picker that I am, I u/led the same song under the name used by the band - "Female Hybrid" is the commonly accepted Lush title.

I can proove it too :P

Steve, the founding bassist:

"I went down to an audition at this place behind the Holloway Road,' he continues. 'They (Lush) were possibly the worst group I'd ever seen in my life. It was an absolute cacophony. The songs were really simple and had titles like 'Female Hybrid', 'See-Saw' and 'He's A Bastard'. I thought, yeah, I can play bass to this."

Lush :: SUNY Purchase :: March 1991

Hearn Images, Ltd. @ flickr
A preview of what's coming up as Lush emabarks on its second US tour in 1991. Here's the band performing at the SUNY Purchase Performing Arts Center, March 21, 1991 as photographed by James Hearn.

This is probably one of the best professionally shot documentary sets of the band I've ever seen, consisting of 94 previously unpublished photos, both behind-the-scenes and on-stage.