The V. Lake Symphony Presents...Two for the Price of One 7"



Nice little chunklet of indie-pop ephemera here. The A-side features what appear to be side projects from the Veronica Lake boys, and the B-side features a band with a self-titled song. As far as I know, none of the bands released anything else. If you know otherwise, do tell. Calling it "Two for the Price of One" is a bit confusing, mind, given there are 4 songs from 3 bands here, but this single was a good deal and heck, it ain't costing you penny the first. Co-released by Winter's Mist and Swing Set in 1993.

Side A mp3: Madison Electric - Shadow of Your Smile
Side A mp3: Madison Electric - Blue as Blue
Side A mp3: Esme's Symphony - Emily Ryan
Side B mp3: The Girl Who Stole the Eiffel Tower - The Girl Who Stole the Eiffel Tower

9 comments:

CP said...

Man, we have the same record collection. And not just because I'm in some of the bands you've posted.

You're correct on the A-side: Tim (Madison Electric, which went on to be his band's name after VL, too) and CP (Esme's Symphony) did these for our friend Clint, who used to run a bunch of fanzines and labels (Bliss, um, some others I can't remember off hand). "Emily Ryan" was about the girl who went on to form Emily's Sassy Lime, which released one album on Kill Rock Stars. I especially like how my "ambient water sounds" at the end of the song actually sound like an egg frying. Yep, pretty much sums up being in an indie-pop band.

And The Girl Who Stole the Eiffel Tower featured Jennifer Silver, who was also a mover & shaker in the 1990s indie-pop world. It was Jen, Clint et moi who put out the Black Tambourine 7-inch on Audrey's Diary.

Have you digitized whole Veronica Lake back catalog now? I can't remember what you have or haven't done, but it's sure been nice to hear the music again. Good times.

CP said...

Duh. Winter's Mist was one of Clint's labels and Swing Set was Jennifer's. It's all slowly coming back to me....

Claire said...

how did you know! i have had that "emily ryan" song in my head for the last three days, despite not having physically played the record in years. madison electric did actually have another single, on the wurlitzer jukebox label, i believe. it's a good one.

Matt said...

first, thanks for this!
second, madison electric contributed one track, "another autumn" to a cowly owl comp called Pop Machine, in 1998. it's an excellent track, and comp in general... if youre interested in hearing it, feel free to email me at 8in05 at gmail.com

matt

Unknown said...

just to add to the trivia--the girl who stole the eiffel tower was a band i invented just so i could play a show at tita and nancy's indie night in orange county, ca. i ended up working with layla gibbon who is (was) in another band with emily ryan a couple of years ago. i hired her at the record store i used to manage because she said her favorite band was huggy bear. at the store i now manage, the east bay depot for creative reuse (don't call it a thrift store) i just found the emily's sassy lime lp in a pile of crap in the back room. spooky. finally, my daughter's name is esme which is primarily inspired by when cp said that it would be a good name for a girl in his zine. or was it tim?

Croc said...

Can we get Tim to reply next? That would complete the circle, wouldn't it?

I don't think this blighter has the same record collection as me, I think he BOUGHT my damn collection.

Brilliant idea and execution on this site/blog, btw. Tell me you have some Flying Saucer Attack on here... wait, I just searched and you DO. Eggcellent!

Yo Jen, Chipper, how's it hanging you two?

Anonymous said...

I know I'm way late to the party, but I just wanted to say thanks for everything. And I want to second Chip's request for all the Veronica Lake stuff (of course his vote has a whole lot more weight than mine).

And how come nobody's put out a CD comp of all the VL singles/comp tracks? Surely someone's thought of doing it before. Of all the bands I used to love, they're the ones most deserving of the honor. Maybe I should set aside a small puddle of money to do that...

And a quick "Hey" to Jennifer. I'm sure you don't r'ber me (former East Bayer in the early oughts), but just thought I'd say hullo. So, uhh, hullo!

tg

Unknown said...

okay, tg, i would probably remember you if i knew what tg stood for. hint?

The Hifi Envelope said...

I know i'm way late in commenting on this, but in response to the arcane model's comment about Madison Electric's single:it was on Quiditty Records which eventually became Drive In records. Awesome single and label! That little three song single had a huge impact on me! Also, how can I get the mp3's for the Two for the Price of One single? I've only just found this fantastic blog and i've looked forever for that single!! Thanks!