So it appears that the latest Saint Etienne long player, Tales from Turnpike House, has, at long last, finally been released in the US… but, in typical fashion, the track list for the UK and US versions are different (the US version, in addition to being out of sequence (and having a slightly different cover, too!), adds “Dream Lover” and “Oh My” while deleting “Relocate” and “The Birdman of EC1”—and some pressings of the US release include a bonus disc, too, that’s different than the bonus disc released with the UK/Europe release).
Curiously enough, the US version was relased by a jazz label, not a rock/pop label. It does make a certain amount of sense when you consider that there is no natural home for this kind of sophisticated pop on US radio… which, one supposes, says more about the state of American radio than anything else.
For Saint fans in the US, they’re about to start a mini-tour: New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. The New York opener is the Brooklyn-based indie bossa nova band Mosquitos, another one of my favorite totally obscure bands.
And in other music news, it seems that a lot of pop bands have started making childrens’ records (including the Saint), if only because the kiddie market has been traditionally served by absolute aural pablum…
Previously on pf.org: Janet Leigh, Please Pick Up A White Courtesy Phone
Am I right that the American cover is the darker one that 1) does not have two teenagers sitting on the couch together ('cause you know they might try to fool around); 2) has the person in the room with the TV actually watching it (you can't be in a room with a TV UNLESS you're watching it); 3) does not have a person sleeping in bed (we don't encourage sloth in America); 4) puts the woman in the kitchen on her feet instead of sitting (as it should be); and 5) puts grandma in the top floor ('cause you know, we revere the aged here in America)?
Bleh.