I Think.....
26 December

Now that it appears that the music buying public has tired of oasis the question has to be not what will be 'the next big thing' but surely how long it is going to be before we get so tired of the manufactured blandness of the teeny bands that we start to long for the good old days of britpop again. Sure, as a phenomenon it was a bit of a manufactured circus itself, but for every ten dodgy albums by sleeper or cast there was at least one genuine quality act slipping through. Bands such as ocean colour scene and the bluetones ARE genuinely talented acts but such was the pressure put on them by record companies that the became caricatures of themselves by continually walking round and round in their own footprints.

Sadly for oasis fans, noel gallagher did exactly the same thing. But where oasis were different was in that they didn't stop writing quality songs, they just forgot how to produce them. Be here now is not the awful album which heralded the end of the guitar band explosion, it was merely longwinded for the sake of it. Put neatly it is an album full of digsy's dinners that noel attempted to turn into champagne supernovas. Champagne supernova and the masterplan are songs which deserve epic treatment - they wouldn't work otherwise - but to try and turn songs like all around the world into the timeless classics that went before is to do an injustice to a decent melody.

So don't let anyone tell you that guitar music has gone away, even if westlife do get another number one on sunday, it hasn't - it's just a matter of taking the leads out of the effects pedals and getting back to basics - good tunes by great bands.

by: Ian Reid

WHY RECORD AT BARK?
Undoubtedly a major reason is the opportunity to work with the excellent technical team - renowned producer Brian O'Shaughnessy and talented engineer Paul Middleton are based at the studio. The superb results achieved at Bark by a favourite band may be another lure. However, as many bands, managers, and record companies have realised, Bark Studio is simply an affordable, relaxed and comfortable working environment, free from hassle and distractions.

THE CLIENTS
Primal Scream, Its Jo and Danny, Beth Orton, East 17, Kevin Rowland, The Kynd, Fraff, Billy Mahonie, Lonnie Donegan, Albert Lee, Hillman Minx, The Coal Porters, Shampoo, Sleeper, Dodgy, St.Etienne, Spring, Whiteout, Denim, Birdie, The Rockingbirds, Plaza, Pimp, Idha, Peter Astor, Heidi Berry, Baxendale, GoKart Mozart, East Village, Moose, Mexico 70, My Bloody Valentine, Sony Records, RCA, A&M, EMI, Creation, London, Heavenly, DeConstruction, Ultimate, Indolent, Echo, Sub Pop, and others too numerous to mention

address:
1a Blenheim Road LONDON E17 6HS
call now on 0208 523 0110

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From Vu: It looks like the studio they used for SMART (same era with Indolent, Shampoo, and Dodgy!), I know that THE IT GIRL was recorded at Townhouse Studios. Brian O'Shaughnessy sounds VERY familiar, anyone care to remind me ? Yeah, I'm too chicken to contact the studio to ask, because y'know I might be barking up the wrong tree ;). Please leave note at the usual place.

Oh, and Happy New Year.

A little Jon Stewart news: I was doing my radio show, Saturday night Dec. 16th when I got a call on the request line from none other than. He was driving back to LA from Vegas for a quick trip with four UK friends. He asked me to send a shout out to his crew, so I did & played a set for them. He called me the next day from LAX asking if I had a tape of the show because the guys really dug it. So I'm sending it of to him today. He's living in Brighton now, a really cool town.

You may already know these sites, but I was surfing the web for "Pleased to Meet You" and the big music online stores (Barnes and Noble, Amazon don't have it and CDNow is so expensive) so I found these sites that sell Sleeper cds, vinyl, singles, etc. Some are British so the prices are in pounds, but I thought you might like to have them for yourself or your site.

www.alternativemusic.com (CD $22.99)
www.fantasticplastic.co.uk (Promo CD £6.00/$9.00)
www.woolworths.co.uk (£15.29/$19.00)
www.xrecords.com (??)

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Vu's additions (I've bought from the following before):
www.vsmusic.com (some rare Sleeper singles are for sale)
www.cduniverse.com (Pleased to Meet You CD - $17.18)
www.buy.com (on order, Pleased to Meet You CD $17.95)
www.towerrecords.com (on order, Pleased to Meet You CD $18.99) (type in the code "SMARTSVR28" at checkout and take $10 off any order of $40, note: I have never ordered from Towerrecords.com, but I have shopped at some of their location in California.)
www.everythingenglish.com (no Sleeper items currently)
Update: www.hmv.co.uk (Pleased to Meet You CD: £ 8.49/$12.00) (thanks to Hazard)

27.11.00
New around, a Louise Wener gallery building site just started at
http://expage.com/louisewener.

Q7.1 - What bands does The Cure like?
Robert: Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Nick Drake, Supergrass, Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins, Ride, Jesus and Mary Chain, Mazzy Star, Cocteau Twins, Beastie Boys, Dinosaur Jr., Cranes, Manic Street Preachers, Sleeper, Heather Nova, My Bloody Valentine, Joy Division, Nirvana...

12-31: NOTE: Sleeper Bootlegs are NO LONGER FOR SALE.

The PLEASED TO MEET YOU COLLECTION Discs are finally done !!!

Package Holiday: Buy all deluxe discs (SMART COLLECTION, IT GIRL COLLECTION, and PLEASED TO MEET YOU COLLECTION) for $44.

If you are confused about prices, just ask me. I tried and make it as easy as possible, etc. All CDs are sent via first class, unless you specifically ask for Priority Mail or any other type of US Postal plans, such as insurance, etc. Priority Mail is generally $3.20 per shipment and Insurance is 85 cents.

Yesterday was my birthday, I've been super busy the last couple of days. I can't ship anything out today, as it is Thanksgiving. Thank you for understand, and thank you for all your support !

It was super fun doing this.

How to pay:
Credit Cards

Paypal information: vu@dork.com, NGUYEN

Paypal is now International. Accepting 25 Countries outside the US.

Others
Checks, Money Orders, Cash, etc:
VU NGUYEN
8349 QUEEN CT N
BROOKLYN PARK, MN 55444-1515
USA

US Funds Please !

Questions ???? ASK ME: vu@dork.com

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On Sale Now: $12 (plus $1 shipping) CD-R only: $5 (plus $1 shipping) Sleeper Smart Collection WENER001CD Alice In Vain (single) Ha Ha You're Dead Big Nurse Swallow (single) Twisted (single) One Girl Dreaming Lady Love Your Countryside (single) Bedside Manners Tatty Bedhead (live) Alice In Vain (live) Swallow (live) Gorgeous and Fully Equipped Little Annie Disco Duncan Bank Vegas (single) Hymn To Her It's Wrong of You to Breed Close Delicious (acoustic) Pyrotechnician (I Think I Love You)

On Sale Now: $12 (plus $1 shipping) CD-R only: $5 (plus $1 shipping) Sleeper The It Girl Collection WENER002CD Paint Me Room at the Top Disco Duncan (live) Vegas (live) Amuse (live) Package Holiday Oh Well Atomic Pokerface Blazer Sleeves Inbetweener (live) Ugly Bleeder (Shirehorses with Sleeper) She's a Sweetheart Spies Other End of the Telescope Statuesque (box off mix) Atomic (wubble u mix) Atomic (rapino mix)

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On Sale Now: $19 (free first class shipping) Audio Disc Only: $12 (plus $1 shipping; includes artwork) CD-R only: $10 (plus $1 shipping; 2 discs) Sleeper Pleased to Meet You Collection WENER003CDA Come On Come On I'm A Man This is the Sound of Someone Else What Do I Get ? When Will You Smile Cunt London Nice Guy Eddie (peel session) What Do I Do Now? (evening session) Motorway Man (artic mix) Motorway Man (artic.dub mix) Atomic (wubble u instrumental) Atomic (rapino instrumental) What Do I Do Now? (Elvisi Costello) Disco Duncan (BBC)

Sleeper Companion Video Disc WENER003CDB Sleeper Video Collection Swallow Delicious Inbetweener (UK) Vegas Inbetweener (US) What Do I Do Now ? Sale Of The Century Nice Guy Eddie Statuesque UK TV commercial, The It Girl Nice Guy Eddie (live) She's A Good Girl Romeo Me Bonus Videos Alice In Vain (Live) - Glastonbury, 23 Jun 1995 Sale of the Century (US edit) - From Arista Drive-In Promo Sleeper MP3s: Sleeper - Leeds (9 Apr 96) Dress Like Your Mother Lie Detector Vegas Sale of the Century Nice Guy Eddie What Do I Do Now? Bedhead Feeling Peaky Inbetweener Delicious Sleeper - Oxford (28 Oct 97) Inbetweener Romeo Me Firecracker What Do I Do Now? Superclean Lie Detector She's a Good Girl Traffic Accident Nice Guy Eddie Please Please Please Sale of the Century Rollercoaster Sleeper MP3s Alice In Vain (single) Ha Ha You're Dead Big Nurse Glue Ears MORE !!

The Lamacq Live Ash Song Download
Nov 19 2000

This is where you can download the new Ash recording
'Warmer than Fire'

Tim Wheeler wrote it with Session featured band Little Hell

The real Ash comback single will be in the New Year... in the meantime this track is not going to be in the shops...

It's only available as a download...

You can both listen online and you can DOWNLOAD THE SONG (MP3 - 2.9Mb)

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Steve Lamacq, as you may remembered have remixed "Statuesque", from the single of Statuesque CD 2.

Statuesque (The Boxed Off Mix)
(L.Wener)
Remixed by Steve Lamacq
Engineered by Fulton Dingly

Louise Wener (Sleeper frontwoman who's never short of a few words.) "I really like it - it's odd, it's quirky. It's very him. And I'm glad, because it's very nerve-wracking when you get someone to do a remix. What do you say if you don't like it ? well does Steve. Yes, I definitely think he should do more remixes."

Steve Lamacq (Evening Session DJ and Select columnist.) "Martin Carr was originally going to do it but he was too busy, so I stopped in as a late substitute. I'd never done anything like this before, so I went into the studio for 12 hours and it scared the life out of me. All you need is a vague plot before you arrive and tons of ideas and you don't really go too far wrong. "Still, I am very bloody pleased with it."

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Kris Needs
(Secret Knowledge honcho, esteemed remixer.)
"As far as Sleeper are concerned, it's just Blondie, jumping around on the spot, harmless indie fodder. At least Steve's trying to inject some sleazy action in there with his mix, but it sounds too much like Opus III's 'It's a Fine Day'. You might get away from playing it at the Heavenly Social but for most clubs it's not going to get a look in. mind you, if you're given a cheesy non-song it's difficult to come up with a dance monster."
Steve: 5/10

Richard James
(Aphex Twin. Remix CV includes Lemonheads, Saint Etienne and, more recently Mike Flowers.)
"Steve Lamacq, who is he? Oh right, a DJ. Nah, don't like it. I'm not sure what he's trying to do but it sounds pretty unprofessional. He hasn't created anything, just thrown a few things around and gets no marks for originality."
Steve: 1/10

Justin Robertson
(Withington-resident, Sherlock Holmes nut. Has remixed Bjork, Happy Mondays etc.)
"The Sleeper original is just a piss-poor Blondie out-take - pretty appalling. If it was me I would have ditched them completely and totally done the song from scratch. It's not ham-fisted and it has its moments, but Steve probably likes them too much to destroy the track, which is the only way to treat it."
Steve: 2/10 ("But it's not really his fault.")

Dave Clarke
Taut techno DJ, has reworked The Chemical Brothers, Inner City and the Mission: Impossible theme to eminently largin' effect.)
"That Lamacq remix reminded me of an early Weatherall mix with Zion Traintype reverberation on the voice - very dubby. To be honest, I prefer the original and that's not saying much."
Steve: 4/10

David Holmes
(Cinematic dancescape-dealer. Mixes include St Etinne, System 7 and Monkey Mafia.)
"That Lamacq mix... I like the way he's put the funk back into the track. Considering it's his first remix he's done really well with the way the beats work and stuff. It's just that I can't stand the original and there's no getting away from that."
Steve: 7/10

Alex Reece
(Cocktail-hour drum 'n' bass peddler)
"That Sleeper song is atrocious and that remix is weird to say the least. I don't know whether Steve's trying to be a dancefloor with his breakbeats and heavy bass or what, but it's a strange one. It's like a remix I'd do, where you sack most of the vocals and write a brand-new track. The track's definitely not shit. He's made Sleeper listenable, which is to be applauded."

Yahoo Club: Louise Wener Club - The IT Girl

Another club for Sleeper/Wener. Lots of pictures borrowed from this website... It needs to tone down on the color scheme!

Related

Yahoo Club: Sleeper stuff - I'm not afraid of you you're very nice in fact
The first Sleeper Yahoo club.

Pleased to Meet You Collection CD will finally start to roll ! Special thanks to Aaron Sumner for digitising all the Sleeper videos from the Sleeper Video Collection (NTSC) onto Quicktime's MOV format, and also Randy O., for sending me a copy of Arista's "Sale of the Century" (US edit) MOV.

So what's the problem ? There are only enough spaces for two videos (roughly 40 megs per), so I can only put two movies on one disc. I have a solution, however, maybe we can make this a double-disc collection. Sort of like a companion disc. I have looked into these double-cd case ($2 each); they swing open to reveal an additional slot for another cd. The other problem is that this will push the cd cost from $12 to about $19 (printed label are about $3 to print and cd case $2 plus the cd-r about $2) !! Well let me know what you guys think, if there aren't enough people interested in a companion video-only cd, then we'll have to settle on just two videos. In either case, I need your input to what goes on the disc !

Again, sorry for the delays. Hopefully, I will get enough responses by the 19th of November, say ? My deadline is 22 Nov, so I will need all the details/emails by Nov 20 before I go out to buy about 30 double cd jewel case costing me about $60 !

Also, on the back label of each CD sleeve will be hand numbered from 1 to 30, indicated only 30 will be made and sold (deluxe edition). The stripped version, as mentioned earlier, are unlimited, but will not be sold after Dec 31st.

One last thing, I'm sorry I haven't been so responsive on emails, I do get and read them, but I figure to answer everyone's questions about the 3rd CD, that I will just announce it here for you to read. I will go back and personnally email everyone who's written when I get a break from work (I have been working seven days a week and it really, really sucks.) Email me here vu@dork.com. Yes, that email works.

Here are the videos to choose from:

1. Swallow - West London pub basement, Jan 94
2. Delicious - Greenhouse Studio rec room, London May 94
3. Inbetweener - South London supermarket, Jan 95
4. Vegas - Southend Airport, May 95
5. Inbetweener (US version) - Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, June 95
6. What Do I Do Now ? - Woolwich warehouse, Sept 95
7. Sale Of The Century - East London sound stage, April 96
8. Nice Guy Eddie - London, July 96
9. Statuesque - Los Angeles, August 96
10. UK TV commercial, The It Girl, Oct 96
11. Nice Guy Eddie - live visuals, Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Nov 96
12. She's A Good Girl - London, August 98
13. Romeo Me - London, Oct 98

14. Alice In Vain - Live Glastonbury, 23 Jun 1995

Please note: Statuesque, She's a Good Girl and Romeo Me are not very good as the original tape did not record well as it had copy-right protection. But it is still kind of neat to view if you haven't seen these videos before. In addition, I have some other videos you guys might want to see: Supergrass "Pumping on Your Stereo", Suede - "Saturday Night", "Beautiful Ones", "Can't Get Enough", Morrissey - "Sunny", Elastica - "Maddog" and Radiohead - "Lucky" (live). I will put some of these on if there are enough room on the companion disc.

I had someone at an import/rarities service check on the "Pleased to Meet You" album, and he said that while he could get me one, his data said the album was earmarked for an upcoming US release, although he couldn't say when, so I don't know if his information was current or way out of date.

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I don't think this is current. Basically when the big music merger happened (see the BMG picture), Indolent Records was dropped, along with it, Sleeper. Actually, from what I understand, Sleeper was kept by BMG Records, but it would have meant working with an entirely new staff of people they didn't know (and didn't understand their music and therefore didn't care about them), so they ultimately quit and disbanded.

I think also, Arista Records kept pushing back the release date for Pleased to Meet You. So maybe it's still listed under "indefinitely" for the release date of Pleased to Meet You. I think it's probably a safe bet to buy the import. It's expensive ($24?), but I think it's worth it. The Japanese released (minus autographs) contain three postcards and two extra tracks but is a bit pricey (CDNow lists this item for $43.99 - OUCH!). Also, see Irene's comment regarding why you should buy imports (when they're current).

I've been getting emails asking about Pleased to Meet You Collection, which will be released by November 22 (or earlier). There are some changes in regards to the special feature (cd-rom) portion to the disc. First off, I am not sure if I can work or finish the Sleeper micro-site on the cd-rom. I've been working seven days a week and in my off time, I am usually hanging out with friends, so I rarely get a chance to work on this project. I have made a point to start and finish this by the end of two weeks, so maybe there will be a savageable thing by the release date. There will be one definite video on the disc, which is "Sale of the Century" on Apple's MOV format (which is both friendly to PC and Macs). Thank you to Randy.

There will also be MP3 version of "Alice In Vain" and "Ha Ha You're Dead" because the original Smart Collection contained the original 7" vinyl songs. These songs are bonuses, for people who wanted cleaner version of these songs. You can convert the mp3 to wave format and burn it on a disc, etc.

To save space and ink on my computer, Smart Collection and The It Girl Collection will no longer be available to buy after November 22nd. The striped ($5 artless version) cd will still be available (as all it requires is a simple copy from the original discs.)

Pleased to Meet You Collection will still cost $12, plus shipping. Coverless cds are still $5 per cd. These will be available to buy until the end of the year. After that, if people are still interested, I will start working on converting tapes to cd-rom (live radio broadcasted concerts). Write me if you're interested in pre-ordering the cd, as soon as it's available.

Suggestions ? Want to help ? Want to trade ? Want to hang out ? Please write.

Entry number 177 Wednesday September 27th 2000 07:55:10
I just saw an advance screening of the new movie LIPGLOSS EXPLOSION... the director of the movie, Chris Morrissey, must be a SLEEPER fan cuz in the movie there was a poster of "Pleased to Meet You" on one of the chracters living room wall. The movie comes out soon and the website for it is http://www.chrismorrissey.com

Entry number 167 --
Name: Jon Stewart
E-mail address: jonsleeper@hotmail.com
Comments:
nice to see people are still signing the guestbook. thanks for your interest in the band. jon

Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2000 04:26:12 -0700

FHM top 100 (1996) 37 LOUISE WENER Indie babe new Entry Eight out of ten floppy-haired youths cry themselves to sleep over this indie sexpot. Essex girl Louise has a number of things going for her: 1) come to bed (right now this minute) eyes; 2) a penchant for feisty opinion; 3) a knack for writing catchy tunes and lyrics like, "Let's go to bed till we make each other raw." Oh, and she's bedded both the guitarist and now the drummer from her band, Sleeper. Which is just about as rock 'n' roll as it gets. SEXIEST MOMENT: Flirting outrageously on TFI Friday.

This image is captured from MTV's "Most Wanted" performance from end '94 or beginning of '95. Thought you might like it, because I do :)

I just bought the October issue of Guitarist magazine, to see how the evaluated the 2000 series Fender Telecaster before I bought one, and under a rhythm guitar section they say this -

"Britpop was also propelled by the Tele. Louise Wener & Jon Stewart of Sleeper, John Power of Cast, Justine Frishmann and Donna Matthews of Elastica and Andy Miller of Dodgy, all found the sound ideal for their brash, ringing chords."

Excerpt:
News from V2000
23-Aug-00, updated 27-Aug-00: The band's next studio album is tentatively set for release in April or May 2001. They have about 30 new songs sketched out, and will be heading into the studio soon to begin recording. The band tentatively plans to work with Brian Eno for a few weeks of pre-production, with the album itself being produced by Stephen Street, who's past work includes The Smiths, Morrissey, Blur, Catatonia, and Sleeper, among others.

Webcast over...thanks for all those that came along to listen, hopefully can do the same again in the future. Next would be with something a bit older.

Live Webcast Over
Was 18:00 - 20:00 GMT tonight
listen to Sleeper's concert at Oxford 1997.

The Oxford University audio webcast will take place tonight at 6pm GMT. The full duration of the concert is 47 minutes, but the file will remain on this webspace until 8pm, so you've got plenty of time to hear it all.

Sonya Sings Again
Thu, 24 Aug 2000 07:47:28 GMT

Sonya has fronted a new song called "Don't Look Back". The music is by Alan Wilder, and the song is set to be released on the single Strange Hours (2000). For more information, take a look at the following link: Recoil

Thanks to Stephenrde for supplying the info.

"Don't Look Back"
Music by Alan Wilder / Lyrics by Sonya Madan - Mute Song

BMG to Offer Digital Downloads
Like anyone else with half a brain, BMG Entertainment is all ready to offer up its wares on the Internet, in the form of digital downloads. Beginning in September, the company will place about 50 songs (ranging from $1.98 to $3.49) and 50 records (ranging from $9.98 to $16.98) on the sales block via certain retail websites. BMG artists include Toni Braxton, Santana, and Whitney Houston. BMG officials have indicated that they might consider offering their music through a subscription model, but are turned off by the prospect of a model that gives users as much as they want for a mere flat monthly fee. Whatever the case, the major labels are certainly jumping on the digitized music bandwagon these days. Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and EMI have all recently announced plans to offer pieces of their roster to folks via the Internet. Warner Music Group is expected to flesh out its own plan for tackling online music quite soon.

[ Since Sleeper was on BMG, they might be offering downloads of their back catalogues. Is this the future of music? I can't imagine buying music without complete artwork and actual disc. There'll always be hardcopy version available for sale, but who would actually buy albums in its entirity digitially ? There might be a better market for "singles" where people who don't want to buy the entire album for a hit single, might invest $2 or so in a download. But even that doesn't sound too appealing. If they offer music not available anywhere else (exclusive b-sides?) then perhaps maybe, but given the Napster thing, you can just trade it with your friends. I hope this Napster thing doesn't force the internet to have special encodings in mp3 files so that it will only play and burn on one particular computer, but it looks like that's the direction things are heading. ]

23.8.00
Details on the new feature next week. Click here for details.

: : s l e e p e r : : live @ oxford university 1997 to be audio webcast from sleeper online on September 3rd 2000 at 18:00 GMT more information to follow soon

1999 - There Is No Time For Idle Dreaming In My Life

Pouring lovely and warm out of your stereo speakers, Sometime Never assert themselves from the opening brush strokes and delicately picked guitar lines of their debut full-length, "There is no time for idle dreaming in my life." Possible comparisons abound, as the love of such bands as The Cure, The Smiths, Sleeper, and Mojave 3 can be heard in singer/songwriter/guitarist Chris Reynolds' quiet, personal songwriting. But not so easily pigeonholed are Sometime Never. From such disparate elements comes something new, vital, and much more than the sum of its parts. Electric guitar winds itself around acoustic based melodies that contradict the more common "pick on strings" acoustic sound. Not relegated to the background, the acoustic guitar is richly and warmly recorded and shares the spotlight with Reynolds' plaintive vocal melodies. The bass guitar is deep and resonant in its own right, and light brush and rod drum work underscore and complement the music without overpowering it.

[ Read More Sometime Never Album ]

I went up to London to do some studio work on some of Lou's new songs last week and showed her the CDs you made. She was very flattered!

I think you'll like this attachment...

"just wanted you to know that the sleeper cd's arrived safe and sound today...boy was i surprised and pleased....you've done a great job with them and like i say it's cool of you to only charge 10 bucks apiece...i'm anxiously awaiting volume 3 in this series... i did want to ask you about your printer and paper..."

"I'm curious what sort of printer are you using, because quite frankly the CD artwork are amazing!"

"are you going to be doing more sleeper cds after the 3 cd? im interested in more live stuff."

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From Vu: I'm using a Canon BJC-4300. The setting I have is "Glossy Paper" and "Photo Color" and the ink is Canon Color BJ Cartidge BC-22e Photo. The ink gives off a nice realistic photo image when used with photo glossy paper. Unfortunately the more realistic and vibrant you want your images to be printed, the more expensive it gets. Again, a quick run down on the actual cost (does not include tax):
Canon Color BJ Cartidge BC-22e Photo - $50 (prints about 20-25 sheets before running out of a particular ink.)
Glossy Paper - $15 (20 sheets)
Glossy CD-Label - $20 (20 cd-labels/10 sheets)

I've done some calculations and it broke down to this: $97 for material (includes 20 blank CDs, shipping material, all above printing material, $0.07 taxes, etc.) for about 10 people (ink runs out after 20-25 prints so we have to switch labels for glossy paper, so the original $112 pricing minus $15 for labels). If I break this down right, CD cost is $9.70! So to be fair to myself I am going to STOP TAKING ORDERS for $10!! Those fortunately enough to have sent in money or reserve a copy via email, this does not apply to you. I'm sorry to announce that any future printed CDs will cost you $12 per CD (pretty high-priced, but there is an alternative - see below). Again, I apologized for the original pricing, I hope you understand that I'm just trying to break even.

Some preliminary ideas: 1. There will be two different version of the 3rd CD, a deluxe version and a stripped version. The Deluxe version comes with printed artwork and probably numbered. The stripped version is just the burnt CD-R. Tracklisting and artwork will be available for download so you can print your own, in high 600 dpi image format or Memorex label format. Cost for stripped CD will be $5. Since none of the printing cost applies - you're only paying for the collected music, CD-R, and postage packaging. There isn't a high demand for the 3rd CD, so I don't think it would be much of a problem. 2. Regarding future Sleeper bootlegs, I'm really interested in transfering my three Black Sessions to CD format. They're second generation of FM Radio broadcasts from France, so it's almost soundboard quality. They are all live, and the first includes Sleeper cover of the Cure's "Inbetween Days". If you're curious to which songs were done live, check out Tape Bootlegs.

To summarise, you can buy the Smart Collection and The It Girl Collection both stripped down version for $10 in total (plus shipping). I will make the download available if I get anyone interested in the cheaper versions. Again, I apologized for the change in pricing.

K.D. Lang - Invincible Summer
2000 CD Warner Brothers 47605

1. Consequences of Falling (D'Ubaido/Nowels/Steinberg) - 3:52
2. Summer Fling (Camus/Lang/Piltch) - 4:15
3. Suddenly (Lang/Piltch) - 3:32
4. It's Happening with You (Lang/Piltch) - 2:48
5. Extraordinary Thing (Laboriel/Lang) - 3:35
6. Love's Great Ovean (Lang/Mink) - 5:40
7. Simple (Lang/Piltch) - 2:44
8. What Better Said (Laboriel/Lang) - 3:47
9. When We Collide (Laboriel/Lang) - 4:22
10. Curiosity (Lang) - 3:41
11. Only Love (Lang) - 3:52

Jon Hassell - Trumpet; John Fumo - Trumpet; Rusty Anderson - Guitar; Rick Baptist - Trumpet; Teddy Borowiecki - Accordion, Keyboards; Rob Brill - Mixing; Denyse Buffum - Viola; Larry Corbett - Cello; Joel Derouin - Violin; John Friesen - Cello; Armen Garabedian - Violin; Berj Garabedian - Violin; Alex Gifford - Vocal Arrangement; David Kahne - Producer, Mixing; Peter Kent - Violin; Abe Laboriel - Bass, Guitar, Drums, Vocals; Greg Leisz - Pedal Steel Guitar; Bob Ludwig - Mastering; Wendy Melvoin - Guitar; Ben Mink - Violin, Keyboards, Viola, String Arrangements; David Piltch - Bass, Guitar, Mandolin, Cornet, Keyboards, Whistle (Human), Loop, Moog Bass, Guitar (Baritone); David Stenske - Viola; Eric White - Editing, Drum Programming; John Wittenberg - Violin; Gayle Levant - Harp; Tony Flores - Assistant Engineer; Smokey Hormel - Guitar; Damian leGassick - Keyboards, Producer, String Arrangements, Brass Arrangement; Bob Peterson - Violin; Jon Stewart - Guitar; Jeri Heiden - Art Direction, Design; John Heiden - Art Direction, Design; Jason Mauza - Engineer; James Stone - Assistant Engineer

Date of Release: Jun 20, 2000 (approx.)
Genre: Country
Styles: Adult Alternative, Singer/Songwriter

I was browsing around www.musicroom.com a source for tab books - and the tab book for Sleeper - The It Girl was listed there (for £17!!!)... it also has the singles from Smart, which would mean it would have the lead part for Delicious... I would so love to have that, but it's out of print !

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Sleeper: The It Girl Guitar Tab Edition
Music Room

Contains 13 songs from The It Girl plus four bonus songs from their previous album Smart. Includes 'Sale Of The Century', 'Lie Detector' and 'Statuesque'.

Contents
1. Lie Detector
2. Sale Of The Century
3. What Do I Do Now?
4. Good Luck Mr Gorsky
5. Feeling Peaky
6. Shrinkwrapped
7. Dress Like Your Mother
8. Statuesque
9. Glue Ears
10. Nice Guy Eddie
11. Stop Your Crying
12. Factor 41
13. Click... Off... Gone
14. Inbetweener
15. Alice in Vain
16. Vegas
17. Delicious

Price £16.95 ($25.40) Out Of Print
Media: Sheet Music
Format: Songbook
Series: Guitar Tab Edition
Catalogue No: AM939532
Keystage Info: Photos
Language: English
Length: 128 pp
Publisher: Amsco/Wise Publications'

I just wondered if you'd care to give my selfpublished book of short fictional stories that I've written a mention, it does contain a handful of Sleeper references in one of the stories.

The book is called MANIC OPINION, it's a book that even those who don't usally read can read-in fact it's for them (punk literature?) the stories feature a wide range of topics and characters, including 'twisted' vicars,'carpet goblins',a large man with loose trousers and a sugary tea drinking hit man (who likes Sleeper)!

I think the book contains many of the same elements that the Sleeper (and other such bands) fans go for as many of them have read it and love it!

Further 'adventures' for the 'hero' in the final story are on there way!

Glastonbury: The Movie
DVD Release Date: 08/29/2000

The Glastonbury Fayre has a long history, beginning on a farm in 1970. The first event drew 1500 people for a two-day blues festival. This British version of Woodstock has grown over the past three decades into an annual pilgrimage for more than 100,000 fans of rock, alternative, folk and blues. All are looking to experience Glastonbury's continuous stream of music and its blissful state of mind. Glastonbury: The Movie takes you on a wild ride through the magic and mayhem of the carnival with highlights from more than twenty-five bands including The Lemonheads, The Filberts, The Verve and Porno for Pyros. Experience the party, the personalities and the legend that make up Glastonbury.

Additional information
Copyright: 2000, Image Entertainment
Special Features: Interactive Menus, Scene Access
Video Format: Widescreen 2.35:1 aspect ratio
Audio Tracks: English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
English: Dolby Digital Stereo
# Discs: 1
Layers: Single
# Sides: One
Other: DVD released on 08/29/2000; running time of 101 minutes. [Additional Information is subject to change.]

[ It is doubtful that they are going to feature Sleeper as one of the 25 bands, but Sleeper did play Glastonbury in 1995. ]

Artist/Title: SLEEPER Smart (UK BPI certified Indolent official silver LP award for sales of more than 60,000 copies in UK, mounted framed & glazed) Format: AWARD DISC Record Label: indolent Catalogue No: SILVER AWARD Country of Origin: UK Release Year: 1995 Price £: 100.00

[ Smart have gone Gold by now, but it's still very cool to own the Silver award - if you can afford the steep pricing. Only a few of these were made and given to the musician and people who worked on the album. Since they're not commercially available and are generally scarce, this might be the only time you'd see it for sale. I'm neither endorsing this or Eil.com, I just thought it was very cool. If I had won the lottery for one million dollars, sure this baby will be on my wall of my mansion. Also - if you read the tiny print, it says: presented by Steve Lowes. As you recall Steve is the Indolent representative that I've corresponded in the past. ]

Here are the proposed artwork and tracklisting for the second and third CD (the Pleased to Meet You Collection Disc's tracklisting will likely change). There is a limited number of the second disc is available order. I have ultimately ran out of sticker labels and my ink supply is dwindling. What else is cool is I'm making some pretty cool Sleeper stickers on the side....

The third disc however is not available. If you have suggestion or questions or corrections, please email me.

One more thing I need to address is that these bootlegs will not contain a booklet, it will just the front cover, the back cover and a picture cd. I did started to work on the liner notes but it just proved too difficult for printing. I also wanted to mention that all artwork are in full color ! As for detailed discography, I will try and make it available on the 3rd disc as a wener.com reference. (This is also handy when you need to access cover artwork and information instantly.)

This is just the developing stage, but if you want to peek at the backsleeve of these cds: It and Pleased.

I've also updated the Bootleg section.

Sleeper The It Girl Collection WENER002CD Paint Me Room at the Top Disco Duncan (live) Vegas (live) Amuse (live) Package Holiday Oh Well Atomic Pokerface Blazer Sleeves Inbetweener (live) Ugly Bleeder (Shirehorses with Sleeper) She's a Sweetheart Spies Other End of the Telescope Statuesque (box off mix) Atomic (wubble u mix) Atomic (rapino mix)

Sleeper Pleased to Meet You Collection WENER003CD Come On Come On I'm A Man This is the Sound of Someone Else What Do I Get ? Nice Guy Eddie (peel session) When Will You Smile What Do I Do Now? (evening session) Cunt London Motorway Man (artic mix) Motorway Man (artic.dub mix) Atomic (wubble u instrumental) Atomic (rapino instrumental) What Do I Do Now? (Elvisi Costello) Swallow (Sleeper's first video)

July 30th, is Louise's birthday. Louise Jane Wener turns 33 years old on the 30th.

The CD is finally done ! I've made about ten copies of the CD. By the time you get the CD, all the information and tracklisting will be listed with CDDB / Gracenote for your convenience. Cost still $10 per CD.

Shipping is as follows: First Class for US residents is $2. Priority Mail is $3.25. Overseas Airmail is $3.00. Insurance is extra, usually $1 more. When sending money to me, please include specific postage amount.

Method of payments: I'll accept personal checks, cashier checks, money order, cash, or credit cards (via Paypal.com). Writing checks/money orders, please make it out to "Vu Nguyen". For paypal, my last name is Nguyen and the email is sleeper@wener.com. Please also make sure the amount are in US funds.

If you can't convert your currentcy to US dollars, I will also accept trades. Please write me for more information.

Sleeper Smart Collection WENER001CD Alice In Vain (single) Ha Ha You're Dead Big Nurse Swallow (single) Twisted (single) One Girl Dreaming Lady Love Your Countryside (single) Beside Manners Tatty Bedhead (live) Alice In Vain (live) Swallow (live) Gorgeous and Fully Equipped Little Annie Disco Duncan Bank Vegas (single) Hymn To Her It's Wrong of You to Breed Close Delicious (acoustic) Pyrotechnician (I Think I Love You)

Also, check out NASA photograph.

I am going to use Fay Wray as cover girl to the second CD. Louise makes reference to her in "One Girl Dreaming".

Day two of recording: I've found out that the record player sometime skips grooves. This is only evident in 7" running at 33 1/3 (Bucket and Spades & "Alice In Vain"). I've listened to the playback and it is still listenable. The skip is a loss of 1 second and occurs twice in the live version of "Alice In Vain" and "Bedhead".

The other matter I'm concern about is the random stactic noise and cracks often associated with vinyls. I've cropped a lot of the beginning and ending of songs to minimise cracks. If you're interested in hearing what the vinyl transfer sounds like, you can download a 30 second sample of "Bedside Manners". As you can see, it sounds very good.

The last two extra tracks are from the ZOO compilation and Volume 11, respectively. The liner sleeve will hopefully contain information per track detailing where it originated from and especially if it's live, where it was recorded. There are a lot of tracks here, making it kind of impossible to fit all the information on a one 5 inch paper.

Everything's looking steady on that I might even beat that deadline of August 23. Please email me your address for my own reference.

This is the information from the pre-master disc.

Sleeper Smart Collection
WENER001CD

1. Alice In Vain (single)
2. Ha Ha You're Dead
3. Big Nurse
4. Swallow (single)
5. Twisted (single)
6. One Girl Dreaming
7. Lady Love Your Countryside (single)
8. Beside Manners
9. Tatty
10. Bedhead (live)
11. Alice In Vain (live)
12. Swallow (live)
13. Gorgeous and Fully Equipped
14. Little Annie
15. Disco Duncan
16. Bank
17. Vegas (single)
18. Hymn To Her
19. It's Wrong of You to Breed
20. Close
21. Delicious (acoustic)
22. Pyrotechnician (I Think I Love You)

Aditional Information
Running Time: 72.01 minutes
Format: Audio CD
Sound: Digital Stereo (44 hz 128 bit)
Computer/CD: Hewlett Packard Pavilion 4455 (400 mhz 64 ram)
Audio Capture: ATI All-In-One tuner
Vinyl Player: Sanyo
Converter: Catalyst (Xing)
CD Recorder: Sony Spressa USB version

I am getting a vinyl player in about a week. This means I can finally digitise vinyl-only songs to put on the CD.

CD artwork is being worked on. I have invested in a CD labeling kit by Memorex. Some initial test runs on a Weezer compilation are looking good on photo glossy paper. I want to do a linear notes detailing each single/promo, including individual sleeve art, but it would mean more time and more money (colour ink are expensive !)

Cost should come to about $10 USD per CD. How did it get up to this much ? Factor in several things: a vinyl player ($100), a CD kit ($30), CD-writer ($200), time and effort and heaps of love (n/a), CD-r ($20 in bulk set of 25 CDs), color ink ($40), glossy paper (in set of $10). This doesn't include the printer and computer or scanner... And since I know I am not going to be selling a lot - I'll probably be lucky to sell about six or so, I'm really not make back any money. Anyway, feel free to email your concerns or proposed artwork, or anything. Everyone will be credited if I end up using your ideas/artwork/encoding.

Proposed name/tracklist will be:

SLEEPER COLLECTION CD 1
SLEEP101CD1

1. Alice in Vain (single)
2. Ha Ha You're Dead
3. Big Nurse
4. Swallow (single version)
5. Twisted (single version)
6. One Girl Dreaming
7. Lady Love Your Countryside (single version)
8. Bedside Manners
9. Tatty
10. Bedhead (live)
11. Alice In Vain (live)
12. Swallow (live)
13. Gorgeous and Fully Equipped Meets Fantasy Y-Fronts

The date of this CD being released is set for August 23, 2000.

Because of the limitation of CD audio is to 74 minutes, I am going to try and fit the B-sides to "Smart" on one disc. There'll be a lot of editing/cropping off music. I'm also limited to disc space on my own hard drive. I'll probably end up uninstalling Diablo 2 ! What a sacrifice !

A second disc will cover "The It Girl".

A final disc will cover "Pleased to Meet You" and will contain MPEG files hopefully. I found out how you can make CD audio plus data - I will need to have a CD-Rewriteable, which will leave a second "opening" after I first write in the audio data. The second session will contain videos, and by this time, I'll even try and have icons/information regarding Sleeper on the disc as well.

Jon S., please email me your home address. I will send you a courtesy copy.

I saw "The Limey" with Terrance Stamp a couple of weeks ago. He was supposed to have this really bad Cockney accent, but it wasn't that bad! If you understood Trainspotting, then you'd have no problem with "The Limey".

I found out there is a slang for Louise Wener in cockney, which means "Tenner (10 pound note)"

'ere, lend us a louise. [ Felix Tree ]

K.D.Lang Invincible Summer the consequences of falling summerfling suddenly it's happening extraordinary thing love's great ocean simple what better said when we collide curiosity only love

"When We Collide" - "This is about that overpowering moment when you encounter someone you're secretly in love with, someone you're coveting. You see that person, and what ensues is described in the song. It's like a whole universe that you keep accessing throughout the days that follow because you want to recreate it. You want to live there, to be in that moment forever."

"Extraordinary Thing" - "This is basically on the same subject. Come to think of it, the whole album, on one level, deals with how love makes everything different. It ties in with the summer theme of the songs, about how love feels like summer. I mean, love can also feel like winter, or spring or fall. But for me, the atmosphere of these songs, the melodies and the imagery, are definitely geared more toward that particular time of the year as a way of expressing an emotional state of being."

---

Be sure to check on All Music Guide: Jon Stewart (not updated yet) to see his credit on K.D.Lang's album.

Louise Wener is blonde now, was seen buying groceries in Crouch End (Melody Maker Apr 26 - May 2 2000 page 14)

They talked about Justine Frischmann and then "all of which was a lot more fun than listening to Ken Livingstone's blaster campaign bus [...] Still, it's not as painful as seeing Louise from Sleeper buying groceries in Crouch End with blonde hair."

June 9, 2000 | The Britmix

From Sleeperonline My hour of TV is on MTV2 (Europe) on June 26th, wanna see the tracks in it, go to www.mtv2.co.uk and find daily schedues, the 26th June and 'Neil H'... [See music listing on left]