Date: Wed, 10 Dec 1997 22:42:21 -0500 From: Joseph Burns Subject: Re: Spirea X > Very accurate! The specific date was October 28th in the UK. Has > anyone heard the releases from ex-Spirea Adventures In Stereo? Haven't > seen any of their stuff around here but I've been curious... I recently picked up Adventures In Stereo's eponymous blue-cover art disc. Its ok... VERY Beach Boys, which is good and all, but its all vocal melodic harmonic stuff and very little sonic wonder... of course this is all my initial opinion, the disc is still 'on probabtion' and may proove itself later on. Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1998 14:38:40 -0400 From: Jeff Keibel Subject: Sounds from the Spirea X Hi-Fi from CMJ New Music Monthly, July 1998: Formerly known as 4AD's Spirea X, Adventures In Stereo's gentle, loop-based songlets have rarely cracked the two-minute mark, so their new "Down In The Traffic" EP (Creeping Bent) is a shocker - sandwiched between the 90-second title track and the 45-second "Down To The Sky" is the epic "Down In The City", almost seven minutes long, which expands on their trademark production tricks to include a coiling, biting guitar solo, dynamic growth and some amazing horn arrangements. Further listening reveals that the first and third tracks are actually brief variations on aspects of "Down In The City", and that all kinds of instruments are concealed within the density of the mix. The centerpiece sounds like it's coming through a transistor radio with messed-up EQ late at night, with splices as audible as the ones in the Beach Boys' "Heroes And Villains", but that really works as a suggestion of a pop song so grand that it can only be understood as a magnificent ruin. It's the culmination of everything AIS has done to date. by Douglas Wolk Too bad 4AD couldn't have picked up Adventures In Stereo after the demise of Spirea X. What a great review! Date: Thu, 6 Aug 1998 17:51:05 -0400 From: Jeff Keibel Subject: Recent purchases I just found the "Alternative Stereo Sounds" album from Adventures In Stereo, who used to be known as Spirea X on 4AD in the dark early years of the 90's. It was a staggering CDN$34.99, which is normal for imports in this nation and frustrating considering our dollar is now lower than some emerging African nations. Anyways, I found the album to be enjoyable. It was more light accustic 60's female voiced pop (from Spirea alumni Judith Boyle) than the Sirea X sound but it is a perfect summer pop album. None of the 18 songs last too much longer than two minutes, which can be rough if you're just getting into it only to have it end. The album is the genuis of ex-Spirea frontman Jim Beattie and while it may not get a US release, search out the album on Scotland's Creeping Bent label. BENT030CD Date: Fri, 7 Aug 1998 00:19:23 -0500 From: the boy in zinc Subject: Re: adventures in stereo _alternative stereo sounds_ just recently got a u.s. release, so you shouldn't have to pay the staggering import prices jeff got suckered into paying... i forget what label it's on...oh wait, it's on bobsled, the same label that put out their last u.s. single...imo, the new album isn't as good as the "blue" album, which compiled their early singles; or even as good as the "yellow" album, which was a bootleg release of spirea x demos... though i suppose it's a suitable introduction given its u.s. release and thus lower cost...