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Teen-Beat 377.

Flin Flon

Dixie

Cavendish
Cardigan
The Lookoff
Darlings
Trafalgar
Bonnie (Lamb)

Rossignol
Argyle
Annapolis Royal
Skir Dhu
Cardigan (Encore)
Capstick

Compact Disc (CD) ($13,33)

Full-colour slip-case
and 12-page booklet.

Download (FLAC/MP3) ($9,90)

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LINER NOTES

PLAYERS

Matt Datesman, drums

Natalie "Nattles" Mencinsky, bass guitar

Mark Robinson, vocals, guitar

PRODUCED BY

D. Trevor Kampmann

RECORDED BY

D. Trevor Kampmann,

at pulCec, Brooklyn, New York, USA

spring, 2005

DRUMS RECORDED BY

Andy Hong,

at Kimchee, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

January, 2005

MASTERED BY

D. Trevor Kampmann,

at pulCec, Brooklyn, New York, USA

COMPILED AND SEQUENCED BY

Mark Robinson

MUSIC COMPOSITION

Mark Robinson, Matt Datesman, Natalie Mencinsky

© 2006

BMI

except "Darlings" lyrics and vocal melody by

Evelyn Hurley, Mark Robinson

all songs published by Teen-Beat 370

COVER DESIGN AND PHOTOGRAPHY

Mark Robinson, Teen-Beat Graphica

WHALE IMAGE

courtesy New England Whalers (1972)

ET CETERA

The musical instruments used in the recording are documented in the CD BOOKLET:

DRUMS:
Zildjian 15" hi-hat cymbals with Ludwig Spur-Lok hi-hat stand (date unknown).

Ludwig 20" x 14" bass drum with silver pressed foil finish and Remo Weatherking coated Ambassador batter head and ghost pedal (ca. 1968).

Ludwig 12" and 14" tom-toms (ca. 1976) with silver green oyster shell finish and Remo Weatherking clear pinsripe heads (top) and CS batter bottom heads.

Rogers 20" x 5" snare drum with champagne sparkle finish and Remo Weatherking coated Ambassador batter head and clear Ambassador snare bottom head (ca. 1967).

Dixon stool.

Size 5A wood tip sticks by Regal.

Drum dampening by Zeroring.

BASS GUITAR:
Silvertone U1. (ca. 1956).

GUITAR:
Epiphone Genesis. (1980).

AMPLIFICATION:
Kustom 100 amplifier. (ca. 1965).

Both the guitar and bass were played through the same amplifier.

Rehearsal space provided by: Jay Walsh/The Douglas Fir (BOSTON), Charlotte Moore (CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA), In Interview (BROOKLYN, NEW YORK).

Demonstration recordings recorded on McCann Corner, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Alternate mixes of the songs are available on the "Dixie (Version)" vinyl L.P.

"Feet first, murder worse."

"No states, no borders."

REVIEW

"For more than two decades, Mark Robinson has left his bewildering mark on indie rock, most notably in the seminal Unrest, the underrated, if short-lived Air Miami, and now Flin Flon. Robinson's is a quirky legacy. He's just as likely to lovingly spoon-feed you sugary pop as he is to make you take your medicine in the form of uncompromising sonic experiments. Look no further than the shrill, sustained tone of "Volume Reference Control", which introduces Unrest's Imperial f.f.r.r., for an example of Robinson's penchant for noise (and, apparently, tormenting dogs).

On Dixie, Flin Flon's third album since forming in 1997, the band appears to be heading down the same road. To fulfill the experimental quota, the record is book-ended by two punishingly hyperactive drum solos, "Cavendish" and "Capstick", courtesy of drummer Matt Datesman. It's a screwball way to begin and end an album, but it immediately ushers you into the world of Flin Flon -- which hasn't changed much since the last visit. The band still sounds like some precisely engineered machine: slick and polished, but somehow sterile. Datesman's rumbling drums and Nattles' ubiquitous bass create an airless backdrop for Robinson's single-note guitar spikes and chiming chords. Flin Flon are always tight, but these songs are almost choked to death as the band seldom shifts tempo or uses silence or space to add depth to the compositions. One exception is "Trafalgar", which opens with Robinson's brittle, ringing guitar and a more subdued bass line from Nattles. By the time Datesman's percussion enters, it's playing a supporting role instead of indulging in a free-for-all of non-stop fills.

In another peculiar decision, Dixie's drum solos are followed and preceded by alternate versions of the same song, "Cardigan". It's probably the album's standout, but even "Stairway to Heaven" only appears on one side of Led Zeppelin IV. On "Cardigan", Robinson gives us a dose of his oblique lyrics, relying on suggestion rather than anything concrete to describe a rocky relationship: "Rip, torn/ Nice sweater/ Nice fabric/ Nice way to create a distraction." It's an approach that has long served him well and is suited to the music's sharp edges.

The aspiring geographers among Pitchfork's readership may have noticed that every song title mentioned from Dixie refers to a place in Nova Scotia -- or that the band's name itself is a city in Manitoba ("a picturesque mining community and tourist paradise" boasts the city's website). While Robinson's obsession with Canadian place names is pretty weird, it's also an interesting way to think about Flin Flon's music. Like a cartographer who leaves no location on a map unnamed, Flin Flon sticks to familiar territory on Dixie, never truly exploring its sound or venturing into the unknown."
- John Motley, Pitchfork

RELEASE DATE

March 21, 2006

FORMAT

compact disc

LENGTH

29 minutes, 56 seconds

12 tracks

CATALOGUE No.

Teen-Beat 377

DETAILS

2,059 pressed.

INSERT:
Full-colour O-card slip-case printed on coated stock, and full-colour plus Pantone (?) (yellow) 12-page full-colour folder and tray card printed on heavy uncoated stock.

JEWEL CASE:
with clear tray.

LABEL:
green with white text.

Printed and pressed by
Bellwether Mfg., Bloomington, Indiana.

DISCOGRAPHY

SINGLES

Swift Current
Black Bear

ALBUMS

A-O.K.
Boo-Boo
Boo-Boo (Version)
Chicoutimi
Swift Current
Dixie
Dixie (Version)
Et Cetera

COMPILATIONS

1998 Teenbeat Sampler
1999 Teenbeat Sampler
2000 Teenbeat Sampler
2001 Teenbeat Sampler
2002 Teenbeat Sampler
2003 Teenbeat Sampler
Teen-Beat Subscribers' CD, 2003
2004 Teenbeat Sampler
Teen-Beat 20th Commemorative
Teen-Beat Subscribers' CD, 2005
Teen-Beat Subscribers' CD, 2006
Teen-Beat No.1 Record Label
2010 Teen-Beat / Other Music Sampler
Teen-Beat Holiday Card 2010/2011

SOUNTRACKS

CNN/Anderson Cooper theme song

ALSO

Teen-Beat 13th Anniversary Celebrations
Teen-Beat 14th Anniversary Celebrations
Teen-Beat 15th Anniversary Celebrations
Teen-Beat 17th Anniversary Celebrations
Teen-Beat 18th Anniversary Celebrations
Teen-Beat 20th Anniversary Celebrations
Flin Flon Pocket Catalog Postcard
Teen-Beat 21st Anniversary Celebrations
Pocket Catalog [set of four]

RELATED

Air Miami
Grenadine
True Love Always
Unrest

SONGS

Argyle
Argyle (Version)
Anglo Tignish
Anglo Tignish (Version)
Annapolis Royal
Annapolis Royal (Version)
Black Bear
Bonaventure
Bonnie (Lamb)
Bonnie (Lamb) (Version)
Buffalo Narrows
Cape Smokey
Capstick
Cavendish
Cavendish-Capstick (Version)
Cardigan
Cardigan (Version 1)
Cardigan (Version 2)
Chicoutimi
Coddles
Coddles (Version)
Colgate
Darlings
Flatbush
Flin Flon
Flin Flon (Version)
Floods
Floods (Version 1)
Floods (Version 2)
Happy Adventure
Happy Adventure (Version)
Inverness
Inverness (Version)
Jumpers
Jumpers (Version No.1)
Jumpers (Version No.2)
Kamloops
Kamloops (Version)
Leading Tickles
Leading Tickles (Version)
Levis
Linkletter
Linkletter (Version)
The Lookoff
Medicine Hat
Mistaken Point
Mistaken Point (Version)
Mistassini
Moose Jaw
Odessa
Red Deer
Rimouski
Roman Valley Rossignol
Rossignol (Version)
St. Patricks
St. Patricks (Version)
Shuffle Board
Skir Dhu
Skir Dhu (Version)
Swift Current
Swift Current (Version 1)
Swift Current (Version 2)
Trafalgar
Trafalgar (Version)
Trinity
Trinity (Version)
Ukraina
Upper Ferry
Upper Ferry (Version)
Virgin Arm
Virgin Arm (Version)
Whitehorse
Yellowknife