**AN APPRECIATION PAGE** Floating serenely through the ether, Kendra Smith has inhabited many hues of psychedelia, from the primary paisley feedback scrawl of the Dream Syndicate (which the onetime bassist co-founded with Steve Wynn in 1981) to the swirly translucence of Opal (a group with ex-Rain Parade guitarist David Roback that transmuted into Mazzy Star upon her 1988 departure), the stonewashed pale Velvet folk-rock of the informal Guild of Temporal Adventurers to the shiny, thickly applied pop art surfaces of her solo album. Smith and Roback initially formed Clay Allison with drummer Keith Mitchell (ex-Green on Red/Romans) and guitarist Juan Gomez. Gomez and the moniker (borrowed from a Western film character) lasted for one 7-inch single, after which the remaining three recorded two new songs to flesh out the lovely and understated Fell From the Sun — on which Smith's vocals meld handsomely with the subtle mood music, a pleasant drone of translucent elegance that resembles the Velvet Underground at their most restrained — and then renamed themselves Opal. Clinging to neo-psychedelia even as many of their Los Angeles scene compatriots moved on to other fads, Opal recorded a 1985 12-inch, one full album and enough leftovers to fill the posthumous Early Recordings.
Smith exited the group in the middle of the Happy Nightmare tour, which prompted the posthumous Early Recordings. It gathers outtakes, the four Fell From the Sun tracks, plus "Northern Line" and "Empty Bottles" from the three-song 12-inch. Early Recordings concentrates on Opal's acoustic side; the spare production adds a chilling closeness to Smith's vocals, and Roback's guitar noodlings feel loose and uncontrived. The previously unissued tracks, especially "Empty Box Blues" and "My Only Friend," have a casual, unrestrained grace. The CD appends "Hear the Wind Blow."
ira robbins/karen schoemer- Trouserpress
STEVE WYNN & the MIRACLE 3 perform MEDICINE SHOW 25th Anniversary of the seminal Dream Syndicate album “Medicine Show”. New York and Los Angeles shows only!
SAT. JUNE 27 - NEW YORK @ The Bell House (Park Slope, Brooklyn) Steve Wynn & the Miracle 3 @ 9:30 Paramount Styles (feat. Scott McCloud of Girls Against Boys) @ 8:30 Doug Gillard (of Guided by Voices and Death of Samantha) @ 7:30 http://www.thebellhouseny.com
SAT. JULY 9 - LOS ANGELES @ The Echo (Echo Park) Steve Wynn & the Miracle 3 @ 9:30pm The Urinals @ 8:30pm http://www.attheecho.com
yo how have you been? your page is looking awesome! anyhow, i just grabbed some sweet new ringtones off www.tonetomyphone.info for FREE! they have the tightest stuff!
I took out one of my opal singles yesterday to listen to , the one that has frieght train and thats such an awesome song! I don't know if it was on early recordings or not cause i have 4 songs missing from that album, I got a copy of it but not the orginal since it is out of print and going for 75 bucks, even though its a very good album i'm not paying 75 dollars to some greedy smuck for it, hell kendra won't ever sell it for 75 any way. Frieght train is an awesome, again. I ended up listening to most of the opal stuff i have, well thats not on happy nightmare at like 3 o clock in the morning
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